


Shattered Miracles [Arc 1 + Intermission 1 + Arc 2]

by Mafy_mod



Series: Shattered Miracles [1]
Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Attempted Kidnapping, Dark Past, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, High School, I will not tag the smutty things, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, M/M, Mild Gore, Past Character Death, Pining, Psychic Abilities, Psychological Torture, Psychological Trauma, Slow Build, Smut, Strong Language, Temporary Character Death, Torture, graphic description of violence, in the past only I guess, pay attention to the trigger alerts, so read to find out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2018-08-07 22:00:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 220
Words: 537,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7731355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mafy_mod/pseuds/Mafy_mod
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kuroko's life has always been hard. When 6 years ago the "Miracles" appeared in Japan, his life was thrown for a never-ending loop of despair, as he awoke one day as "The Phantom".</p><p>As if his life wasn't hard enough, he catches the attention of a certain redhead, the Head of the "Miracles", Akashi Seijuurou.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. On our way in a new season

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, hello! This is my first fic (not my first story, written work, novel, whatever you want to call it, though), but I just couldn't sit still without releasing these pent-up feelings I have for my babies in KnB.
> 
> I still haven't decided on a schedule for the work, but the releases will probably be small but frequent, that I can guarantee you!
> 
> Please leave lots of comments, I love hearing feedback <3

_And then the world was changed for all eternity._

_Perfect copying skills, impossible to deflect._

_Perfect shooting, impossible to counter._

_Perfect strength, impossible to stop._

_Perfect defense, impossible to penetrate._

_Perfect control, impossible to defy._

_And then…_

_The one who brings all this to naught…_

_Or to an even bigger scale._

_That’s your mission._

_That’s your choice._

_Awaken, oh “Phantom”._

 

-.-

 

The sound of the alarm clock was gratefully welcomed by the bluenette. He was once again dreaming, and dreaming never was a good sign, as long as it concerned him.

 

It was always the same dream. All black… and then those words. They were repeated for as long as he could remember, so many times that its meaning was already lost. Or so he liked to think. No, and so he _has_ to think. Just like dreams, remembering was never a good idea. The past was the past, no use dwelling on it. Yes, that’s it. The two golden rules: no dreaming and no remembering.

 

As such, since he dreamt, now all he had to do is forget. Bring it to a naught. _Oh…_ Now even he was repeating the words from his dream. He must forget, for all is better forgotten. Yes, everything.

 

The bluenette stretched his arms and ruffled his terrible bedhair. Lazily, he got up and took his sweaty clothes, throwing them to the floor. In his underwear, he moved to his bathroom and looked at his reflection in the mirror.

 

Teal eyes peered at him, and he sighed. While brushing his teeth, he peeked at the schedule planted beside the mirror.

 

The new school year started today. He was about to make his high school debut… or at least that was what normal teenagers called it. “Normal” was definitely not a word in his dictionary. To him, it was just another three years of an uneventful life, spending his days in seclusion and invisible to everyone around him. Really, sometimes he wondered how he managed to get this far. Guess that since attendance isn’t something he had to worry about in Teikou Academy, he has been able to advance as far as high school. Not that he had anything better to do.

 

Adjusting his uniform and combing his wild strands of blue hair, he glanced over to the mirror once again, and sighed.

 

That’s right. His life will continue as always. Uneventful… Seclusion… Invisible to all… _It’s okay. This is what I wished for. Everything is okay._

 

Moving from his bedroom to the kitchen, he took from the fridge a plastic cup with vanilla milkshake. Freezing cold, just at the ideal temperature. Not a very suitable breakfast, but his addiction to vanilla milkshakes recently had escalated to dangerously unhealthy degrees. Not that he cared.

 

Closing the door of his apartment in the Seirin door building, he walked fastidiously while slurping his milkshake. It was barely daybreak, so there was no one around. Just like he wanted.

 

Just imagining the rush of students coming out from their rooms, happiness splattered in their faces as they greeted each other and went together to school, made him shiver. The possibility of any of them seeing him was almost null, but he couldn’t… not, he _wouldn’t_ risk it. So he just opted for his past routine: leave the dorm before anyone else, and return after everyone else.

 

The dorm was a measly 15 minutes walk from the school, just like the other five dorms: Kaijou, Shuutoku, Touou, Yousen, and Rakuzan.

 

The walk to Teikou Academy was peaceful and quiet, with no one to bother him. By the time he reached the main gate, which was always open (since attending classes wasn’t the only use the students had for the mass of buildings that made Teikou Academy), his slurping came to a halt. _Aww, over already…_

 

Throwing the empty plastic cup, he scored a what would be called a three-pointer in basketball terms to the trash bin near the entrance. It was extremely unusual of him to have so much luck in shooting, so maybe today was going to be a good day.

 

Moving like a ghost, he treaded the half lit by the ascending sun hallways. He already knew which classroom would be his, but he decided that exploring the school first would be a good idea, since there was no one there to block his path (which meant a lot, for he daily had to feint around the hordes of students that never noticed him).

 

He passed by the music classrooms, the science labs, the libraries that each floor had (each one had one or two themes respectively, and the bluenette made question of memorizing which one was each, for future reference), the teacher’s lodge, the cafeteria, and finally the Student Council building.

 

He didn’t dare to step any closer to the latter, since he knew that this year it would be _their_ lair. The official building for _their_ operations and conspiracies. And no, he wasn’t referring to the Student Council members.

 

The “Miracles”.

 

They appeared one day in Japan. Well, _appeared_ isn’t exactly the correct term. They were _awoken_. By what or why… no one knew.

 

Of course, there were one thousand and one theories on that, but none had been confirmed until now. Some say that some kind of chemical waste was released due to the previous wars, others say that they are the product of human experimentations. There’s even a theory that said they were sent by the gods to bring about punishment to sinners. But all remained that… theories.

 

Six years ago the “Miracles” were _awoken_ , but it didn’t end there. Soon others started to _awake_ to strange abilities. Abilities that defied the laws of physic or of what humans should be. The “Users” were created. They still didn’t reach the “Miracles” in terms of power, but it was amazing on its own.

 

Every student here was a “User”. Once a “User” _awoke_ they were registered in Teikou Academy, regardless of age – even though most of the abilities appeared when the “User” reached the age of ten. They were separated from their families and brought to one of the six dorms.

 

And as to why the “Miracles” were called that, and not “Users” was not just because they were the first ones to be _awoken_. They were terrible powerful. No, powerful didn’t even begin to describe them. They were of a completely different league of everything and everyone. They were something akin to be considered and revered as _gods_.

 

_Well, not like it concerns me._

 

Kuroko Tetsuya was a “User”. He was brought to Teikou as soon as his family discovered he possessed an ability. He was _forced_ to go to Teikou. By now he was used to it, but he still felt bitter at how his supposed family just got rid of him as soon as they found out what he truly was.

 

He could still recall it. Their frightened faces when they saw him using his ability for the first time. Their relieved expressions as the car he was riding on departed from their house to never return.

 

_No, forget it. The past is the past, don’t dwell on it. Golden rule no. 2: don’t remember._

 

He cast one last glance to the Student Council building, and for a fluttering moment, he thought he saw a shadow of red (and golden?) from one of its windows. He looked at it again, but the shadow was long gone.

 

Suddenly, he heard the laughter of people. Students were coming in his direction, talking animatedly as they walked around the campus.

 

_I guess it’s this late already. I should go back to the classroom._

 

Turning his back to the Student Council building, he casually walked away.

 

-.-

 

“Is there any special reason why you requested our presence so early in the morning?” questioned the green haired male, adjusting his glasses.

 

“Yeah, it’s too fuckin’ early,” yawned the tanned male.

 

“Exactly! Although I have an early modeling stunt today, so I was up already~” cheerfully added the blonde.

 

“I don’t really care, as long as there are snacks,” declared the purple haired giant, as he munched on some chips.

 

For the first time, the redhead deviated his gaze from the window and looked at his fellow comrades.

 

“Welcome, fellow ‘Miracles’.” The redhead had an almost malicious grin in his face, with his heterochromatic eyes, one red, one golden, glowing in the barely lit spacious office.

 

The “Miracles” before him shuddered.

 

“Just what are you planning… Akashi?” silently muttered the green haired male.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Tomorrow Never Lies" by Ono Kenshou (our baby Kuroko) and Ono Yuuki (our wild tiger).


	2. Our destination is whatever lies straight ahead

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello! I was way too excited and went on a writing streak. And now I have the story written up until chapter 5. So I decided to give you a little more, and here it is~
> 
> Hope you enjoy, hehehe.

The classroom was half full of students already when Kuroko got to it. There was still half an hour before the homeroom and the opening ceremony started, but he wondered if the presence of so many students was due to motivation or excitement for this new chapter in their lives.

 

He treaded carefully through the students and glanced around, trying to pick a seat free. He decided on the last row near the window. Windows were always welcomed. That way he could stare away to the horizon as the boring classes went on. He could continue doing his human observation too, since that seat enabled him a complete view to the whole classroom.

 

He pulled the chair and sat down, sighing. Half an hour would fly for sure if he observed his new classmates. He didn’t recognize any of them, so they probably weren’t in his class in junior high. Letting go another sigh, he bumped his forehead against the table.

 

_What am I even saying? I wouldn’t remember them even if they were in the same class as me before._

 

He closed his eyes. Better than doing his so favorite human observation, he decided on resting. He was awake since before 5 AM, and he had been going around the school grounds as soon as he set foot in Teikou. He sure could use some napping time right now.

 

But his rest was abruptly interrupted when a hand forcefully grabbed his chair and pulled it away. Jumping slightly at the absurd strength that moved his chair (and carried his weight with it), he looked up with wide open eyes.

 

Yawning, a huge redhead was lunging in to sit down in the chair currently occupied by him.

 

“Wait.”

 

“Eh?” Pausing his movements, the redhead looked around, searching for the source of the voice.

 

“This seat is already taken,” declared the bluenette, remembering that he was invisible to the eyes of most people, and this redhead was not an exception, apparently.

 

Looking to the seat before him, the redhead stopped moving his head around, and focused on what was in front of his eyes. He suddenly yelped, walking backwards and bumping against the table behind him.

 

“W-W-When did you get there!?” yelled the redhead, catching the attention of the other students.

 

“I was here since the beginning,” deadpanned the bluenette. “And please don’t yell.”

 

“Woah, that surprised me,” breathed the redhead, returning the table he stumbled on to its place. “I didn’t see you at all…” Staring at the pale boy in front of him, he shook his head. “No, I didn’t even sense your presence. How the heck do ya do that?”

 

“…”

 

Not waiting for the other male to answer, he just pulled the chair of the seat in front of him, and sat down, facing him.

 

“I’m Kagami Taiga.” He pushed his hand in front of the bluenette’s face, as if waiting for him to shake his hand. “What’s your name?”

 

Kuroko just stared at the hand in front of him. He was definitely not going to answer him and most definitely not going to shake his hand.

 

“…Kuroko Tetsuya…” he replied.

 

He internally clicked his tongue. But at least he didn’t indulged the taller male any further and shook his hand.

 

Catching the gist of it, Kagami lowered his hand. “Oh, yeah. I guess that in Japan people don’t really use handshakes that much,” smiled the redhead. “So, if you’re in Teikou, you must be a ‘User’, right?”

 

“…”

 

“What’s your ability? I have enhancing abilities, like stronger senses and build.”

 

“…”

 

That much was obvious. The redhead was clearly in the 190s in height and everything about him screamed ‘strength’. He had defined muscles in his arms, from what the bluenette could see of the exposed biceps, and the uniform that clothes his body wasn’t really trying to hide the ripped muscles. Even his gaze was pure strength.

 

Interrupting the one-sided conversation, their homeroom teacher entered inside the classroom and ordered the students to sit in their seats. The redhead turned around to face the teacher, after grinning to the bluenette.

 

Kuroko released a sigh. He managed to evade the questioning of the redhead, but he had a feeling it wouldn’t end there. He seemed to have picked the interest of the taller male.

 

He looked up and stared at the window. There was nothing really that interesting going on outside, but it was better than staring at the teacher. He was still picking up what he was saying though, mostly talking about what the school year was going to be like, the subjects they were going to have and other ordinary topics discussed in the first homeroom of the year.

 

And, once again, Kuroko heaved a sigh.

 

-.-

 

The opening ceremony was being held in the main gymnasium.

 

All 300 students were currently put together in the closed space, and for lack of better words, it was hell for Kuroko. He always hated being in closed spaces with a lot of people in it, for different reasons. One of them was pretty simple: people couldn’t see him. That left him to do all the work of deflecting the moving bodies that were walking directly at him.

 

Since he walked slower than most of his classmates, he stayed behind and was one of the last to arrive to the entrance of the building.

 

As he was about to cross the door, he bumped into someone.

 

“I’m sor—“ And then he felt it. His whole skin was rippling, as if lightning had struck him. His heartbeat quickened to dangerously high levels and a cold sweat coated his skin.

 

As he looked up to peer at whoever he crashed with, Kuroko thought his heart was about to stop. Red and golden eyes looked down at him, a shocked expression on their face that told the bluenette that he probably was feeling the same prickling sensation he was.

 

“I’m sorry for bumping into you,” smiled the redhead in front of him. “Are you alright?”

 

Kuroko shuddered at hearing that clear voice. Memories of the last time he had heard it came back at full speed to him.

 

_I don’t want to remember. Please, don’t make me remember…_

 

“Is everything alright, Akashi?” asked the green haired male, peeking at the redhead from behind.

 

Kuroko took a step back… then another. He felt his breathe getting caught up in his throat, and his heart was about to come out of his chest through it. He suddenly turned around and walked in the same direction he had come from.

 

The redhead and the green haired male just stared as the bluenette wobbled away.

 

“Did you scare another student?” asked the green haired male.

 

“No,” answered the redhead. “But I do wonder who he is…”

 

“What do you mean, Akashi? I thought you had all students from Teikou memorized.”

 

The redhead smirked as he caught the last of the bluenette’s semblance before he took a curve and disappeared. “Indeed I have. All but one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, yes, I know... I just love to write cliffhangers, which is funny 'cause I really hate when chapters of anything that I'm reading end in one... Anyway, you will have much to suffer if you continue to read this fanfic, hehehe :D
> 
> The title of this chapter came from "The Other self" by GRANRODEO.


	3. Reality is harsh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello! Here I am, bringing to you another chapter.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

_One week earlier…_

 

“Yahoo~ Akashi-kun!” Momoi Satsuki cheerfully entered inside the main office of the Student Council building, accompanied by her tanned childhood friend, Aomine Daiki.

 

“Good morning, Satsuki, Daiki,” greeted Akashi Seijuurou from his desk, propping his red eye from the stack of papers in front of him.

 

“Mornin’,” yawned the tanned boy.

 

“So, what did you want from me this morning? School begins next week, right?” The pink haired girl approached the desk full of papers and picked one of the pages. “Oh, you’re going through the date of the students I gave you! Is it useful?”

 

“Indeed it is. But…” The redhead put the pages in his hand back in the stack of papers and looked up to Momoi. “…it’s incomplete.”

 

“Eh?” gasped the pink haired girl.

 

She is “The Book” – there was no way that the information and data she had on anyone or anything was incomplete. It was just… impossible.

 

“Eh~ Satsuki screw up? That’s rare,” mumbled the tanned male while picking on his ear.

 

“That’s impossible, Akashi-kun. I gave you all the date I have on all the student of Teikou.”

 

“No,” declared Akashi. “You gave me the data of 299 students. There’s one missing.”

 

Momoi was akin to ghostly, all blood drained from her face. She made a mistake… and to Akashi Seijuurou of all people. There was no telling what would happen to her for that.

 

“Then why don’t you just search for information on the school database?” suggested Aomine, putting a hand on Momoi’s shoulder, both for comforting and protect the pink haired girl. “Although it’s not going to be as helpful as Satsuki’s info.”

 

The girl looked at Aomine, gratitude written across her face.

 

“I did that,” added Akashi, getting up from his cushioned chair and stepping closer to the window behind him. “I found no trace of this 300th student, though. Almost as if he never existed.”

 

“Doesn’t that mean there’s only 299 students this year, then?” questioned Aomine. He greatly regretted he did, though, five seconds later.

 

“An Akashi is always right, Daiki. There’s 300 students in Teikou,” glared the redhead. He turned once again to the window and stared at the view of the fields in front of the Student Council building. “Satsuki, redeem yourself. Find all information you can on this mystery student.”

 

“Y-Yes, Akashi-kun…” Momoi gave a slight bow to the redhead and excused herself from the room, leaving together with Aomine.

 

After some brief moments, Midorima Shintarou entered inside the office, after knocking on the door. As he looked at Akashi, though, he had to pause.

 

“Did Momoi and Aomine bring good news to you?” inquired the green haired male.

 

“Hm?”

 

“No, nothing.”

 

 _I just never saw you look so excited before,_ was what Midorima wanted to tell the redhead in front of him.

 

-.-

 

It was night before he noticed it.

 

After hastily returning to his room in the Seirin dorm, not giving a care about the rest of his school activities, Kuroko just locked himself up in his bedroom and hid underneath the covers of his bed.

 

He didn’t want to remember… Not that voice… Not those eyes looking for him… Not that nauseating prickling sensation that run down his whole body whenever he was in contact with any of _them_ … Not that blood covering his hands… his body… everything… He had wished fervently so many times to forget all of it. To forget all of his goddamned past. He wished desperately to one day wake up and not remember anything that happened _that_ night.

 

But reality is harsher than that.

 

Unfortunately his goddamned ability wasn’t rewriting the past. Oh, if only it was… That would rid him of so many burdens, so many failures… of so many memories.

 

After he finally managed to stop trembling, he took a deep breath.

 

 _Everything is okay,_ Kuroko reminded himself. He managed to stay hidden in the covers of the shadows for the whole three years he was in the middle school section of Teikou, so he could do it again in the next three years. After all, it was only more three years.

 

When a “User” completed the whole program of Teikou (also known as graduating, in normal human’s terms), they were free to do whatever they wanted. He could work for the school or any of the organization affiliated to it… or he could just disappear forever.

 

He peeked outside the protection of the blankets and looked at the window of his bedroom, where a full moon shined brightly. Just a normal moon… That alone meant the world to him. _A normal moon is good… very good._

 

Suddenly, his stomach grumbled loudly. He was reminded then that he hadn’t eaten anything all day, apart from his breakfast’s vanilla milkshake.

 

He unlocked his bedroom’s door, and cautiously stepped outside, analyzing every corner of his apartment. Nobody was in sight.

 

Maybe he was still safe. Yes, everything was going to be okay. _They_ didn’t know who nor where he was. He was safe. He just needed to follow his usual schedule and do whatever it took to continue being _invisible_.

 

He went over to his fridge to look for some comfort (which equaled to a dose of vanilla milkshake), but as he peered at the household equipment’s insides, he saw it was empty, save for some eggs that he sometimes cooked for himself when he felt like it (and yes, that basically meant he was running on vanilla milkshakes only, lately. Talk about healthy).

 

Kuroko internally clicked his tongue and closed the door of the fridge with a little more strength than what he would normally use.

 

He could just return to his bedroom and hole himself up in his bed again, but by the way his stomach was growling nonstop, depriving himself of food right now was not an option.

 

He went over to the sofa and picked his night jacket, also stuffing his wallet in the pocket. Picking the keys to his apartment on the way to the door, he put his shoes on and exited the dorm apartment.

 

There was no one around in the dorm building as he walked through the corridors that lead to the street.

 

In the street, he encountered a few students and other people from the area, but nobody seemed to noticed him. That meant _it_ was still effective. He must be much more relaxed right now, if _it_ was working properly.

 

He approached Maji Burger, a fast food joint that he frequented on a weekly basis to resupply on vanilla milkshakes. Today he was too tired so he just bought one for today’s dinner (although that alone was a hurdle on its own, since the attendant didn’t notice he was there for what seemed an eternity to Kuroko), and for tomorrow’s breakfast he would just cook eggs. Yes, that sounded like a good plan.

 

Milkshake in hand, Kuroko walked over and sat in his usual table. He heaved a sigh and just leisurely started slurping on his drink, delighted that his stomach was starting to calm down.

 

He was staring outside through the window at the passing people when a tray full of hamburgers was suddenly dropped in front of him. As he looked up, Kuroko saw the red hair and his heart almost popped from his chest, speeding as if someone had pressed on its accelerating pedal. But on a closer look, the person who was casually sitting in front of him and started munching on a hamburger without a care in the world was the student he had met that morning, Kagami Taiga.

 

Kuroko sighed in relief and that, apparently, was heard by the redhead, who looked at him… and once again yelped in surprise, just as if he hadn’t seen the bluenette there before he sat down (which he probably didn’t).

 

Swallowing hard the chunk of hamburger in his mouth, he gaped his mouth at the bluenette. “W-W-Where did you come from!?”

 

“I was here since the beginning,” deadpanned Kuroko. Now that he thought about it, this was the second time that day he had said the same phrase, coincidentally to the same person.

 

“Oh, you’re from this morning,” sighed the redhead in relief. “You just suddenly disappeared after we talked.”

 

“…”

 

“Wait, don’t tell me, you were there that whole time and I just didn’t see you?” When Kagami read the deadpan look on Kuroko’s face as ‘as if that was possible’, he just sighed again. “Well, you don’t usually reply to me so I thought that was the case. You also didn’t answer my question this morning, thought I can guess already. Your ability must be along the lines of invisibility or something, right?”

 

Kuroko just stared at the redhead and continued to drink his milkshake. “Well, something like that, I guess…”

 

“That’s awesome. But you’re weird, though. I can normally smell the strength of a ‘User’, but you… you don’t smell like anything. Your strength is odorless.”

 

“…”

 

_What are you, an animal, to be smelling people’s “strength” like that…_

 

Kagami stared cautiously at the bluenette in front of him and after saying “Here!”, he threw a hamburger to the other male, who caught it midair.

 

As Kuroko looked at him with a quizzical expression, Kagami just shrugged. “It looks like you need that more than me. It’s as if you could just disappear to thin air any moment.”

 

_Oh, how I wish that could happen…_

 

Glancing to the hamburger on his hand, he unwrapped the chunk of meat on bread and gave a tentatively small bite, as if testing the waters. His eyes widened just a fraction, barely noticeable to anyone, and the corners of his lips turned upwards faintly.

 

“…Thank you, Kagami-kun.”

 

“Don’t sweat it, Kuroko.” Grinning widely at the bluenette, Kagami bit his hamburger once again, munching on it animatedly afterwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title came from the lyrics of "Hengenjizai no Magical Star" by GRANRODEO.


	4. There's no escape, not even for that "shadow"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Konbanwa, minna-san!
> 
> Get ready for one more hell of a ride! Also: CLIFFHANGER ALLERT! (at least for the next few chapters - although not even I myself know when they will end). I guess I do enjoy making you suffer, hihihi.
> 
> (I'm such a naughty little child - wait, I'm no longer a child - I something worder when I will get murdered for writting such chapters)

_The one that brings all this to naught..._

 

_Or to an even bigger scale._

 

_That's your mission._

 

_That's your choice._

 

_Awaken, oh "Phantom"._

 

_Awaken and destroy everything!_

 

-.-

 

"NOOO!"

 

Panting heavily, skin coated in sweat, causing both his clothes and the blankets of the bed to stick to his body, Kuroko suddenly woke up from his terrible dream.

 

He brought his hands up and covered his face with them, while heaving terribly.

 

'Awaken and destroy everything...' That was... new. That was the first time the voice had said that sentence.

 

He yanked the blankets and jumped out of bed, undressing himself on the way to the bathroom. Hastily entering the shower, he turned the hot water on to the max. Scrubbing himself with his hands, he cleaned himself from all the sweat he had released during his sleep.

 

Coming to a halt, he cautiously looked down at his trembling wet hands. They were clean. There was nothing there, nothing dirtying his pale skin.

 

"It hurts..." he muttered, the hot water scalding his skin. Yet he didn't turn off the water coming from above, nor did he made any effort to lessen the temperature. He just stood there, thinking about the dream.

 

_Just what exactly has changed from before...?_

 

-.-

 

The heavy silence in the room was disturbed by the turning of a page.

 

Momoi felt her heart thumping loudly due to the nerves of standing before Akashi Seijuurou, all alone with him in a closed room. The redhead didn't seem to even notice her presence there, as he read the data she had gathered for him.

 

She was even surprised at herself. It took her one full week to gather information on a single individual, and all she managed to get was a bunch of dubious backdoor info that may or may not be still valid. Never once has she had such a hard time getting data.

 

"This is all you got on him?" asked Akashi, prompting his red eye up to peered at Momoi.

 

"Y-Yes, Akashi-kun," she stuttered, not wanting to get on the bad side of the redhead. Nobody wanted to be on the bad side of an Akashi, much less  _the_ Akashi Seijuurou.

 

Akashi gave a slight hum, and put the two pages of data on the table. "Tell them to come in."

 

"Yes, right away!" Momoi jumped forward, anxious to let anyone step in the room, just for the relief of not having to be the only one together with the redhead.

 

The pink haired girl opened the door of the main office and signaled the other four "Miracles" to come in.

 

"You've been setting up these meetings way too frequently, Akashi." The tanned student spat, hiding a tired yawn behind his hand. "Did it ever cross your mind that I wish to sleep for once?"

 

Behind him came the purple haired giant, Murasakibara Atsushi, followed by the ever cheerful blonde, Kise Ryouta, and the spectacled green head, Midorima Shintarou.

 

When they were all settled in their usual spots in the room, Aomine with his back pressed against the wall, using his usual frown, and Murasakibara near the table that was prepared specifically for him to use to eat his snacks (Akashi didn't like to see crumbs of food spread all over the floor, so he ordered Murasakibara to just sit there and eat whatever he wanted when he was in the office), Akashi got up from his cushioned chair and stepped away from his desk, closing the curtains of the window behind him.

 

"Gentleman," he began, turning back to look at each one of the 'Miracles'. "I've found it."

 

They exchanged mutual glances between them, wondering what exactly the redhead was getting at.

 

"More precisely, I've found  _him_."

 

"Wait, seriously!? Akashicchi, that's awesome!" animatedly cheered the blonde.

 

"After searching for _him_  for almost a year, you're telling us that you managed to find  _him_ ," pushing his glasses back to their place, Midorima gave out a slight sigh. "I do wonder just what kind of rock he was under to manage to stay hidden for so long."

 

"Actually, he was right here. He's been in Teikou since his first year in middle school."

 

"Seriously...? And not even Satsuki knew about that?" Thinking a little on it, Aomine came to realize something even more amazing than that. "Wait, then he's managed to stay right under our noses for three whole fucking years, and we knew nothing of it!?"

 

"Well, when he managed to get away from us a year ago on  _that_ night, we didn't even catch a glance of his appearance," munching on some cookies, Murasakibara pointed out. "He could even have been in the same class as us, and we wouldn't know."

 

"At least as long as he didn't enter in contact with us," declared Akashi. "When I met him yesterday, I felt this prickling sensation all over my body when I touched him."

 

"'Met him yesterday'..." pondered Midorima while listening to the redhead. "Wait, you mean that boy you clashed with yesterday was  _him_!?"

 

Akashi smirked, his golden eye glowing. "Indeed." He inclined slightly over his desk, and caught the papers that Momoi had delivered to him that morning. "A freshman in high school, just like us... Kuroko Tetsuya. 16 years old. Up until his 3rd year in middle school he stayed in Seirin Dorm. Currently staying at: unknown. Class: unknown. Ability: unknown. Appearance: unknown. Though that may already have been revealed to both me and Shintarou."

 

"Uwah, how lucky~ You already know what he looks like. How is he, this Kuroko Tetsuya?" asked the blonde, picking a cookie from the tray next to Murasakibara, gaining from him a glare.

 

"He's roughly around 160cm, blue hair and eyes, pale skin. Doesn't seem to be the athletic type. Actually, he looks kind of frail," noted the redhead, while glancing at the papers in his hand.

 

"How come someone like him - hey, Kise-chin, that's mine! - has managed to stay out of our radar for so long?" questioned the purple haired giant.

 

"We don't even know his ability, so it could be something along the lines of invisibility or erasing his presence," pointed out Midorima.

 

"Anyway," imposed the redhead, stopping the blabbering of his companions. "We know he's here. That's a first step. He can no longer escape from us. Allowing him to run away  _that_ night was our terrible mistake, but that can be corrected now. He will realize soon that there's no other alternative than coming to us."

 

The other four "Miracles" just looked back at the redhead, as a malicious smirk painted his features.

 

_'The Phantom' will finally be mine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "F.O.V. (Field of View)" by Suzuki Tatsuhisa (our little Takao Kazunari that has yet to make his debut in this work).


	5. You believe you can oppose me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hai, hai, here's the chapter of the day!
> 
> I still haven't come up with a schedule to release these, but there's probably going to be a daily release for the time being (or two, depending on my schedule of the day).
> 
> Just for the warning: MAJOR CLIFFHANGER ALLERT!!! I'm not kidding, I will get yelled at for this one, I just know it...

Kuroko stood in front of the main gate, pondering if it was really safe right now to come to school. He wouldn't be missed even if he didn't come, but his ability seemed to have calm down to some extent, so he could continue to maintain his invisibility. That lessened the risk of being spotted by any of  _them_.

 

He knew their habits by memory, but he didn't knew which class they were in, so there was a slight risk of wandering too close to one of their classrooms by mistake. He knew better than come close to the infirmary, where Midorima Shintarou would be during the recess, as he was a member of the health department. Murasakibara Atsushi would be near the vending machines or in the canteen, due to his overly large appetite. Kise Ryouta was going to be the easiest to deflect, since he was always surrounded by noisy girls, due to his popularity as a model. Aomine Daiki didn't make a deal of school and rarely came, but when he did, he spent a lot of time in the gyms playing basketball. As for Akashi Seijuurou... well, he could be anywhere.

 

Even after spending three whole years observing their movements as a countermeasure, he still couldn't quite figure out the redhead's way of thinking or his habits. He sometimes would stay in his classroom playing shogi, alone or with Midorima, or just go to the Student Council office, to deal with his duties as the Student Council president. And as the president, he could either be doing office work or going around the school grounds to address any of his official duties.

 

And that... made him unpredictable.

 

Well, for lack of better choice, he choose to go to school. By this time of the day, there shouldn't still be a lot of students there, so he could go about peacefully to find some information on which classes they were in. All he had to do was sneak into the teacher's lodge and read each of the classes logbooks to pinpoint the five "Miracles".

 

He walked the hallways of the school calmly, but his head was in turmoil. He wasn't fearing that he could get caught sneaking into the teacher's lodge. It was the possibility that one of the classes near his classroom could house one of the "Miracles". If that came true, what was he supposed to do? How could he keep himself safe from them?

 

As he was mulling over this matter, he arrived to the teacher's lodge and looked closely to the door. He got close to it and opened a small gap, peering inside to survey if there was any teacher there. Nobody was in the room.

 

He released a small sigh, and opened the door completely, stepping inside the room and closing the door after himself.

 

Kuroko went over to the shelf where the students logbooks were stored during the inactive lecture's time, and took the first logbook in his hands. Opening the stack of papers, he read the names written in the front page.

 

"You sure can be predictable, Kuroko Tetsuya."

 

Startled by the sudden voice, he dropped the logbook and hastily turned around to face the source of it.

 

At that moment, he thought his heart was about to stop for what seemed the thousandth time since this school year began... and it was only the second day, if that meant something.

 

Staring at him, with his arms crossed over his chest, was Akashi Seijuurou. Those red and golden eyes were analyzing him, taking every feature in and committing it to memory.

 

_I have to run away!_

 

They knew who he was, so for sure he would be easier to find now. They would come for him. They will, definitely. And then  _that_ night will repeat itself once again.

 

It was already repeating, at least in his mind.

 

The moon that shined with an eerie red glow, as it disappeared into an eclipse.

 

His hands covered in blood... No, all of him was covered in blood.

 

The people who had been slaughtered, in front of him, by...

 

 _His_ dead corpse, destroyed beyond recognition.

 

And then those red and golden eyes seeking for him.

 

 _Snap out of it_ , he tells himself. He needed to remain calm if he wanted to escape right now. Freaking out would definitely not help the predicament he was in.

 

He clenched his trembling hands, forming two fists. Taking a shaky deep breath, he unclenched his hands.

 

Dropping to his knees, he picked up the fallen logbook and put it back on its place in the shelf.

 

He then turned his back to the shelves and faced the redhead, who was still trying to read into his mind.

 

The bluenette took a step forward, then stopped.  _There's no way I can do this!_ He internally was panicking, despite continuing to show his expressionless face in the exterior. Measuring his options carefully, he gave a quick glance to the door that led to the hallway.

 

 _I have no choice but to use 'that'._ He closed his eyes and took a deep breath once again.

 

Akashi continued observing the bluenette. The redhead knew full well that it was impossible to predict a person they never met before, especially one that managed to evade him for so long. But if he knew better than that...

 

Suddenly, the bluenette disappeared from his view. Surprised by the unexpected move he made, Akashi looked around the room.

 

But... if he knew better than  _that_.

 

Lunging his hand forward, he caught a hold of what he could tell it was a scrawny wrist. Then he felt it again. The prickling electricity coursing through his whole body, from head to toes.

 

He blinked and when he opened his eyes again, he was looking at the shocked face of the bluenette.

 

Kuroko was speechless. He used  _that_ , but the redhead still managed to catch him.  _That's a "Miracles" for you,_ he internally mumbled, trying to remain calm.

 

The bluenette tried to pull his wrist away, out of Akashi's touch. Out of that prickling sensation coursing through his entire body and making him weak. But that only made the redhead intensify his hold on him.

 

Kuroko gave a tentative glance at the door that was just a step away from him. He was just a step away from freedom.

 

"You want to run away?" breathed the redhead, locking his eyes on Kuroko's. Pulling his wrist up, Akashi used the sudden instability that the unexpected tug caused to the pale boy, and pinned him against the door, with his wrist secured above the bluenette's head. "Well, now you can't."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Final Emperor" by Kamiya Hiroshi (our devilish, sexy Akashi fucking Seijuurou!)
> 
> Speaking of "Final Emperor", I'm totally addicted to the remix they did of that song for the Solo Mini Album of Akashi. It's just... on a godly level!! His voice is just so... eroppoi~ *melts away*


	6. You say you refuse to submit, but that was never even an option

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohayou, minna-san! Here's the chapter of the day.
> 
> Today I wanted to bring you a challenge of some sort... or more like, a game!
> 
> Challenge:  
> The title of tomorrow's chapter is - Your expression says, "Nothing's changed yet, has it?"  
> Who's the character that is going to be introduced?
> 
> Rules:  
> Anyone is free to participate, and there's no limit on the guesses you can make. One character per guess.
> 
> Time limit:  
> Until someone guesses who the character is, or until I post the said chapter.
> 
> Reward to the winner:  
> A short fanfiction in the KnB verse, any pairing possible. Though there are some themes that I refuse to write about, you are pretty free to choose any promps you wish. One-shot is recommended, but length can be discussed.
> 
> Well, let's have some fun, shall we? *evil grin*
> 
> EDIT: Okay, guys. This quest has been completed! Please check out the comments of this chapter to see who won the prize and, of course, who the mystery character is!!!

For lack of better words, Kuroko was in deep shit.

 

Hand pulled over his head by a forceful grip... His teal eyes locked in red and golden ones... The electrifying pulsations alerting every cell of his body... Yes, he was definitely in trouble.

 

What was he supposed to do now? He had a desperate need to flee, but he just felt so weak, so tired. He had been running from the inevitable ever since  _that_ night one year ago. Kuroko knew the "Miracles" wouldn't give up on what they wanted that easily, and he didn't really gave them enough reasons to.

 

"Are you ready to give up now?" questioned the redhead, tightening his grip on the frail wrist as if to declare that he wasn't going to let go anytime soon. "You do realize you have nowhere to run to, right?"

 

Kuroko opened his mouth to answer, but only then did he realize he had been holding his breath in. He tried to form words, however not a sound came out from his vocal cords. By the panicking state he was in, it was futile to even try to use  _it_ again. He was running out of options he could use to get away from this predicament.

 

Frailly, he lifted his free hand up and was about to try to push Akashi's chest away, but the action was read right away by the redhead, who also used his free hand and caught it, pinning it together with his other restricted wrist.

 

"Shall I say out loud what you're thinking right now?"

 

Kuroko's eyes widened abruptly, and he shifted his arms, trying to lessen the horrifying grip on them. Responding to that, Akashi stepped forward and closed their distance to mere inches, the bluenette's quickened breathes mingling with the redhead's calm ones.

 

"'I want to escape.' 'I don't want to be caught by them.'" The redhead smirked darkly as he could tell from Kuroko's expression that he was right on point. His golden eye flickered briefly, and Akashi closed even more their distance, whispering in the bluenette's ear. "'I don't want to remember what happened that nig--"

 

"Shut up!" abruptly yelled the pale boy. His breathing was even more ragged, and his heart was on the verge of exploding. "Shut up... when you don't even kn--"

 

"Oh, but I do. I was there after all," interrupted Akashi. Their bodies at this point were almost glued to each other, worsening the prickling sensation they both felt. "That night when the moon eclipsed, glowing red. The night where so many people were broken. You included, from what I can see."

 

The teal of Kuroko's eyes were a tempest of emotions. Anger... Confusion... Sadness... Hatred... He shifted forward violently, trying to break the hold on him by force, but the redhead was clearly stronger than him.

 

"Stop," commanded Akashi, staring at those emotion-filled clear eyes.

 

Though, inexplicably to the redhead, Kuroko didn't obey him. He continued fighting againt the hold on him even more after hearing the command.

 

The redhead's eyes widened but a fraction, and he tightened his grip on Kuroko's wrists once more, to the point where his prisoner released a conflicted low gasp.

 

 _There's no way this is possible..._ Akashi had made a basic command, while staring directly at the pale boy's eyes. That alone would make any person obey him. Nobody was an exception to his ability. Not even the other "Miracles" could oppose him. He had absolute control over everything and everyone. That's simply the way the world worked. And yet...

 

Just now, Kuroko Tetsuya clearly didn't follow his order.

 

His golden eye flickered more intensely, the corner of his lips turning upwards to form a smirk.  _Interesting..._

 

He gave a last squeeze to the pale boy's wrists and then released them, taking a step backwards, always keeping eye contact with his blue eyes. Silence ruled the teacher's lodge, only disturbed by the quick gasps Kuroko made for oxygen.

 

"You should review the events of  _that_ night again," finally said Akashi, breaking the awkward silence between them. "We're not the monsters you make us be. But remember one thing, Tetsuya. In the end, you will come to us. You will come to  _me_."

 

Kuroko glared at the redhead, and slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry for saying this, but that's impossible. There is no way I'm going to join you, much less help you with your plans."

 

Giving off a knowing smirk, Akashi just shrugged. "Really? We shall see then."

 

Kuroko turned his back to the redhead, and opened the door that lead to the hallway. He was motioning to leave the teacher's lodge, when he was stopped by the redhead's next words.

 

"Shintarou and I are in class 1, Atsushi is in class 3, Ryouta in 4, and Daiki is in the class next to yours, class 7." Kuroko wordlessly peered at the redhead, surprised that he willingly gave him the information he had come for. "What? Wasn't for this that you sneaked into the teacher's lodge?"

 

Kuroko moved on, stepping into the hallway and leaving Akashi behind. "An Akashi is always right. You will become ours. You will become  _mine_." However, it wasn't clear to the redhead if the bluenette had listened to that last sentence, as it was nothing more than a soft whisper.

 

Akashi looked down at his hands.

 

_His wrists... were really thin..._

 

-.-

 

When Kuroko noticed, he was running down the hallway that lead to the exit of the main building. He was exhausted, both physically and mentally, but his body refused to stop or even slow down.

 

He continued to run, thinking that the next step would be the last and he could rest for a while. But he still moved his legs and gave a new step... and then another... and another.

 

_'We're not the monsters you make us be.'_

 

Kuroko closed his eyes tightly and turned to the left to take the intersection, but he was greeted by a hard wall.

 

"Uff," gasped the bluenette as he tumbled to the floor.

 

"Oh, sorr-- Huh, Kuroko?"

 

The hard wall he had crashed against turned out to be Kagami Taiga, his classmate and, apparently, new found friend.

 

"K-Kagami-kun," exclaimed Kuroko, breathing heavily. He tried to pick himself up, but his knees buckled and he fell once againt to the cold floor.

 

"Wai-- What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell or something?" panicked the taller male.

 

"No... I-I just... need to... rest for a while," gasped the pale boy, trying to control his ragged breathing.

 

However, as Kuroko tried to focus his vision on Kagami, his surroundings started to blur, the world was swirling around, and he felt his consciousness slowly fading away.

 

_Akashi is right..._

 

"Oi, Kuroko! Hey!" yelled alarmingly the redhead, as Kuroko abruptly lighted out.

 

_The real monster in all this..._

 

_...is me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of the chapter came from "Final Emperor" by Kamiya Hiroshi (our calculating Akashi-kun)
> 
> I can't believe myself... I actually managed to write some slight sexual tension. I'm so proud of myself. Back in the old days, when I started writing BL themed works, I almost couldn't describe what sexual tension between two characters was, and now... *wipes tears* I've came a long way...


	7. Your expression says, "Nothing's changed yet, has it?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hai, hai, here's another update.
> 
> I was only planning to release it tomorrow morning, but I had such marvelous response from you guys for the challenge, and since someone completed it... Here it is.
> 
> Warning: ANOTHER FREAKING MAJOR CLIFFHANGER
> 
> Please, enjoy *evil smirk*

Midorima was organizing the bandages and ligatures in their respective shelves. He always wondered how he needed to do that every morning, when he only excused himself from the infirmary during classes, when he had to attend his meetings with the other "Miracles" or when he had to deal with a certain raiven haired student.

 

Now that he thought about it, the infirmary was messier in the days after that specific raiven haired student stopped by for whatever excuse crossed his mind. He truly needed to have a conversation with him the next time they met.

 

 _Which can be any minute now,_ mumbled internally the green haired boy, as he took a quick glance at the clock in the wall. No, wait, he wasn't waiting or wishing for him to come. He wasn't, okay!?

 

He halted his movements when he heard heavy footsteps approaching the infirmary and turned to the door. But the footsteps seemed to have passed by the door and were getting further away, so he resumed his work. However, the footsteps returned backwards and when he was about to turn to the door once again, a loud  _bang_ crashed against it. By the large sound of whatever clashed against the door, it couldn't have come out of it without any injury.

 

He approached the dor and when he was about to touch the handle, the door opened suddenly, revealing a large redhead breathing heavily, with an even redder bump on his forehead.

 

_He must have come head first against the door. What an idiot..._

 

"He-- Owowow..." grumbled the redhead while crouching down.

 

"'He--'?" repeated Midorima.

 

"Help!"

 

Midorima adjusted his glasses and looked at the student before him, searching for any injuries (other than the growing bump on his forehead, that it). "I won't know what's wrong with you if you only say 'help' but come in anyway."

 

"No, it's not me, it's him!" yelled the redhead, pointing at his back.

 

"'Him'?" questioned the green haired boy. He only saw one person standing before him, but when he focused his gaze on the direction that the male was pointing at, he saw something blue resting on his back.

 

_That's...!_

 

Midorima adjusted his glasses again, and turned around, giving space for the redhead to come inside. "Put him in that bed, carefully."

 

"Y-Yes!"

 

The redhead entered the infirmary and softly removed the boy, who Midorima could only guess was the one Akashi had called "Kuroko Tetsuya", the one they, the "Miracles", have been chasing for close to a year, and very gently put him on the bed.

 

"What happened?" he questioned as he put some silicone gloves on.

 

"I was walking to the classroom and he just came crashing against me. He passed out a moment later," panicked the redhead. "He was really short of breath, but I don't know if he was that way 'cause he was running or not. I don't think he hit his head, but I'm not sure."

 

"I see."

 

Midorima stepped closer to the bed, while adjusting the gloves, and lunged his hand forward to remove the hair covering the bluenette's features. As light as the touch was, he felt a sudden electrifying current course through his whole body.

 

_So this is the prickling sensation Akashi mentioned. This boy really is Kuroko Tetsuya._

 

He examined the boy carefully, but didn't find any external injuries. He figured the boy had probably passed out due to hyperventilation, seeing as he was wheezing slightly, even in his sleep.

 

"I-Is he okay?" asked the redhead, clearly still alarmed.

 

"Yes, it seems he only passed out due to hyperventilation and exhaustion." The green haired boy looked at the worried expression on the redhead and sighed. "He's fine, we just need to wait for him to wake up."

 

The redhead sighed in relief, and looked over at the bluenette, still with a troubled expression on his face.

 

-.-

 

He was in a dark, very dark room.

 

He could hear the splash of water under his feet as he walked around but couldn't see whatever he was stepping on nor in what direction he was going.

 

He couldn't see anything, but he knew his vision was blurred.

 

He kept walking, and walking, and walking.

 

_"You're here again?"_

 

He felt a slight pressure on his shoulders and two hands emerged from the darkness, embracing him from behind.

 

_"You haven't come around here for quite a while. I was starting to get worried that you had forgotten me."_

 

The hands clutched on his clothes and pulled him closer. He could feel their coldness even with the fabric protecting his skin.

 

A hand trailed his chest, going up his neck to finally cup his cheek. As the hand caressed his skin, a distorced face came from the blur of darkness around him.

 

Cold and chapped lips came in contact with his soft, warm ones, so lightly it was barely a touch.

 

_"I missed you, Kuroko."_

 

The boy smiled in the way that only he could. As if nothing in the past mattered to him, and only the present... only that moment where they were together was the important thing.

 

"Ogiwara-kun..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "Tomorrow Never Lies" by One Kenshou (you know already who he voices right) and Ono Yuuki (our panicking little tiger).
> 
> I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Kuroko... Please forgive me for doing this to you.


	8. Everything is within my field of view

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hai, hai, here's another update! It's a little late, I had some troubles with my computer (baka Ren! - my computer's name)
> 
> Just a quick update on my progress:  
> \- The chapters up until now (and the few next ones) are kind of like the prologue of the story. The good stuff is still yet to come ;D (Which means - expect a very big fanfiction!)  
> \- I've started "constructing" four new fics: three in the KnB universe (one of which is more like a collecting of one-shots), and the fourth one is in the Haikyuu!! universe. Don't expect any of them any time soon. As I said I'm "constructing" them, not writing them yet. When I start updating them, they will probably come one chapter per week, since my major fic right now is "Shattered Miracles".
> 
> Well, enjoy~

"Ku- ko- ro- Ku-!"

 

He could hear a voice calling for him. It was a rough voice, but something about it made him feel calm. Made him feel safe... even though he knew perfectly well that right now he was anything but that.

 

"Kuro-!"

 

Again... There is was again. The voice was warm, full of strength... full of light. Nothing like the voice he was used to hear during his dreams.

 

_I wonder... if I could touch that light... what would happen to me?_

 

"Kuroko!"

 

Kuroko suddenly opened his eyes, and saw a blurry mass of dark red in front of him. He looked around, trying to figure out where he was. There were beds around, and shelves with medical instruments. It was similar to a... infirmary.  _Oh no, don't tell me..._

 

"Kuroko! You finally woke up!" The dark red mass that he had wake up to turned out to be Kagami Taiga.

 

"Kagami-kun..." breathed softly the bluenette. His voice came out weaker than he intended it to be.

 

"Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere? Did you hit your head when you crashed against me!?" panicked the taller male.

 

"No... I'm fine..." Kuroko brought his hand up and touched his face, as there was something warm and wet going through his features.

 

"But... you're crying..."

 

"Ah... no..." The bluenette hastily rubbed his tears away and pushed inside the ones that were threatening to escape. "This is just... I was--"

 

He looked in front, trying to escape the warm and worried stare of his friend, when he met a calculating green one. The bluenette couldn't help the gasp that came out loudly from his mouth.

 

His fears had come true. He had stepped in one of their territories and now he fell in a new trap. He fell into their grasp once again. He was in Midorima Shintarou's territory now.

 

He was feeling observed. Once again, one of the "Miracles" was analyzing him. First it had been Akashi, and now it was Midorima's turn. He hated it. The feeling of eyes locked on him. The feeling that his presence was open to everyone. Kuroko feebly wished in the roots of his mind if he could just disappear. Become permanently invisible.

 

The green haired boy moved from near the nurse's desk and stepped forward, walking in Kuroko's direction.

 

He could feel his body start to tremble, memories once again surfacing in his mind. He recalled Midorima's ability, perfect shooting, and the way he had used it  _that_ night, to render  _him_ completely useless.

 

The bluenette inched away, his back clashing against the headboard of the bed. As the green haired boy's hand moved forward to touch him, he opened his mouth to speak, to try to stop him. But once again, no words came forward. His teal eyes were completely open, dilated, as he started feeling a new wave of panic deep inside his core. His breathing started to pick up again.

 

"Wait," Kagami stepped in, grabbing the green haired boy's arm before he could lay a finger in Kuroko.

 

The tension in the room escalated even more.

 

Kagami couldn't quite put his finger on it, but even he could sense there was something wrong going on between the green haired student and Kuroko. The bluenette's frightened expression was a clear proof of that.

 

"You've already observed him, there's no need to do it again, right?" pointed out the redhead.

 

The two males mutually glared at each other.

 

"That's right," Midorima declared, pulling his arm from the tight grip of Kagami's hand. "But now that he's awake I need to--"

 

"Shin-chan, I'm home~!" The door to the infirmary suddenly burst open, and a raiven haired student came in. He just stood there, with his arms wide open, as if waiting for a hug that even he himself knew would never come. He blinked twice as the tense silence going around in the room. "U-Um, am I interrupting something?"

 

"Takao..."

 

"Y-Yes!" the raiven haired student flinched, as he heard the dark glint in the green haired boy's voice.

 

"How many times have I told you to come in quietly!? There may be students here that need to rest, you fool!" reprimanded Midorima, adjusting his glasses.

 

"A-Ah~ Sorry, Shin-chan~ Please forgive your darling once again~"

 

"Who exactly are you calling 'my darling'...?" admonished the green haired boy.

 

"Me of course~ I'm your darling and you're my darling~" grinned widely the raiven haired student.

 

"Fool..." the green haired boy muttered while turning his back to him, with his cheeks slightly pink.

 

"So, what kind of patients do you have today?" the raiven haired student approached the pair that had been listening to the (weird) exchange of words between them. "Hmm? Oh-oh~ A wild tiger and... a shadow?"

 

Both the bluenette and the green haired boy twitched slightly at the word 'shadow'. And that didn't pass through the sharp eyes of the raiven haired student.

 

Kuroko feebly lifted the blanket covering his lower half and moved forward to get up from the bed. As he put his feet on the floor and motioned up, his knees buckled up once again, and he would have fallen if not for the quick actions of Kagami, that supported his weight.

 

"Oi, Kuroko, you should rest some more. But..." He caught a hold of Kuroko's waist and pulled him to his chest, picking him up. "...I don't think you can really relax here."

 

"Kagami-ku--" started the bluenette, but was interrupted when the redhead shifted his body so that the hold on him could become more comfortable.

 

"Thanks for observing him, but we're gonna take our leave now," Kagami told the green haired boy and motioned in the door's direction. "Woah, you're really light! Almost like a child. Do you even eat?"

 

"Shut up, Kagami-kun," pouted slightly the bluenette.

 

"Kuroko," called forward Midorima. Kagami came to a halt as he opened to door, and Kuroko hesitantly peeked at the green haired boy. "You may have been able to stay hidden for all this time, but the circumstances are different now.  _We_ know who you are, so it's only a matter of time. Or so said Akashi."

 

The bluenette clenched his fists on Kagami's shirt, burying his trembling fingers on the fabric. Kagami peered at Kuroko's expression and saw the dread on his features.

 

"Let's go, Kuroko." The redhead completely opened the door and stepped outside, closing it with a little more strength than when he opened it.

 

Takao whistled, putting his hands behind his head, as he walked closer to Midorima.

 

"Takao," called the taller male.

 

"Yes, Shin-chan?"

 

"Do you know that blue haired kid? You called him a 'shadow'."

 

"Ahh. Well, he was in my class in second year of middle school. He has really low presence so pretty much all the class didn't even know he was there. That's why I normally refer to him as a 'shadow'," cheerfully informed the raiven haired boy.

 

"So that means you can see him?" questioned further Midorima, adjusting his glasses.

 

"Of course, Shin-chan~" Takao lunged in and hugged the taller male, smiling. "I'm the 'Hawk Eye', after all~"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "F.O.V (Field of View)" by Suzuki Tatsuhisa (our Kazu-chan that finally made his debut!!)
> 
> No, seriously, this is AkaKuro, not KagaKuro. Kagami and Kuroko are and will always only be in the bromance field (a very strong one, if you ask me).


	9. The unknown world has just started to write its ideals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Konnichiwa, minna-san! Here's the chapter of the day.
> 
> As usual... Warning: CLIFFHANGER (of some sort)  
> Please expect to yell at me from your seats for the next few chapters. They are quite... interesting *smirks*
> 
> Well, please enjoy :D

Kagami was returning back to his apartment in Seirin dorm, walking as fast as he could without moving his upper body. Half way through, when he looked down to see how Kuroko was faring, the boy had fallen asleep once again.

 

Even though that was the case, he was still squirming around and his breathing was pitched. His frail hands were clutching at Kagami's uniform, with such strength that his knuckles were white, even paler than his usual coloring.

 

As he climbed the stairs of his bock in Seirin dorm, he passed by one of the older students staying there. If he recalled, his name was...

 

"Kiyoshi-senpai."

 

"Oh, Kagami! How's it going?" greeted the older male. "Oh, why are you here at this time of the day? Shouldn't you be in classes? Ah, is it that? You trying to act as a delinquent? My, what a bad boy."

 

"Stop joking...! Ah, I mean, please don't joke like that, senpai." He reached his door and was about to motion his hand down his pocket to grab his apartment's keys, but he remembered he was carrying Kuroko right now. "Ah, senpai, wait! Please."

 

"What is it?"

 

"Could you help me open the door?"

 

"Eh?" questioned Kiyoshi. He looked at the redhead, and it appeared he was carrying something on his arms but he couldn't see what it was. He approached Kagami and peeked at what he was so protectively securing. "Kagami, you know that you can't bring girls to your room, right?"

 

"It's a he! And he's a student here!" blushed the redhead.

 

"Oh, that's right. He's got the same uniform as us." Kiyoshi looked closer to the bluenette, and tilted his head. "I've never seen him before. What dorm is he from? No, wait, is he okay? He's squirming like crazy there!"

 

"I'm not really sure..."

 

Kiyoshi looked at Kagami's worried face as he peered at Kuroko and shifted the bluenette's body up to put him in a more comfortable position. He smiled and gave a light slap on the redhead's shoulder (which for someone of his size could come out with a little too much strength).

 

"Sure, I'll help you. What do you need?"

 

"First open... ah, please open the door. They keys are in my pants' pocket."

 

Kiyoshi put his hand on Kagami's pocket and took the keys, using them to unlock the door. "Done! Need anything else?"

 

"No, thank you, Kiyoshi-senpai." The redhead bowed slightly his head, and was motioning forward to enter his apartment when he came to a stop and looked over at his senior again. "Actually, there's something I wanted to ask."

 

-.-

 

After putting Kuroko in his bed and covering him with some of the blankets, he got out of the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

 

"Do you want something to drink? Coffee?" asked the redhead to his senior.

 

"Coffee? Too bitter. Give me something sweet," asked the redhead to his senior.

 

"I don't have anything like that! Just make do with coffee! Please."

 

"Sure, if it comes with lots of sugar and cream."

 

Kagami grunted under his breath, but still went to the kitchenette attached to the living room and prepared coffee, one cup for him, black, and other for Kiyoshi, with two spoons of sugar and cream.

 

"Here," he handed the mug to the older boy.

 

"Thanks." Kiyoshi took the mug in his hand and tasted the drink, muttering a soft "bitter" and sticking his tongue out slightly after.

 

Kagami only stared at the cup he was holding on with both of his hands.

 

"So, what did you want to know? If you're going to ask me for love counseling, you've came to the wrong person." Kiyoshi half joked, as he remembered a certain glass-wearing student out of the top of his head.

 

"As if!" The redhead motioned to fervently gulp down his drink, with a slight blush on his face. "It's about Kuroko."

 

"Kuroko? Oh, the boy you were carrying. I don't know him."

 

"It's not that. Today when I carried him to the infirmary, there was this green haired, glasses wearing student there. Do you know who he is?"

 

"Green haired? Glasses?" Kiyoshi touched his chin with the tip of his fingers as he thought about it. "In the infirmary? Oh, that must be Midorima Shintarou."

 

"Midorima Shintarou?" questioned Kagami.

 

"What, you never heard of him? He's one of  _them_. One of the 'Miracles'."

 

"Eh? You mean that dumb looking guy is one of the most powerful 'Users'!?"

 

-.-

 

Midorima was locking the door of the infirmary, since there was no one to take care of it during that particular period during classes, when he sneezed.

 

"What's this, Shin-chan~ Caught a cold?" grinned the raiven haired student.

 

"Shut up, Takao," sniffled the green haired boy.

 

-.-

 

"What about him?" questioned Kiyoshi.

 

Kagami seemed a little hesitant on what to say next. He gave a long glance at the door of his bedroom while sipping on some coffee. "It's just that... The reaction Kuroko had when he saw him, and the words that this Midorima guy directed at him... They're weird."

 

"Weird?"

 

"Yeah. Kuroko looked like he was looking at a nightmare incarnated in a person's body," tried to explain the redhead.

 

"It could only be that he sensed Midorima's strength and got scared," pointed out the older male.

 

"I would think that too, if not for that guy's parting words. It almost seemed as if they knew each other."

 

"Hmm... From what I know, it's not really a habit for the 'Miracles' to get friendly with other 'Users', save for some exceptions, that is. They have this kind of aura that says 'get closer and I'll bite you'." Kiyoshi paused, giving it another thought. "I guess they just approach those that they deem as worthy of their time. What's the kid's ability?"

 

"When I asked him, he didn't give me an actual answer, but I know that it's something along the lines of invisibility."

 

Kiyoshi sipped some coffee while listening to the redhead's words. "Hmm? As far as I know, the only person in Teikou that has an invisibility ability is Mayuzumi Chihiro, from Rakuzan dorm. Are you sure about that?"

 

"Eh? But he just disappears from my sight all the time and honestly I don't think neither our classmates nor our teachers know when he's there or not. I mean, I can't even smell him or his strength."

 

Kiyoshi observed Kagami while he gave another worried glance at his bedroom's door. He sighed.

 

"You know, just like the 'Miracles', but not to that big of a scale, there is another group of 'Users' who were gifted enough to stand out. They're called 'The Uncrowned Kings'. It's a nasty nickname, if you ask me, but quite accurate. If the 'Miracles' didn't awoken, they would be the ones referred to as 'Miracles'. There are five of them: Hanamiya Makoto, Mibuchi Reo, Hayama Kotarou, Nebuya Eikichi, and me."

 

"Eh!? Senpai, you're that powerful?" Gaping his mouth, the redhead seemed quite surprised, leading Kiyoshi to give out a small chuckle. But he quickly regained his composure and cleared his throat.

 

"That said, I know a little more than what is revealed to other 'Users'. I may know a little something about Kuroko, if what you're telling me is true. Though it's nothing more than a theory."

 

"Please tell me more! I... I want to help him!"

 

Kiyoshi was really surprised by Kagami's attitude. Kagami was a straightforward person, but he tended to act as a lone wolf. He understood that Kagami may have been acting that way because he had been in another country for so long, living in a different culture of what Japan was. But for the "Wild Tiger" of Seirin to be so gung-ho on helping someone that he most likely knew for a very short time...

 

_You have grown up, Kagami._

 

The older male's features went from surprised to serious in a blink of an eye, as he put the coffee mug down in the small table in front of the sofa he was sitting on, and crossed his hands to rest his chin on them.

 

"There's a rumored ability user that no one knows if he's real or not. He's called 'The Phantom'. No one knows what his ability is, but from what they say... he's powerful enough to take on the 'Miracles'." Kiyoshi made a sudden pause, and then continued. "The one known as 'The Phantom' is the said responsible for  _that_ night one year ago. The 'Bloody Night'."

 

Kagami gulped. He wasn't in Tokyo when that happened, but he had heard all about it.

 

The "Bloody Night" was a night where Hell had broken loose. The "Miracles" stepped in to defend Teikou and the other "Users" from an unknown danger that threatened to erase the entire Tokyo area. It did to some degrees. There was an area that was currently unoccupied due to the damages; they were so brutal that the scientist that study the abilities had announced that that piece of land could never be used again. "Anything that comes within 50 meters from that spot disappears," they said.

 

On that night, the moon turned to a red glow and hundreds, if not thousands, of people were killed, both normal humans and "Users". The "Miracles" were sent to apprehend the culprit and stop him, and they had orders that if that didn't work, they could eliminate it. But in the end, they never found the culprit, and as suddenly as the "Bloody Night" begun, it was over.

 

"If what you're telling me about Kuroko is correct... then it's not that you can't 'smell' his strength. It's just that he's so ridiculously strong you don't even know what you're 'smelling'."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "RIMFIRE" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Kiyoshi and that "certain glasses-wearing student" will have their own moments ;D


	10. If it's supposed to be a wall you are supposed to pass, yet the checkpoint is closed, be aware that you are not alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello! Here's today's chapter.
> 
> Seriously, living in the bonnies is such a troublesome thing... Every time I need to go to town I need to make a 30 min trip by bus (ake 1 freaking hour to go and return). Why did my printer had to decide stop working when I need it to!?
> 
> Okay, okay, enough complaining. I've almost finished writing the 1st Arc of this fic, which will be around 20+ chapters. I'm planning at least 3 more Arcs, with some side stories in between. That should give you an inkling to the size of this fanfictions!

_Drip, drip..._

 

He could hear water dripping down, drop by drop, as if someone had forgotten to fully close a faucet.

 

He was once again walking in the dark room, his naked feet splashing the water underneath. The cold of the liquid was freezing his body, but the hand gripping his own was even colder, sending shivers down his spine.

 

_"Hey, hey, Kuroko! What do you want to do? Do you want to play some basketball? Ah, but we don't have a ball here, not even a court."_

 

He continued walking silently, wandering without a destination in mind. Well, he couldn't even see a palm in front of him, so how could he even define a destination?

 

Suddenly, something tugged his shirt. He looked behind and saw as  _he_ smiled at him.

 

_"Should I create a basketball court for you? Do you want me to do it for you? Would you be happy if I did it?"_

 

 _He_ lifted his hand and slowly traced Kuroko's face, fingers trailing his nose, then his cheek, down to his jaw line, to lower down through his neck until it stopped on his chest, right on top of his heart.

 

 _He_ gave a slight push and Kuroko felt his body slowly moving backwards, as he fell in the cold water.

 

Straddling his hips,  _he_ put both his hands on each side of Kuroko's face and closed their distance.

 

_"Tell me, Kuroko. What is it that you want? What do you wish for me to do? If it's for you, I can do anything. Be it creating a basketball court... be it destroying Tokyo again... If you wish for it, I will do it."_

 

Even more than before,  _he_ moved closer to Kuroko's face, so close he could feel the freezing breath coming out of  _him_.

 

_"Kuroko, I will do anything you want. I belong to you. So..."_

 

Once again, he felt the cold, chapped lips touch his, a slick, wet tongue going through his lower lip.

 

_"So why don't you become mine too?"_

 

-.-

 

He woke up with the noise of food being prepared and a delicious smell coming from the room next to where he was sleeping.

 

Kuroko looked around at his surroundings, not recognizing the place he was at. He wasn't at his room, that was for sure. This room was... well, messy. There were clothes spread all over the place, posters of American basketball players on the walls, and in the corner of the room was a basketball. At least this room had one thing in common with his.

 

The bluenette got up from the bed and walked with shaky steps in the ball's direction. Crouching, he touched with his fingers the soft surface. It had been used to almost its full worn out state. Whoever was its owner put it to good use.

 

He gave a small chuckle when he remembered that he used to do the same. There was even a summer he used up six basketballs.

 

"Ogiwara-kun..."

 

He gasped suddenly, as the name accidentally slipped out of his mouth. Kuroko frowned, recalling the dream he just had. He shouldn't really call it a dream, but more like...

 

His stomach growled loudly and he clutched his body.

 

He got up on his feet again, and walked over to the bedroom's door. He gripped the door's handle, but didn't open it. Should he come out of the room normally, or become "invisible" first? He thought about it momentarily, but the hungry growling continued with the proximity of the mouth-watering smell's origin.

 

He opened the door to be greeted by an explosion of wonderful smells. Working in the kitchenette was the taller redhead, making a stir-fry with some vegetables and meat. Kuroko silently treaded through the living room, passing by the table set for two.

 

"Kagami-kun," called the bluenette beside the taller male.

 

"Woah, Kuroko!" Yelped the redhead, jumping slightly. "Don't sneak out on me like that! Walk like a normal person! You know, making actual sounds when you step the ground."

 

"I walked like I usual do," deadpanned Kuroko.

 

"And that's the problem, idiot! Ah, but you weight as much as a kid so I guess making heavy footsteps may be a little-- Ouch!" Kuroko suddenly grinded the heel of his foot on Kagami's, causing him to almost drop the frying pan.

 

"I'm not a kid," pouted the bluenette (or at least that's what it seemed to Kagami, since he retained the same almost expressioneless face).

 

"That's dangerous! You want me to drop the food!? I'm not making it again, so you'll have to make do without dinner if that happens!" admonished the taller male.

 

"Eh?"

 

"What now?"

 

"You're... making me... dinner?" shyly questioned Kuroko. "Wait, can you even cook?"

 

"That's rude! I'll let you know that I've been preparing my own meals for as long as I can remember, and I'm still alive and kicking! That much is obvious." Kagami peered at Kuroko and saw him trying to stifle a laugh. "Why are you laughing!?"

 

"No, it's just... I never expected to see you cooking while wearing an apron," the bluenette pointed out, stifling another laugh.

 

"Cooking can be messy, and I'm not about to ruin my school uniform so early in the game!" defended Kagami.

 

"You could have just changed, you know?"

 

"But, well, you... you were in the room, and I didn't want to bother you, so..." muttered the redhead under his breath.

 

"You could have come in, though. It's your room to begin with. Ah, but you would probably make a lot of noise going through the mess in the floor," deadpanned Kuroko.

 

Kagami lunged his hand forward and ominously grabbed the top of Kuroko's head, disheveling the soft blue locks of hair... if it could become even more disheveled.

 

"Kuroko, you bastard...! I mean, what's with that hair!? You look like you came out of a car washing machine in a gas station and not out of bed!"

 

"It's always like this when I wake up."

 

"Hmph!" Kagami released his grip on the bluenette's head and faced forward, concentrating again on finishing cooking the food. "Go sit at the table if you're only going to get in my way! And do something about that bedhair!"

 

The redhead heard the soft footsteps as Kuroko walked away.  _What, so you can make sounds when you walk, after all._

 

After some minutes passed, Kagami brought to the table a large (and when it says large, it's a  _really_ large) serving of pork stir-fry. He put down some other side dishes and took a cold plastic bottle of juice from the fridge.

 

"All right, it's done!" Kagami took a seat in front of the bluenette, and put a large spoonful of the stir-fry on his plate, and another on Kuroko's. "Itadakimasu!"

 

Kuroko observed the redhead munching the food with vigor, but didn't dare to take any for himself.

 

"What? Not going to eat? If you don't hurry up, there'll be nothing left for you."

 

"...Itadakimasu..." He picked up his chopsticks, and put a piece of pork on his mouth. He ate it slowly, enjoying the rich flavor before swallowing. Then he put down his chopsticks again.

 

"Not to your lik-- Eh!? Kuroko, what's wrong!?" The redhead started panicking, as he saw the tears fall down the pale boy's cheeks. "It doesn't taste good!? But I've tasted it and it was okay! Hey!"

 

Sniffing, the bluenette wiped the tears from his eyes. "No... It's so good I couldn't help it."

 

And then, for the first time, Kagami saw Kuroko smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter is from "RIMFIRE" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Seriously, I'm so sorry for making Shige act like this with Kuroko. I'm such a cruel writer. And there's so much more to come... My poor babies.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the fluff between Kagami and Kuroko (even though they're not even a couple in this fic).
> 
> Our favorite heterochromatic redhead will show up next, I promise!


	11. Do not test my patience

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, hello! Here I am with a fresh new chapter right off the oven!
> 
> I've finished writing the first arc, and the updates will continue daily as I still have enough material prepared to continue doing so. Then we'll enter in a short intermission/side story.

The classroom was half lit by the setting sun. All the students had finished their studies and activities of the day, so there was no one around. The silence was only interrupted by the scattered brief movements of shogi pieces on the board.

 

Midorima was playing another already lost game with Akashi. They have played time and time again since their middle school days, but never once has Midorima won. Even in the days Oha Asa said that Cancers would be the luckiest, the outcome would be the same. But of course, the green haired boy never gave up. He clanged to the idea that someday,  _maybe_ someday, he could win against the redhead.

 

"Akashi."

 

"Hmm?" hummed the redhead, while thinking of his next move in the game.

 

" _He_ came to the infirmary today."

 

"Really?" Akashi didn't lift his eyes from the board as he was studying the pieces calculatingly, but he was still listening to every word the green haired male was saying.

 

"He seemed to have collapsed due to hyperventilation," added Midorima, while adjusting his glasses. "From what the boy that brought him there said, he had been running around... but I don't think that was the cause."

 

"..."

 

"One of the most common causes for passing out due to hyperventilation is either physical exertion... or some kind of abrupt psychological stress. Do you have any idea of what was the cause?"

 

Akashi moved one of the pieces in the board, and went back to analyzing the outcome of his play. "Well, I wonder..."

 

Midorima looked over at the board to make his next move.

 

"But it's true what you said."

 

"About what?"

 

"I felt that prickling sensation you told us about when I touched--" The green haired boy was going to move his piece, but he was forced to pause as he felt a sudden murderous intent directed at him. He hesitantly looked up and couldn't help the shudder that went down his spine at what he saw.

 

Akashi's golden eye was glowing a silent threat. No,  _all_ of him at that moment was a silent threat. He was ready to come forth and attack Midorima. Destroy him,  _break_ him. If it's Akashi, he could easily do it. All he had to do was say the word.

 

Midorima swallowed hard, and adjusted his glasses as he moved the piece.

 

"--when I was observing him, searching for further injuries," corrected hastily the green haired boy.

 

The cover up wasn't totally effective, but it seemed to calm the beast in front of him enough to guarantee him a safe return to Shutoku dorm.

 

"Who was the boy that took Tetsuya there?"

 

Midorima lifted an eyebrow slightly.  _'Tetsuya,' huh..._

 

"I don't know. They seemed friendly with each other, the way Kuroko clanged to him... when they... left..."

 

 _Shit!_ He wasn't supposed to word it like that. Both for the sake of Kuroko and the redhead that helped him. This day really was unlucky for him, just like Oha Asa had predicted. He should have tried harder to find a bigger frog, his lucky item of the day.

 

"You don't know?" The temperature in the room dropped dangerously low, almost at the tundra level. Akashi appeared calm, but his following words came in a colder tone than the green haired boy had ever heard him speak. "So you're saying you let 'The Phantom' leave with an unknown student to be taken to an unknown place to us? You do realize we don't even know where he stays outside classes. It's not only a risk to Tetsuya but a risk for the entire city... no, the entire country."

 

Midorima didn't want to admit it, not even to himself, but right now... he was trembling. For the first time in a long time, he feared tremendously the redhead in from of him. "That was not my intenti--"

 

A sudden flash of metal passed quickly, very closely, to his face. A cold sweat coated his skin, making his uniform uncomfortably stick to his body. When he looked down to the shogi board, a red scissor was carved in it with Akashi's hand gripping its hilt.

 

"I won't forgive anyone who makes a mistake. Not even my parents."

 

Midorima wanted to speak. Any word was okay. But he couldn't. There was a lump on his throat that blocked any sound that wanted to come out.

 

"You're alive right now for one simple reason. You are useful to me. But keep making mistakes like this one, and I might change my mind."

 

The redhead got up from his seat and exited to the door.

 

"Shintarou," he called and threw something over to the green haired boy, who caught it with one hand. "Try not to betray my expectations. You know I absolutely condemn betrayal."

 

Midorima gulped and looked at what was in his hand. It was Kyosha, the Lance, one of the pieces from the shogi game they were playing. When he looked up again, he saw he was alone in the room.

 

_Are you trying to tell me that I should act like a Lance and only move forward?_

 

-.-

 

He was humming a song he had heard earlier that day, on his way to his apartment in Shutoku dorm, while switching channels on the TV when someone knocked on the front door of his room.

 

Takao got up from the sofa and went over to open the door. He couldn't help the smile that broke into his face.

 

"Ah, Shin-chan!" The green haired male had a sullen expression and Takao quickly noticed that. "What's wrong?"

 

Midorima pushed the raiven haired boy inside and closed the door behind them. He lunged forward and tightly hugged the smaller male.

 

"Eh? What's this? A surprise attack?" he half joked, but he caught up quickly with the situation as he felt the man that was embracing him trembling terribly. "Did Akashi-san say anything to you?"

 

"..."

 

Takao only sighed as they both slipped down to their knees on the floor, patting lovingly Midorima's head, sometimes entwining his fingers in the soft strands of green hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "Final Emperor" by Kamiya Hiroshi (our heterochromatic redhead).
> 
> And here comes display of jealousy/possessiveness number one.
> 
> Oh, and I was totally not remembering the song "Crazy Possessive" while writing this chapter. I wasn't, okay!? *goes away and hums the lyrics*


	12. The fuse only shows its face after it's kindled

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Konnichiwa, minna-san! Here's today update!!!
> 
> Thanks for all the support, kudos and comments up until now. I hope that in the future you continue reading this fic and enjoy reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it :D

"Ahh... It's this late already," sighed Kagami while stretching his back. "I sure ate like a king. Eating together with someone really beats eating all alone."

 

"If you aske me, you ate too much. You're going to get fat," deadpanned the bluenette while sipping some warm tea.

 

"Shut up! I need fuel for my ability, if not it's going to suck me dry!"

 

"But it's true. Eating with someone... it's not that bad." Slightly smiling, Kuroko turned his head to the window and looked at the moon.

 

Kagam stretched his arm and ruffled the blue locks of Kuroko's hair, grinning. "You're more than welcome to come and eat with me whenever you want. I'll make anything you want next time."

 

Kuroko looked at the redhead with a questioning expression on his face. Why was Kagami being so nice to him? Could it be that he knew who Kuroko really was and was only trying to conquer his trust, by treating him like a friend? Was he in league with the "Miracles"?

 

The bluenette couldn't feel the same prickling sensation he felt when any of the "Miracles" touched him, but he could feel the strength of the ability Kagami possessed. He had a certain aura around him... The same aura that all five of the "Miracles" had. But then again, he protected him. When Midorima tried to touch him in the infirmary, Kagami stopped him.

 

"Then... vanilla milkshake," he answered softly, giving a quick side glance at the redhead.

 

"Sure, I'll make it so good you won't be able to drink any other again!" Kagami smiled brightly and the pale boy could see the sincerity behind both the words he spoke and the expression on his face. "That's not a really healthy meal, though. You need to build some muscle on you!"

 

"But I like it," Kuroko added, softly starting to close his eyes again, as both the full stomach he had and the nice and comforting atmosphere surrounding them was making him feel sluggish. He suddenly got up from his spot on the sofa. "I should get going. It's getting late and I don't want to impose on you any more than this."

 

"That's fine, but... which dorm are you staying at?"

 

"Seirin."

 

"Eh!? How come I've never seen you before!? For how long have you stayed here in Seirin?" Surprised, Kagami tried to recall if he had ever seen the bluenette but nothing came to memory. "You must be a quite recent add on."

 

"I've been here since 1st year in middle school."

 

"Wait, really!? Even longer than me!? Then, when did your ability appear?" asked innocently the redhead.

 

"..."

 

Seeing as Kuroko suddenly clammed up and had a kind of strained expression, the redhead knew better than pursue the topic further and decided to change the conversation.

 

"Well, anyway. I'll take you to your room." The taller male got up from the sofa too and put his hand on Kuroko's shoulder. "Which floor is it?"

 

"From the position of the moon from your apartment's window, it's in the same floor that we are right now. Actually, we're probably neighbors," added the bluenette, not in the least surprised.

 

"Eh!? Is there anything more you want to add? Because there have been enough surprises for the day, so I would appreciate it if you could save some for tomorrow," jokingly said Kagami.

 

Kuroko just gave a slight smile as an answer.

 

They went together to the apartment's entrance, but as Kagami was motioning to open the door, a sudden shudder ran down Kuroko's spine. He felt that something powerful was lurking behind it.

 

"Wait, Kagami-ku--!" Kuroko jumped forward to stop the door from opening, but it was already too late. The door had already been opened but a gap, and when Kuroko tried to push it shut again, a hand crept in and grabbed the side of the door, impeding any further movement.

 

The door was suddenly open ajar, pushing both Kagami and Kuroko some steps back. Outside was Akashi Seijuurou, glaring at both the redhead and the bluenette. He focused his golden left eye on Kuroko, eliciting one more shudder from the boy.

 

"It's bad manners to close the door in someone's face, Tetsuya." Akashi shifted inside the apartment and glared daggers to the taller redhead. "And it's even worse to try to steal, Kagami Taiga. Especially from me."

 

"I don't even know you. What did I steal from you?" Taking a defensive stance, Kagami questioned back the heterochromatic student.

 

"It's right over there." Akashi gracefully lifted his arm and pointed a long finger at Kuroko.

 

"I don't remember belonging to you, Akashi-kun."

 

Akashi shivered when the bluenette spoke his name for the first time. A smirk erupted on his face. "Oh but you do. You just never noticed."

 

"I think I would know that much already, it that was really the case," contradicted the bluenette.

 

They mutually stared at each other, a knowing smirk on Akashi's face and a defensive glare on Kuroko's.

 

Kagami stepped in and positioned himself in front of Kuroko, protecting him from the threat in front of them. "I don't really get what this is all about, but I would appreciate it if you got out of my apartment. What you're doing right now is called trespassing."

 

Akashi shifted his gaze from Kuroko to glare once again to Kagami. He took a step closer to the taller redhead. "Your head is held too high. I don't allow anyone to look down on me or order me around."

 

When Kagami noticed, he was pushed down to his knees by an invisible force.

 

"Kagami-kun!" yelled Kuroko, rushing to his side.

 

"Tetsuya..." Akashi held his hand out to Kuroko, looking straight into the teal eyes of the pale boy. "Come."

 

The bluenette gulped. If he went with Akashi he would be under danger, but if he stayed with Kagami he would put the redhead in danger too. No, the redhead was probably in more danger right now than he himself would be if he followed Akashi.

 

Kuroko got up and glanced quickly at Kagami, before looking back at Akashi. He gave a step forward but was stopped.

 

"Wait, Kuroko!" Kagami grabbed his wrist when the bluenette passed by him, getting in return a deadly glare from the blazing eyes of the heterochromatic redhead.

 

Catching the murderous aura surrounding Akashi, Kuroko jerked his hand free. He stepped forward and stopped beside the redhead.

 

"I'll be fine, Kagami-kun. We're just going to talk."

 

Unwillingly, Kuroko grabbed Akashi's hand and pulled him outside Kagami's apartment. The prickling sensation bothered him, but right now he needed to separate the two redheads before they went for each other's throats.

 

Kagami tried to follow them, but when he managed to get up again and peeked outside his apartment, he just saw the door from the room next door closing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter comes from "RIMFIRE" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> And here comes display of jealousy/possesiveness number 2!  
> I warned you, Kagami. I told you that in the near future you may receive a night visit from a certain redhead.


	13. To the point that your breathing stops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Here's today chapter.
> 
> I'm updating earlier than normal (it's actually 1AM where I live...) because today I have a quite busy schedule and I don't really know if I'll have any free time to upload. So here it is!
> 
> Please, enjoy. Fufufu...

Kuroko pulled the redhead inside his apartment and closed the door. He looked down and saw he was still holding into Akashi's hand and hastily pulled it away.

 

"So you're still staying Seirin like the outdated information of Satsuki said," breathed the redhead while looking around at the barely decorated apartment that only shouldered the basic furniture that came with the apartment when it was given to a student. "Though looking at your room I could only doubt that."

 

"I haven't let you inside for you to criticize the decoration of my room." Kuroko passed by the redhead and pushed the lights on.

 

"That's right." Akashi stepped in further, following Kuroko. "It was so that we could 'talk', wasn't it?"

 

 _Not that I want to, though,_ muttered the bluenette in his mind.

 

"Aren't you going to serve me anything? I'm your guest, after all." He observed as Kuroko glared at him and went over to the kitchenette, fiddling with the serving cups. Kuroko returned to near the sofa where Akashi had sat down and pushed with a slight  _bang_ a glass to the small table in front of him. Akashi could only lift an eyebrow at what he was looking at. "Water?"

 

"I don't have anything but water to serve to someone like you."

 

_Actually, I really don't have anything more to serve him with..._

 

Akashi gave a discrete chuckle when the bluenette turned around and motioned to sit in the smaller sofa in front of the one he had sat down.

 

"How did you find me?" questioned Kuroko, glaring at the redhead.

 

"Tetsuya, you underestimate me. Me and my information gathering abilities."

 

"I don't underestimate you in the least. But I do have to question said abilities, since I managed to run from all of you for almost a year while right under your noses."

 

"Indeed. If someone underestimated anyone, it was us. We know barely anything about 'The Phantom' or the person known to others as 'Kuroko Tetsuya'. I don't even know what your ability is. And it doesn't appear to me that you will willingly tell me about anything, either," added Akashi, his golden eye flickering briefly.

 

"..."

 

Silence lingered in the room for a long time, as the two "Users" studied each other.

 

"Why did you come to find me?" questioned the bluenette, giving a quick glance at the window of the aparment and sneaking a look at the moon.

 

"Come to Rakuzan," simply declared the redhead.

 

"I refuse," answered readily the pale boy.

 

"It wasn't a request, Tetsuya."

 

"I have no reason to obey you, Akashi-kun."

 

Akashi shivered again at the mention of his name.

 

"What do we have to do so that you come to us?" asked suddenly Akashi.

 

"Nothing. Because I will never go to you. I will not be a subject of slavery nor the mind control that you impose on others. I've made that decision a long time ago, and I'm not about to break it any time soon," simply answered the bluenette, staring straight into the red and golden eyes.

 

Akashi got up from his seat and moved closer to Kuroko, who stiffened. "I've never been denied of anything, and I won't allow to be denied on what I set my eyes on."

 

"That makes you, Akashi-kun, nothing but a spoiled brat."

 

"No, that makes me absolute."

 

Akashi stopped in front of Kuroko and put his hands on either side of the sofa where the bluenette was sitting on, depriving him of any escape route if it came into need. He stared into the teal of the pale boy's eyes and saw his reflection in them. He wondered why he prefers to see it that way than on any mirror. He carefully moved his hand forward and softly touched Kuroko's face, spreading the electrifying feeling to both of them.

 

"Call my name."

 

"What?" Kuroko lifted an eyebrow slightly. "W-Why?"

 

"Do it," ordered the redhead in a soft breath.

 

"A-Akashi-kun," mumbled Kuroko.

 

"Again."

 

"Akashi-kun."

 

Kuroko was completely clueless at what was happening right now. The prickling sensation and the nervous heartbeat made his thinking even slower and cloudy.

 

"Again."

 

"Akashi-kun."

 

"One more time," softly ordered Akashi.

 

"Akashi-kun." The redhead trailed the soft and pump lips with his thumb as the bluenette spoke those words, and the shiver than ran through his body was even more noteworthy.

 

It appeared to Akashi that every time Kuroko said his name, there was a reaction in his core, on a visceral level. He wondered what would happen to him if he called his first name. He was dying to know the answer to that, so he...

 

"Call my first name."

 

"Eh? I-I can't do--"

 

"Just do it, Tetsuya."

 

"...Se... Seijuur--" The redhead didn't let him finish.

 

Akashi lunged forward and kissed the soft and warm lips, surprising the bluenette. Hell, he was even surprised at himself for what he was doing. But curiously... it didn't feel wrong. Not in the least. It only felt as the most natural action for him to take in that situation.

 

Akashi opened his eyes and saw the surprised ones of Kuroko staring at him. The bluenette was completely frozen stiff in the sofa, so he gave a tentaive soft bite to his lower lip, causing the pale boy to release a sudden gasp. Akashi's golden eye flickered and he used the opportunity to deepen the kiss.

 

The bluenette exchanged the fabric of his pants to grip on Akashi's shirt, in order to try to stop the redhead. But he couldn't muster the strength to do it. The way Akashi was exploring every corner of his mouth with his tongue... The prickling sensation that worsened when the kiss started... The high pleasure that was rushing through his body unlike any other he had ever experienced... All of those were foreign sensations to him, but they didn't feel... wrong.

 

As the kiss went on, Kuroko started to feel the effects of lack of oxygen and tentatively tugged on the redhead's shirt. Noticing the affliction behind the action, Akashi released the other boy's lips, a string of saliva still connecting both. They stared at each other while panting slightly, Kuroko more affected by the lack of air than the redhead.

 

Akashi straightened his back and licked his lips, indulging in the remaining traces of the kiss they shared.

 

"Do think about what I have said tonight, Tetsuya."

 

Akashi stepped back one time and gave a last look at the panting mess that he delightfully knew was his work. He turned his back and picked up on his way to the door the keys to Kuroko's apartment in the dorm. The redhead held them high and shifted them, causing the keys to make a metallic sound as they moved against each other.

 

"If you want them back, then come and get them. You know where to find me."

 

He then moved forward, and stepped out of Kuroko's field of view. The bluenette only heard the sound of the door closing and his footsteps as he left.

 

Kuroko crouched down on the sofa, covering the bright red blush on his face with his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "Can Do" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Seriously, I was like a dead tuna while writing this, but when I read it after it was complete, I started squealing and blushing like mad while thinking "what the heck am I doing with my life!? oh yeah, I'm writing Akakuro fucking first kiss!!!! and totally enjoying it!!!!!"
> 
> (Today, I finished rewatching 2nd season of Kuroko no Basket, and when Aomine was teaching Kuroko how to shoot and mentioned that Akashi was the one who taught Kuroko his basketball style, or when Akashi made small cameo appearances during Seirin vs Touou game, I was totally not annoying my family with squeals and other annoying fangirling noises. And don't make me even start talking about when Akashi attacked Kagami with the scissors XD)


	14. So I'll start with one step forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, minna-san! Genki desu ka? Here's today chapter.
> 
> Yesterday was a very special celebration to me so I had to update earlier, but now we're back to normal. One of the gifts I received was actually a basketball, and I was so happy and anxious to use it that I woke up today at 6:30 AM to go use it in the street while it wasn't too hot. Honestly, I felt like Kuroko when he started playing basketball with Ogiwara... I'm way too clumsy XD
> 
> Well, hope you enjoy!

_What was that...? Why did he do that?_

 

Kuroko's thoughts were racing a hundred miles per hour after the redhead left his room.

 

He had always found it hard to understand the way Akashi's mind worked, but even he could make some sense out of it. After all, even he was only human. After 16 years of human observation, he could pretty much figure out what the other person's intentions were by just a single gesture. But he couldn't read the redhead at all.

 

It was like he was staring to a deep pool of illogical but yet again logical actions.

 

He could at least understand why he asked, well, "ordered" him to go to Rakuzan dorm. Kuroko was like a ticking bomb and nobody could access the time limit to its explosion, so keeping it underobservation to somehow be able to control the damages from when it went off was fundamental.

 

Even the bluenette knew that was one of the reasons why the "Miracles" had been searching for him since the "Bloody Night." The other reasons weren't totally known to him, though.

 

It scared him not knowing their plans for him. It scared him not knowing Akashi's plans for him. And most of all, it scared him that he could detonate again like the bomb he was.

 

He could feel that lately his control on his ability had deteriorated to some degree. Akashi being able to find him this night was proof of it. He probably had let his "invisibility" slip to the point where people who were observant of their surroundings could see him. The day of the opening ceremony too. He lost composure and part of his control on his "invisibility". It took him a full day to calm down his emotions and panic... The panic of facing those red and golden eyes once again, after being able to stay hidden from them for close to a year.

 

Plus, he "entered"  _that_ place again and met  _him_ two more times. That wasn't a good sign. Normally, he only went there when he subconsciously wanted to escape reality. It was like a self-defense mechanism he had created. Although calling it only that would be underestimating it.

 

Of course he could enter that "dream realm", as he called it, whenever he wanted; he just opted not to do it. It was his creation in the first place, but he had no control over it. Being there was exactly like being inside a snow globe; whatever was outside couldn't interfere with the inside. But deep down, he knew. He knew that whatever choices he made inside his "snow globe" world, they would definitely affect the real world. For better or worse.

 

That was two strikes: his decaying control on his ability and the recurrent slips into the "dream realm."

 

He had to make a decision.

 

And quick.

 

-.-

 

The doors to the main office were suddenly forced open, and the occupants of the room looked in its direction, not in the least surprised.

 

"Damn it, Akashi! Do you fucking know what time it is now!?" growled Aomine, stepping inside the room. "It's fucking 3 AM! I was sleeping! And you're arranging this stupid meetings way too frequently. It used to be at most one per week!"

 

"Now, now, calm down, Aomenicchi." Kise moved closer to the tanned student and put his hand on his shoulder. "You're complaining that much, but you still came."

 

"Shut up, Kise!" He slapped away the hand on him, and took his usual place against the wall, sulking.

 

Midorima adjusted his glasses, and turned around to Akashi. "Aomine is right. It's not like you to arrange sudden meetings, especially when we had one so recently."

 

"..."

 

Akashi returned his gaze to the window of the main office.

 

"Akashi, are you listening?" pressed forward the green haired boy, anxious to return to his room and shake off the fright the redhead was still unknowingly imposing on him.

 

"..."

 

"Fuck it, if you've got nothing to say, I'm out of here!" Aomine motioned forward and gave heavy steps in the door's direction. When he put his hand on the handle, he had to pause, though.

 

"I've been thinking."

 

"Huh?" The tanned student turned around to look at the redhead.

 

"What is his ability? How did 'The Phantom' managed to stay hidden from us for so long while being in the same place as us, sharing the same daily routine of going to the same school as us? How come there's no data about him on either the school database or the Japanese database on ability users? Yet again, if he doesn't appear on any of it, why is he staying at Teikou?"

 

All four "Miracles" shuddered when the moon emerged from behind the clouds and illuminated the redhead's face.

 

_Akashi is... smiling?_

 

"But no matter how much I thought about it, the answer never appeared."

 

They all swallowed hard at the next words the heterochromatic redhead said.

 

"Th clock is ticking. He will come to us soon, whether he truly wants to or not. Begin the preparations we discussed one year ago. You're dismissed."

 

Silence stretched in the room. Not Kise nor Midorima, not Aomine nor Murasakibara knew what they should say to respond to that. Of course they all knew what Akashi meant by those words and the preparations they were supposed to begin right away.

 

Murasakibara was the first to move, getting up from the chair he was sitting on while eating some fruit candies. Aomine opened the door like he had planned to do before and exited the room, clicking his tongue. Kise simply gave a long gaze to Akashi's back, but he knew better than question the redhead's orders, and soon left the room.

 

Midorima remained in the office, staring at the redhead.

 

"Is it  _that time_ already?"

 

"..."

 

"Are you sure?" questioned again the green haired boy.

 

"Are you doubting me, Shintarou?"

 

"No, but..." He adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "You only met him once. How can you be so sure  _it_ will happen again?"

 

"Actually, I've met Tetsuya two more times since the opening ceremony."

 

_So it was your doing that he hyperventilated..._

 

Midorima could only sigh at that. "And? The conclusion that yout got out of those meetings was that  _it_ is going to happen one more time."

 

"..."

 

"If that's true, we have to do something about it. Did you manage to figure out where he's staying?"

 

"He's at Seirin dorm for the time being," simply answered Akashi.

 

"None of us is staying at Seirin. Isn't that too risky?"

 

"That's why I said 'for the time being.' He won't be there for much longer. I won't allow it. And he will probably choose by himself to leave, anyway."

 

"And how did you reach to that conclusion? If he's going to submit that easily, he would have done that one year ago."

 

The golden eye of the redhead flickered intensely. "I felt it when I kissed him. That the clock is already ticking... and that he will come to us more easily that what we anticipated."

 

"I see..." Midorima gave a second thought at what Akashi had said, and his jaw dropped. "YOU WHAT!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of the chapter came from "Tomorrow Never Lies" by One Kenshou (our confused little Tetsuya) and Ono Yuuki (the "Wild Tiger" of Seirin).
> 
> I have to tell you guys, I thought Midorima's reaction to Akashi's little "confession" about having kissed Kuroko was simply priceless! I can totally imagine his face in my head while reacting like that, ahahaha XD


	15. You've gotta be on your guard

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! Here's today's chapter.
> 
> We're entering the climax of the first arc. That said: MAJOR CLIFFHANGER ALLERT FOR THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS! (I'm totally going to get yelled at again...)
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

Kagami was walking back and forth in the corridor that connected the apartments of that floor. Once in a few turns he would give a long glance to Kuroko's apartment's door, then drop his gaze and sigh.

 

He didn't know what happened while Akashi was inside, not how the conversation went on. He knew the redhead had exited the room somewhere along the night, as he heard the door open and close. Kagami soon after that went outside his apartment and just stood there in the corridor in hope that Kuroko would come out of it in one piece.

 

It's been hours since then. The sun was starting to rise already and in a couple of hours the other students would start to get ready to leave for school.

 

He was starting to get worried by the lack of movement inside the apartment.  _What if that guy did something to him?_

 

Kagami recalled the glare he was subjected to by those heterochromatic eyes and shuddered.

 

He gave up on thinking about it and moved forward to knock on Kuroko's door when he was suddenly hit in the head by the said door.

 

"OUCH!" That was the second time he was hit in the same place in 24 hours. He crouched down as he clutched the once again growing bump on his forehead.

 

"Ah, Kagami-kun. What are you doing there?" questioned the bluenette, tilting his head slightly.

 

The redhead peered up to look at Kuroko's face, tears in the corner of his dark red eyes due to the pain. He got up in a flash when he didn't saw any apparent wound on him. "I've been here since night time!"

 

"Are you some sort of stalker?" deadpanned the bluenette.

 

"You bastard! I was worried about you, that's why!" yelled the 'Wild Tiger' of Seirin.

 

"Shhh! You'll wake up the whole dorm if you yell like that," admonished the pale boy.

 

Kagami grumbled under his breath, but followed his words and calmed down a little.

 

"I was about to go out for breakfast. Do you want to come with me?"

 

The redhead got surprised by the sudden invitation, but still grinned widely at the bluenette. "Sure! If you're paying, that is."

 

"I will only pay if you eat a reasonable amount of food. No more than what a normal person can eat."

 

"Eh? But that's not going to be enough for me to last the entire morning, Kuroko."

 

_"Kuroko..."_

 

The bluenette felt a sudden bolt of electricity in his brain and motioned his hand up to clutch his head.

 

"Kuroko? Are you okay?" questioned Kagami, worried at the sudden paleness of his face.

 

"Mhm. Yes, I'm fine," nodded the pale boy, closing the door and stepping forward to go down the corridor.

 

"You're not going to lock the door?"

 

"Ah, well... I'm not going to be away for that long, and everybody is still sleeping so there's no need."

 

"Oh, I see." The redhead started walking and got beside Kuroko, as they exited the dorm.

 

As they walked in the desert street that lead to the part of the surrounding are of Teikou Academy where the shops and food chain stores were, Kagami continued to steal glances at the bluenette, still worried about yesterday's incident.

 

"What is it that you usually eat for breakfast?" asked the redhead, to make some circumstantial conversation.

 

"Vanilla milkshakes from Maji Burger."

 

"It's unhealthy if you only eat vanilla milkshakes for your meals, ya know?"

 

_"You're going to get sick if you only have vanilla milkshakes for your meals, you know?"_

 

Another bolt of pain went straight to his brain and he clenched his teeth.

 

"You need to eat better if you want to grow any taller than that," added the unsuspicious redhead.

 

They passed by an electric appliances store and the TVs in the front window were broadcasting a foreign sport news channel, featuring two teams of basketball players playing against each other. Kuroko stopped on his track and stared at the players on the TV.

 

"Could it be... that you like basketball?"

 

Kuroko only nodded as he was attentively observing the match going on the screen.

 

"That's awesome! I also love basketball! We should play together someday!" grinned the taller male.

 

_"I also love basketball! We should play together one of this days!"_

 

Kuroko suddenly dropped on his knees, as he heard something inside of him break.

 

"Kuroko? Hey, are you ok-- Ouch!" When he moved his hand to touch the bluenette, he felt a sudden electric discharge on his fingers. When he looked at them, he saw blood coming from what appeared to be a burn.

 

-.-

 

"Kise, move that fucking ass out of the way!" Kasamatsu yelled at his junior, while kicking him. "Seriously, you're the one who asked me for help and you're being nothing but a nuisance."

 

"Senpai, don't kick me! What if you leave any bruises on my lovely skin?"

 

"Shut up and work!" ignored the older male.

 

Kise used the opportunity when Kasamatsu turned his back to him and slipped his arm around his senior's waist. He pulled him closer and whispered in his ear. "Though if you want to leave  _other_ marks on me, you're more than welcome."

 

Blushing fervently, he elbowed the blonde on the gut. "Shut up, you idiot!"

 

"Ugh!" cried the taller male. "You should try being nicer to me sometimes, you know? After all, we're--"

 

Kise suddenly stopped talking and hurried to the nearest window, searching for something in the horizon.

 

"Shit, I really hate it when Akashicchi's right," mumbled the blonde.

 

-.-

 

"Shin-chan, wait for me~ You make me carry all this documents with me, and then you start walking at full speed. Do you think I'm your slave or something?" huffed the raiven haired student while trying to catch up with Midorima.

 

"Shut up, Takao. I'm trying to work here."

 

"But, Shin-chan, yesterday you left so suddenly, and when you returned you just woke me up and brought me to school. What's going on?"

 

Midorima just continued walking while reading the documents on his hand.

 

"Hey, Shin-chan!"

 

"I told you to shu--" He suddenly came to an halt, causing Takao to crash against his back and drop some of the papers he was carrying. "Damn it, it couldn't have come at a better time."

 

"Hmm? Hey, Shin-chan, what's that black thing in the sky over there?" Takao pointed outside the window they were currently passing by.

 

-.-

 

"Dai-chan! How long do you intent to sleep!?" admonished Momoi, ripping the blankets from Aomine's sleeping form. "Didn't you texted me in the middle of the night saying that we had work to do by Akashi's orders in the morning?"

 

"Shut it, Satsuki..." mumbled the tanned student while rolling on his bed, trying to hide his face from the light. "I only went to bed one hour ago because of said work! Give me a break and let me rest for a while, will ya?"

 

"Geez... Then, I'll make you breakfast." Momoi dropped the blankets on the floor and was moving away from the bed when a hand grabbed her arm.

 

"Thinking better, let's get this over with. The sooner, the better, right?" yawned Aomine.

 

 _If she feeds me anything she makes, I will be in bed for a week due to a terrible indigestion..._ Aomine shuddered only thinking of the last time he fell for the puppy eyes of the pink haired girl and was forced to eat the meal she prepared for him.

 

Aomine slowly lifted his body up, but a sudden jolt made him get out of the bed in a single jump and run down his apartment to open the front door.

 

Momoi came rushing after him. "What's wring, Dai-- Wha--!? What's that huge shadow over there!?"

 

"Fuck! I hate it when Akashi is right on the money!"

 

-.-

 

Murasakibara munched on some maiubou while glancing at Himuro working on the computer.

 

"Muro-chin, is it done?"

 

"Atsushi, be a little more patient, okay? This isn't even something I should be doing. It's your job, after all."

 

"But you're faster than me, and you always yell at me when I dirty the computer with crumbs." Murasakibara opened other maiubou and was about to start eating it, when he pushed it forward in Himuro's direction. "Here. For you, Muro-chin."

 

"I'll have one later. You can have that one," smiled the older male.

 

Murasakibara smiled back at him and motioned forward to eat it. He was about to take the first bite when he came to another halt.

 

"Haa... This could be troublesome..."

 

-.-

 

Akashi put the cup of tea on his desk and closed the book on his hand. He got up from the chair and moved forward to the window, opening the curtains.

 

Outside in the sky was a huge black shadow, pulsating as it grew bigger and bigger, consuming the light of the barely started morning.

 

"That was quicker than I expected. Then again, what exactly about Tetsuya doesn't surprise me?"

 

The redhead closed the curtains again and motioned outside the main office, closing the doors behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "F.O.V. (Field of View)" by Suzuki Tatsuhisa (our trickster Takao).


	16. Lies are much kinder, though even that kindness might be a lie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hai, hai, here's today's chapter!
> 
> Things will start to get serious from now on!
> 
> [P.S. I've started another fanfiction. For those who enjoy reading KagaKuro, please check it out!]

Kuroko was running in the black room. He was drenched in his own sweat and other unknown liquid. It was unknown because it was too dark to see anything. It was dark but he still continued to run. If he wanted to survive, he needed to run.

 

He could hear  _their_ moans of pain as  _they_ chased after him.

 

He was tired. He wanted to stop. He was almost out of breath for running for so long, so he just wanted to rest for a little while. But he couldn't. If he stopped moving for even a second,  _they_ would catch him.

 

_"Kuroko..."_

 

He heard  _his_ voice near his ear. He shuddered as he felt cold fingertips trace his face.

 

_"What do you want me to do? Do you want me to help you like that night?"_

 

"Ogi-Ogiwara-kun..." panted the bluenette as he tried to speed up once again. He felt that his strength was slolwy being sucked out of his body.

 

 _He_ grabbed his arms and forced him to a stop. Freezing hands fondled his upper body, as if trying to absorb all the warmth in it and dye it with a deadly coldness.

 

He was once again pushed against the cold water in the floor and felt as a heavy weight shifted on top of him.

 

"Stop... Ogiwara-kun..."

 

_"Oh, but you don't really want me to stop, do you, Kuroko?"_

 

Rough lips sent butterfly kisses down his neck. He felt a wet hand grab his arm and claw its pointy nails on his flesh, making him shudder due to the pain. Then another grabbed his leg and other clawed his soft flesh on the stomach.

 

_"Tell me, Kuroko. What do you wish me to do? What is it that you truly wish for?"_

 

"I-- Ah--!" The pain that the pointy nails were causing him was suddenly unbearable, as they started to penetrate inside his skin. "I want--"

 

_"Yes?"_

 

"I want it to stop!"

 

There was a sudden explosion of brightness and the darkness surrounding him started to crumble. He watched as the blackness was painted in red... As the water he was laid on and covered his body transformed into blood... As the mutilated bodies surrounding him started to crawl closer to him... As the hands clawing into his flesh were made of decomposing flesh and bones... As the figure of his best friend just smiled at him in the exact same way as so many years ago...

 

_"Very well. I'll make your wish come true, Kuroko."_

 

He wanted to scream, but his voice was swallowed by a rough kiss.

 

-.-

 

Kagami stared while panting at Kuroko as a dark shadow was erupting from his body and spreading all over them, engulfing the light and dyeing the day into night.

 

He had tried several times to move forward to the bluenette's encounter, but every time he did it new cuts and burns appeared on his body without any apparent reason. It was as if an invisible force was trying to keep any foreign things away from the smaller male.

 

"Kuroko!" He tried calling the bluenette but there was no response from him.

 

Luckily the food he had last night was being more than sufficient to enable him to use his ability and enhance his healing speed, or else he would be in a pretty bad shape at the moment.

 

He gritted his teeth and was about to start running into Kuroko's direction once again when a bright arrow of light went crashing against the asphalt in front of him, sending him into the floor roughly.

 

He looked behind him and saw the green haired student he met in the infirmary walking in his direction.

 

"What are you doing!? Why did you stop me!?" yelled the redhead.

 

"It's useless for you to try stopping him. You're only going to get hurt," admonished Midorima.

 

"Oh damn. This looks super bad~ Midorimacchi, what did Oha Asa say about my luck today?" An unknown blonde male appeared from nowhere and stepped closer to the green haired boy.

 

"It appears that today there is a general wave of bad luck for every sigh. Oha Asa said it's something that only occurs once per century." Midorima adjusted his glasses. "Though if you ask me, today's luck is just going to be an imprinting of what we saw one year ago."

 

"What's the lucky item?" asked further the blonde.

 

"Kise, stop blabbering and get down to work." Now it was the turn of a tanned tall male to appear from what appeared to be thin air.

 

"Oh, c'mon, Aominecchi~ If we're going to do this, we might as well know if the probabilities are on our side."

 

"Haa... This is going to be so troublesome... I hate troublesome things." A purple haired giant appeared from inside of a snacks shop carrying a huge mountain of different types of potato chips in his arms. "And no, Kise-chin, I won't share any of this with you."

 

"Aw~ I could use a snack to motivate me if it comes down to it," joked the blonde.

 

"Those are to keep Atsushi's motivated, Ryouta."

 

The last to make his sudden entrance was the heterochromatic redhead Kagami had met last night.

 

Kagami gritted his teeth and got up, walking urgently in the redhead's direction. As soon as he reached the heterochromatic boy, he grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer.

 

"What the fuck did you do to Kuroko last night!?"

 

Red and golden eyes met with dark red ones. The smaller redhead grabbed Kagami's hand and yanked it off him.

 

"I didn't do anything to Tetsuya." He glanced over at the continuously growing shadow coming out of the bluenette's body. "He simply reached his limit."

 

Akashi pushed Kagami aside and walked forward, followed by the other four males.

 

"What are you going to do to him?" panicked the redhead as he saw the serious expression on each of them.

 

"Don't worry, don't worry~ We're just going to stop him," the blonde answered, looking behind at Kagami.

 

"'Miracles', get ready. We're going to do this easy and quick." The redhead glanced backwards to the other four members and his golden eye flickered violently. "But none of you will hurt Tetsuya. Understood?"

 

"Yes!" they nervouslu answered in unison at the command they were given.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "Hengen Jizai no Magical Star" by GRANRODEO.


	17. But we'll forge ahead anyway

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Here's another chapter!
> 
> Sorry for not updating yesterday, but I was busy (very much so, actually). And that will continue for an undefined period of time, so I'll be pushing my update schedule from September to now. Which means, updates will come every other day from now on.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

All the five "Miracles" were panting slightly, as they continued to make futile attempts to get closer to the bluenette running out of control. Every time they thought they were close to reach him, deep cuts and painful burns would form in their skins.

 

"We won't last if this keeps going on..." panted Kise, wiping the string of blood that was running down his cheek from a cut with the back of his hand. "Any ideas, Akashicchi?"

 

"From what I can deduce, he hasn't been using whatever his ability is to attack us directly. What's attacking us is that shadow."

 

The shadow had grown bigger, covering the entire surrounding area. It was a tick darkness, painted with pulsating veins of red. The expanding shadow seemed to be coming out of Kuroko's frozen form. He was still laid on his knees in the asphalt, with his head hanging down.

 

Midorima clicked his tongue, and positioned himself, preparing to fire another arrow at the growing shadow. "If it's going to be like this..."

 

The green haired boy released the arrow made of bright light from the bow made of a similar substance, and it raised high in the sky. The moment it started to come down, it divided itself in different arrows and they rained down on the shadow, piercing it and stopping momentarily its movements.

 

"Okay, now's my chance!" Aomine gripped the hilt of his twin knifes, and advanced forward, slashing the thick strings of darkness and, for the first time, managing to be nearer to the running-out-of-control 'User'.

 

He continued slashing the shadow, reducing it to smoky particles as it disintegrated in the air. When he got at arm-length reach of the bluenette, he pulled back in one of his nifes and motioned his hand to try touching the boy.

 

"Wait, if you do that...!" Kagami yelled, trying to warn the tanned male of what would be the result of trying to touch Kuroko right now. But it was too late.

 

When Aomine's fingers were mere millimeters from the bluenette's shoulder, the shadow started to grow exponentially, and its dark red veins pumped violently. A thick string of darkness shifted and lunged forward in Aomine's direction, but his quick reflexes enabled him to cut it in two before it touched him. But even someone as quick and strong as Aomine couldn't evade the next move.

 

"Ugh...!" A hand moved forward at surprising speed and grabbed the tanned boy by the neck, burning his skin in the places he was being gripped on. "Shit...!"

 

"Aominecchi!" yelled the blonde.

 

Aomine tried to free himself by grabbing the arm stretched in front of him, but not even his overly big strength could make it move an inch. The only thing he got out of it were burns in the palm of his hand. His whole body was tingling with what he calculated it was the prickling sensation Akashi had warned them about, but more than that, it hurt.  _It hurts as fuck...!_

 

He shifted one of his knifes and craved it in Kuroko's arm. The grip lessened slightly and Aomine used the chance to yank the hand off of him. As soon as he was free, he hastily removed the knife from the bluenette's arm and in a single jump withdrew several meters.

 

"Daiki, I thought I told you not to hurt Tetsuya." Akashi appeared suddenly from behind the tanned male and glared daggers at him.

 

"Sorry if I tried to save my own ass!" Aomine touched his neck and hissed when his fingers entered in contact with his burnt skin. "Or more like, my neck."

 

"No, but look at that!" Kise pointed at the still stretched arm of the bluenette, as the blood that was spilling from the cut returned to the wound and closed it in the process. The wound was totally healed in seconds, leaving no trace of existing in the first place.

 

"Th-That's impossible!" yelped incredulously Midorima. "There's no way an ability could do that! What the hell is he!?"

 

A couple of strings lunged forward in the group direction. It would have hit them, if Murasakibara didn't erect one of his barries in front of the group. Though it didn't last long to the repeated and violent slashes the shadow made on its purple surface, and it broke in shards of purple, before disintegrating in the air.

 

A third black string abruptly attacked them, going straight at Akashi. He lifted his hand to it and sent a command, his golden eye glowing. "Stop."

 

The shadow didn't abey him and, as a last resort, he jumped out of its impact point.

 

All of the "Miracles" were stunned at what occurred. Something in this world that could defy Akashi's absolute commands actually existed.

 

Akashi clicked his tongue, and outstretched his hand to Aomine. "Daiki, Shintarou, Ryouta."

 

The tanned boy threw one of his knifes at Akashi, who grabbed it easily, and then he was gone. Midorima prepared to shoot one more of his multiplying arrows and locked it on in his target. He mentally made the count down and released the arrow. Once again it went up in the dark sky and when it started falling down, it multiplied in different arrows. Kise concentrated his eyes on the falling weapons and his body glowed a bright golden light. Suddenly the arrows were of an even brighter light and multiplied once again. They rained down on top of Kuroko, none of them directly hitting the bluenette but piercing through the raging shadows involving him.

 

Akashi suddenly appeared behind the bluenette. "Tetsuya."

 

The bluenette twitched slightly at the call of his name, but didn't move any more than that. Akashi moved one of his hands forward and touched a few strands of the pale boy's blue locks. Even from that simple contact, he felt his body tingling and the hot sensation of his skin being burnt.

 

"You don't really want to do this, right, Tetsuya?"

 

The redhead paused, expecting some reaction,  _any_ reaction, out of Kuroko.

 

"Do you really wish to lose control now, destroy this whole area and the people in it, and repeat the 'Bloody Night'?" There was once again a slight twitch on the bluenette. That meant he at least was still able to hear, so Akashi pushed forward. "Do you really wish to once again be responsible for killing people, breaing apart families and friends?"

 

"..."

 

"Do you really wish to create another accident spot, one that will never be able to house life again?"

 

"...n...o..."

 

Finally, he managed to take a response out of the bluenette.

 

"Then stop this nonsense. Come back to Teikou with us. We'll make sure you never again run out of control like this. All you have to do is become ours."

 

"...no...I...ca...n't..."

 

"For as much as I find your stubborness amusing, you really should know when to--" The redhead moved his hand down and grabbed Kuroko's chin, yanking it up in his face's direction. What he saw made the burning flesh of his fingers seem secondary to everything.

 

"...I...ca...n't...A...ka...sh...i...kun..."

 

The always warm teal of Kuroko's eyes had completely turned to an icy glow of blue, and from them streamed tears made out of dark red blood, so dark it was a shade away from turning into black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "The other self" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> [P.S. The place where I live is always full of cyclists, so I decided to try giving Yowamushi Pedal a shot. Never once had I thought I would actually enjoy watching it... until Makishima and Toudou made their appearances. Oh my Lord, I have another ship <3]


	18. Hello, it's time for the earnestly revolving hang time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Here's today's updates!
> 
> Next chapter will be the conclusion of the first arc! Please wait patiently while mulling over what will happen next to our babies :D
> 
> Well, enjoy!

The red painting the ceiling, the walls and the floor felt sickening. The sharp nails clawing into his pale skin continued drawing blood out of him, that dripped endlessly down to the floor and mixed with the already existing one.

 

The decaying hands gripping him secure to the cold, wet ground... The shifting mutilated bodies around him... The cold touch of his best friend on top of him... All of that was turning his stomach upside down.

 

"Ogiwara-kun... Stop this..."

 

_"But I'm only doing what you asked me to."_

 

"I asked you... to stop  _it_ from... happening again... Not to make me... go out of... control or... to make this to... me..."

 

_"Now, now, Kuroko. In the end it's all the same. Be it you going out of control or destroying Tokyo again... or Japan... or the whole world... In the end, it doesn't matter."_

 

A cold hand ran through his bloodied blue locks.

 

_"What it's really important in all of this is that this way you and I can be together again. You should just forget about the outside world and let it be destroyed. It doesn't have anything to do with us, after all."_

 

"That's not tr--"

 

 _"Shhh..."_   _He_ traced  _his_ hand down his face and with  _his_ thumb trailed Kuroko's lips.

 

He suddenly remembered that Akashi had done the same to him a few hours ago, and a shudder ran down his spine. His heartbeat sped up drastically and a red blush flourished in his pale features.

 

_"Hmm? What's wrong?"_

 

Kuroko quickly turned his face away. What the hell was he remembering at a time like this? This wasn't the moment to go again into introspection and analyze with the redhead had done  _that_ to him.

 

 _"Kuroko?"_ A cold hand gently pulled his face forward again and hazelnut eyes stared deep into his teal ones. He swallowed hard and opened his mouth to speak.

 

"Ogiwara-kun... we have to... stop... we shouldn't be... doing this... again..."

 

 _"What are you talking about, Kuroko?" He_ grinned happily at the bluenette and closed their faces, whispering in his ear.  _"Isn't it 'awaken and destroy everything'?"_

 

-.-

 

One of the bloody tears continued streaming down and touched Akashi's hand, burning his skin even further.

 

"...I...ca...n't...he...wo...n...'t...let...m...e..."

 

"Who is  _he_? Who are you talking about?" questioned the redhead, getting more impatient. The burning in his hand was spreading to his arm, dyeing it in shades of red and black, and the pain was numbing.

 

"Akashi, move away from him!" yelled Midorima, preparing another of his arrows.

 

Akashi simply lifted the hand that was gripping Aomine's knife and signaled to the other "Miracles" to stay put, without never taking his eyes off of Kuroko.

 

"Tetsuya, tell me. Who is this 'he' you're talking about?" pressed the redhead, giving a soft stroke to Kuroko's cheek while trying not to touch the blood streaming from his eyes.

 

"...O...gi...AHHHHHHHH--!"

 

The air around them suddenly quivered, dark sparkles surrounding them both, and the shadow once again began to expand drastically.

 

"Akashi, if you have some kind of plan of you, I advise you to fucking put it to good use. Now!" yelled Aomine, slashing with his remnant knife the shadow lunging at him.

 

"Yes, Akashicchi! If it goes any further than this,  _it_ will really happen again! The 'Bloody Night'!" Kise's body was involved in golden light again, as he copied Aomine's moves and slashed through more strings of the shadow.

 

Midorima fired single arrows at the shadows that crept behind the two offending males, while Murasakibara munched on the last bag of potato chips and erected barriers when the shadows came with too much strength onto them. Even Kagami was, somehow, avoiding the shadows that lunged against him.

 

"AHHHHH--!" Kuroko continued screaming, as if he was in terrible pain, and even more shadows came from his body and bloody tears from his frozen blue eyes.

 

"Tetsuya," tried calling the redhead. Exasperated, he clicked his tongue. He dropped Aomine's knife to the shaking ground and grabbed the bluenette's face with both hands, locking his eyes on him, not bothering with the burning on his skin. "Damn it, Tetsuya! For at least once in your life, listen to me and do as I say! Stop right now!"

 

"...I...AH...ca...n't..."

 

"It's your ability! You can control it!"

 

"...I...AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH--!"

 

Kuroko's cries became even more pained, and his skin crawled beneath Akashi's hands. The redhead was at a loss of what to do. He peeked at his companions fighting and then looked up at the sky.

 

Although it was covered by the shadow, the sun was shining normally and there was no sign of the moon.  _It_ hadn't started yet. They still had time to avoid another catastrophic event. Not a lot of it, but it was enough. An Akashi is always right, and he was absolute. So he couldn't be wrong on that.

 

He had to find a way to calm Kuroko and put him under control again. But how could he do it?

 

"...A...ka...shi...ku...n..."

 

The redhead clicked his tongue as his name was called in that broken way of speaking.

 

"If you want to call my name, do that in your usual way. With your usual voice. With your usual self."

 

He pulled the bluenette closer and kissed him.

 

There was a sudden explosion of shadows, their red linings expanding and contracting in unrhythmic motions.

 

"Oh, shit! Murasakibara!" yelled forthe Aomine. The purple haired giant dropped the empty plastic potato chips bag on the floor and raised his hands up, creating a dome around the five of them.

 

The shadow crashed violently against the purple colored dome, creating cracks on it. Murasakibara frowned as he sensed the barried being corrupted and disintegrating from the outside. He put another barrier around them from inside the dome.

 

"It's not going to hold on," pointed out Midorima.

 

"Shut it, Mido-chin. Now that my snacks are gone, I'm not in the mood for that."

 

"Hey, forget that! Is Akashicchi even alright out there!?" panicked Kise. "He doesn't have any barrier to protect him!"

 

"It's not like we can do anything about it here, Kise." Aomine gritted his teeth and gripped the hilt of his knife tighter, ready to attack in case the shadow managed to crumble the barriers.

 

"What about Kuroko!?" Kagami yelled.

 

"The shadow doesn't affect him. He's the safest one out of all of us," the tanned male answered.

 

"How can you be so sure!?" questioned again the redhead.

 

"Because this was exactly what happened  _that_ night one year ago. In the accident spot." Midorima was the one who answered this time, adjusting his glasses.

 

"The 'accident spot'?" Kagami lifted slightly his eyebrow. "You mean, in the area that no one can get close to because they disappear?"

 

"Exactly."

 

The shadow crashed once again against the barrier, causing a huge tremor in its walls, and the fissures in it widened.

 

Then it suddenly came to a halt. The shadow stopped growing, and the red veins slowly decreased their contractions until they stopped for complete.

 

A brief bolt of light flashed before their eyes and the shadow exploded, contracting on its own.

 

Everything around them turned to white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "RIMFIRE" by GRANRODEO.


	19. An end is a beginning for our next challenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hai, hai, here's today's update!
> 
> The end of the first arc is here! Next we'll have an Intermission, a short 5-chapter story featuring how Midorima and Takao meet each other and well... end up together, maybe? *wink*
> 
> I'll be taking a one-week leave, since I'll be getting busy next week (with organizing my schedule between arraging papers for college, for my part-time job, continue writing my ongoing projects, and all the other stuff I have to do daily), and I won't be able to publish nothing between September 9-11, since I'll be away and I'm not sure if I'll manage to have a steady Internet connection.
> 
> Well, enjoy the close of a wonderful arc~

Kagami coughed, pushing his upper half up into a sitting position with difficulty. He looked at his side and saw the four "Miracles" doing the same. All of them had tattered clothes, with cuts and burns decorating their skins.

 

He looked around but the heavy dark dust around them make it hard to see more than a few palms ahead. He got up as quickly as he could and walked forward, searching for his bluenette friend.

 

"Is it over?" questioned Kise, while running down a hand through his hair to shake off some of the dust away.

 

"I wouldn't hope for that much right away," Midorima answered, cleaning his glasses with the hem of his ripped up shirt.

 

"Hey, you! Wait!" Aomine chased after Kagami. "It might be dange-- Woah!"

 

"Uwah!"

 

Both the redhead and the tanned boy yelped at the same time as they both almost fell down into a huge crater in the floor. It was deep, and the bottom was unclear, particles of dust flying around stopping the visibility.

 

"Oh god! Kuroko!" He shook the tanned male's hand that grabbed his arm away, and 'skied' down the wall of the seemingly bottomless pit, using his arms to maintain balance.

 

"Akashi!" Midorima followed Kagami, with Aomine, Kise and Murasakibara at bay.

 

After a while, they reached the irregular bottom of the hole and all of them coughed at the thick air surrounding them, full of heavy dust.

 

"Aka-chin!" called the purple haired giant.

 

"Hey, Kise. Now's a good chance to put your sparkling copying mode to use and illuminate a path for us," half joked the tanned male.

 

"Shut up, Ahomine. It doesn't work like that!"

 

"Daiki, Ryouta, now is not the time to be arguing."

 

"Akashicchi!" cheerfully yelled the blonde as he heard those words, even though they were an admonishment.

 

The group followed the origin of the voice and found Akashi sitting on the floor with the inert body of the bluenette on his lap. The redhead was covered in dark particles of dust from head to toe, his clothes ripped to a pitiable state. His body was covered in small cuts and burns, but his right arm had an enourmous and painful red and black burn covering its entirety.

 

"Kuroko!" Kagami ran to the redhead and bluenette, and dropped to his knees to get a closer look at his friend. He lifted his hand and was about to touch Kuroko's blue locks to move them from his face when his hand was slapped away.

 

"Don't touch him," ordered the heterochromatic redhead.

 

"Is he okay!?" panicked the redhead, not bothered by the rude actions of the smaller redhead at the moment. He could yell at him later, if he felt like it. Oh, he would definitely do it later.

 

"He's fine. He's just sleeping." Akashi dearly ran his fingers through the dusty blue strands of hair, a small and soft smile in his face.

 

"Hey, hey, Aominecchi~ Doesn't Akashicchi look like he's..." whispered Kise to the tanned male.

 

"That's impossible, Kise. It's Akashi we're talking about!" whispered back Aomine to the blonde.

 

Midorima feigned not listening to the idiotic duo and rolled his eyes while stepping closer to observe Akashi's injuries. "Akashi, how are your injuries?"

 

"They're nothing major. A couple of weeks and I'll be okay."

 

"And he?" questioned the green haired boy.

 

"Not a single scratch. He's probably exhausted so he'll spend the next few days sleeping, most likely."

 

Midorima sighed as he got up again on his feet and took his glasses off to clean them for the hindredth time since they went inside the crater.

 

Akashi shifted Kuroko's weight and tightened his hold on the bluenette as he got up.

 

"Ah, let me help you!" Kagami got up as well and stepped forward, full of good intentions to the pale boy on the heterochromatic redhead's arms.

 

"Not needed," sharply answered Akashi. He walked over to the wall of the hole they were in and his golden eye flickered as he gave his command. "Crumble."

 

The walls slowly started to crack and fell down near the redhead's feet, forging a path they could use to climb out of the crater. He motioned forward and started walking on the crumbled-wall-turned-to-road.

 

"Ah, so your ability is still working like usual, Akashicchi. When you used it against the shadow and it didn't work, I got kinda worried. It must have been a fluke."

 

"It wasn't a fluke, Ryouta," simply answered Akashi.

 

"What do you mean, Akashi?" questioned the green haired boy, following right behind the redhead.

 

"I figured out what his ability is. He's the only person in the entire world who my ability will never work on. Yours too."

 

"Eh?" The mouths of the other four 'Miracles' gaped open and they silently waited for the head of their group to continue what he was saying.

 

"He can nullify anything. Be it abilities, injuries, people... even death itself."

 

-.-

 

 **Current Position:** 350 m underground

 **Location:** Unknown

 

"Have you found it?"

 

"Yes, our satellites have photographic evidence on the occurence and the machines have registered the sudden increase in the flux," reported the head scientist to his patron.

 

"I see." The man puts his elbows in the reunion's table and smiles ominously. "You heard the man. The fun is about to begin."

 

The other five occupants of the table nodded in agreement.

 

"That said," the man clicks his fingers and looks at the group of scientists in front of the reunion's table. "Kill them all."

 

The five men get up and go over in the scientists' direction, each one of them yielding their weapon of choice.

 

"W-Wait! T-This isn't w-what we agreed on!" yelled panicly the head scientist.

 

"Hmm? I don't remember making any agreement with you. You did your job, so now you're useless. We should clean the trash when it accumulates, right?"

 

"B-But...! ARRRRRRGHHHHH!"

 

That night, screams filled the entire subterranean facility of Kirisaki Daiichi Labs. However, not a single soul from the surface knew about the Hell that was going on beneath their feet.

 

**END OF ARC**

**THE HIDDEN PHANTOM OF TEIKOU ACADEMY**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "NEXT GAME" by Ono Kenshou (our beautiful bluenette) and Ono Yuuki (the "Wild Tiger" of Seirin).
> 
> So you know now who will be the ones responsible for future trouble, right? Let's see how the "Miracles" + Kuroko + Kagami will deal with them~
> 
> See you in a week!


	20. This was predeterminated by fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Konnichiwa, minna-san! I know I said I would take a one week break, but I just can't stay away for too long, and since I managed to already solve some of the most pressing matters, here I am!
> 
> And here it starts MidorimaxTakao's side story! I had quite a difficult time writing this side story, you could almost say it was painful to me (in some ways), since there are some shared connections between Takao's point of view of the world and my past point of view of the world (and some other stuff). But rest assured, they'll have a happy ending :D  
> [Oh, and this intermission happens in their second year of middle school, two years approximately before the main timeline.]
> 
> Warning: TRIGGER ALLERT! There's a mention of attempted self-mutilation, and some light medical procedures. You have been warned.
> 
> Well, enjoy!

**Intermission I - First Part**

 

_Before the start of my second year in middle school, one day I woke up and the world before my eyes was completely different. Slowly... I lost the ability to laugh or even smile._

 

-.-

 

"Hey, hey! He's at it again!"

 

"You mean  _again_!? Damn, doesn't he get tired of it?"

 

"He looks like a total weirdo when he does that! Is it his kink or something? Hahaha!"

 

"Shh...! If you talk that loudly, he's going to hear you!"

 

 _I already did!_ Takao sighed and dropped his head to the table where he was sitting on.

 

The whispering continued, together with the high giggles of his classmates, all of them directed at him. He touched with his hand the black blindfold he had covering his eyes and sighed once again.

 

The teacher opened the door and got inside the classroom, stopping in front of the teacher's desk. "Okay, everyone! Go back to your seats. The class is starting!"

 

The students motioned around, each sitting on their respective seats.

 

"Open your books on page-- Hey, Takao! Pay attention to the class and take that off your eyes. How many times do I have to tell you that!?" admonished the teacher.

 

The raiven haired student clicked his tongue and kicked his desk. "Shut up, damn it!"

 

Silence ruled the classroom as Takao got up from his seat and walked away from the classroom, closing the door with a loud  _bang_.

 

He walked down the empty hallway with hasty footsteps.

 

He once again trailed his fingers on the blindfold.  _It's not a kink of anything, damn it!_

 

Takao simply didn't want to see. If he continued to see the world like it was right now he would surely go insane. He would flip completely and end up tearing his eyeballs out of their cavities. He had tried once, but it only resulted on him ending up in the urgency room of a hospital and having to go through painful sessions of counselling with a psychologist. Since then he resorted to cover his eyes with a black blindfold from time to time, when he was too tired from watching the world as it truly was.

 

He made a turn to the left, but suddenly his foot was swiped out of foothold and he started falling forward.  _Oh shit, I forgot there was a staircase here!_

 

He painfully stumbled down the stairs. When his body stopped rolling and crashed against the opposite wall, he felt as all the air of his lungs was forcefully expelled from inside. He slowly lifted his upper half, and tried to lift his hand to check if he was bleeding from his head but his arm refused to move. He tried using his other hand and when he touched his shoulder, he felt the unusual position of his bone.

 

"Great..." he mumbled under his breath as he got up and removed his blindfold to look at the dislocated shoulder.

 

-.-

 

"Hmm... I think the infirmary was around here..." The raived haired boy looked up and read the tags on top of the doors in the corridor. "Ah! There it is!"

 

He wobbled over to the door, while clutching his shoulder. Takao opened the door of the infirmary and looked around.

 

"Excuse me! Is the nurse here?"

 

"No, she's not," answered a tall green haired male reading a book in the nurse's secretary. He closed the book and looked at Takao. "Do you need something?"

 

_If I recall correctly, that guy is... Midorima Shintarou, one of the "Miracles"._

 

"If she's not here, then I'll come later." The raived haired boy just turned around and was starting to leave when the taller male got up from his seat.

 

"So you're just going to walk around school with a dislocated shoulder? Don't be an idiot and come inside. I'll fix it for you."

 

Takao peered over his shoulder to look at the green haired boy and started walking inside the infirmary again.

 

"Sit over there in that bed." The green haired male walked to the shelves in the wall and took a pair of silicone gloves from a card box. "It's going to hurt when I'm putting the bone in the right place, but try to remain cal-- What the heck are you doing!?"

 

Midorima dropped one of the gloves on the floor as he turned around to the raived haired student and saw him putting a black blindfold on his own eyes.

 

"Shut up and do it already."

 

The taller male adjusted his glasses and picked a new glove from the card box. He went over to the raiven haired student and started observing the damage on his shoulder.

 

"How did you do this?"

 

"I fell down the stairs," quickly answered Takao.

 

"Were you using  _that_ when it happened?"

 

"That's right."

 

"..."

 

"..."

 

"..."

 

"What? Not going to add a retort to that? Like, 'Is that your kink?' or something like that?"

 

"Every person is free to do what they want with their lives," shortly answered the green haired male.

 

"Hmm..." hummed the raiven haired student.

 

"Weird hobbies or not," added Midorima.

 

"Hey! That last bit was unnecess-- AHHH!" Takao suddenly yelled as he bone went back to place.

 

"There. It's fixed."

 

"You could have warned me!" admonished the raiven haired male.

 

Takao slipped his good hand inside the blindfold and moved it slightly, in order to wipe the tears that formed in the corner of his eyes due to the sudden pain.

 

"Why do you wear that blindfold?" bluntly asked Midorima while registering the raiven haired student's visit to the infirmary.

 

"Why do you wear those bandages on your hand?" asked back Takao.

 

"..."

 

"Well, just think of it as my kink and I'll think of your bandages as yours," teased the smaller male.

 

"I do not have such thing!" blushed Midorima. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "Your shoulder is in place now, but try not to use your arm too much for the time being if you don't want any permanent damage on the ligaments."

 

"Sure." Takao got up from the bed and started walking forward. "Thanks for the help. See ya~"

 

The raiven haired student walked in the door direction... or so he thought. As he took a few steps he came crashing against one of the supplies closets with a loud  _thud_.

 

Midorima only sighed and took a few pads of cotton from a flask, as the smaller male had bumped his forehead right on the corner of the closet and had a string of blood flowing down his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Nerai doori no Destiny" by Ono Daisuke (our green haired healing angel).
> 
> I must apologize beforehand for anything that I will do to Takao in the future. Well, compared to what Kuroko went and will go through, it's almost nothing, but it still pains me deeply.
> 
> And of course, Takao and his comic relief! I feel that they could be talking about the fucking end of the world and he would get a way to break the heavy mood with it! XD
> 
> [P.S. I finally got my hands in my first KnB related merchandise! It literally crossed oceans before getting in my hand XD It's a pity that there's none shared image of Kuroko and Akashi on it, but there's a shot of Kuroko teasing Kagami with Nigou, so... *goes away while fangirling*]


	21. Before you even know it, you're already on your way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hai, hai, everyone! Here's today's chapter :D
> 
> Let's all sit back and enjoy some comfort/healing MidoTaka time, shall we? (It's comfort/healing time for both our lovebirds and our hearts, since we don't have to read about the quite heartbreaking main AkaKuro plotline...)
> 
> Hope you like it!

**Intermission I - Second Part**

 

"Takao."

 

"Hm?"

 

"Aren't you coming here way too much lately? It's the third time this month," pointed out Midorima while cleaning the scratches on the raiven haired boy's arm. "And you're still using that freaky blindfold while walking around. At least take it off to see where you're going."

 

"Eh~ But then it would lose its purpose," honestly answered Takao. "I don't want to see what's in front of me."

 

"Why?"

 

"..." The raiven haired male lifted the arm Midorima was treating and used it to move the blindfold from his eyes slightly. "Hey, Midorima-kun, you're one of the 'Miracles', right?"

 

"..."

 

"Then you should know that sometimes there are things that aren't what they seem, right?" He lifts his other hand, completely removes his blindfold, showing his steel blue eyes, and points at them. "I can see it. The truth that lies behind everything and their real shape. To be honest, this blindfold is pretty useless most of days. Because even if I cover or close my eyes, I can still see the world around me by its true colors."

 

Midorima turns around, adjusting his glasses, and picks some more cotton balls with disinfectant. "Isn't it a matter of perspective?"

 

"Eh?"

 

"The world is different to everyone's eyes. What one sees may not be the truth they seek, but does it really matter? You just have to learn how to change the perspective you see it with. When you learn to do that, things will look surprisingly easier to accept."

 

"..." Takao gapes his mouth slightly while staring at the taller male. "I wanted to ask you this for a while now..."

 

"What?" Midorima resumes to cleaning the wounds.

 

"Why is it that every time I come to the infirmary there's a weird looking toy in the nurse's desk? And every time is a different one."

 

Midorima gasps loudly and looks at Takao shocked. "'Weird looking'!? What are you saying about Kuma-san!?" The green haired boy points at the stuffed bear in a basketball uniform. "What about him is weird!? He's adorable and comes with two more outfits!"

 

"Buwahahahahaha!" When Midorima looks back to Takao, the raiven haired boy is clutching his stomach while rolling around in the bed laughing. "So that stuffed bear is yours? Oh my, that was unexpected! Ahahaha! How old are you, five!? Buwahahahaha!"

 

"Takao! Stop laughing!" The green haired male adjusted his glasses, with a slight blush on his cheeks.

 

"Ahahaha! Ah, my stomach hurts! Ahahahaha..." He starts to slowly calm his laughter and wipes the tears from the corners of his eyes. "Sorry, Shin-chan, but that was way too out of the left field."

 

"So what if I have a stuffed bear with me? Oha Asa said it was the lucky item of the day to Cancers! Hm? Wait, 'Shin-chan'!?"

 

"'Oha Asa'? THe heck's that?" asked Takao, trying to not start laughing again. "Ah, it's been a real long time..."

 

"Huh?"

 

Takao looked at the green haired boy's eyes and smiled brightly. "Since I laughed out loud, that is."

 

"..."

 

"But well..." The raived haired boy rolled his sleeves down his arms and got up from the bed. He motioned forward to the door, while putting back his black blindfold, and waved his hand up. "See ya~"

 

"W-Wait...!" Midorima lunged forward and grabbed his arm, stopping him from opening the door.

 

"Woah!" The sudden tug to his arm made his lose his footing and crash against the taller male's chest. "W-What is it?"

 

"..." The green haired boy put his hand on Takao's face and with his fingers tugged the blindfold down. He looked into the depth of those steel blue eyes that stared surprised back at him. "What exactly do you see with those eyes when you look at me?"

 

"Eh...?"

 

"Sorry, Midorima-kun. I'm back now, so you can go to the afternoon classes." The door opened and the nurse entered in the infirmary.

 

The two boys jumped in surprise and each of them took a step backwards, separating their bodies. Takao quickly pulled his blindfold back to its place and excused himself from the infirmary, while Midorima just adjusted his glasses, a red blush on his face.

 

-.-

 

Takao was walking back from school to Shuutoku dorm, whistling a song that had caught his attention a few days ago. He had his blindfold on, since he knew the way to his apartment like the back of his hand, and seeing more than what he already saw with his eyes covered was not a really welcomed option.

 

The raiven haired boy arrived to the dorm building and was entering the lobby when he crashed against a hard wall and stumbled a few steps back. "Ouch..." he softly muttered while rubbing his nose.

 

"You should watch where you walk... or more precisely, you should walk without  _that_ on."

 

"Huh?" Takao peeked an eye out of the blindfold and looked at the green haired boy's back. "Shin-chan!"

 

"So you're staying in Shuutoku? I see that today you haven't gotten into trouble, since you didn't stop by the infirmary."

 

"Oh~ What's this, Shin-chan? Did you miss me when I didn't come there today?" teased the smaller boy.

 

"Shut up, Takao! And don't call me 'Shin-chan'!" added Midorima.

 

"Eh~ So you missed me, huh?"

 

"When did I say that!?"

 

"But you also didn't deny it~"

 

The green haired male just adjusted his glases and looked away.

 

Lately Takao had come to realize that during the short interactions he had with Midorima, he was able to revert a little to his past self and actually found himself teasing the taller student more often than not. He could even say he was enjoying himself and sometimes he found himself smiling or laughing like crazy. The green haired boy's personality helped in that, seeing as he normally appeared cold towards others, but was actually a caring person.

 

_I mean, every time I go to the infirmary he's there and he always welcomes me and treats my wound._

 

He as rather interested in the green haired male. There were times when he was with Midorima where he could forget all about his fucking ability and enjoy his life like a normal human being. Even though he knew Midorima was way more powerful than him in terms of ability strength, him being a normal "User" and the other male a "Miracle", he felt that as long as he was by his side he could  _become_ normal again.

 

Takao smiled and tugged Midorima's shirt slightly. "Hey, Shin-chan. Wanna come to--"

 

The raiven haired student suddenly pushed Midorima away and between them passed a hunting knife at high speed, impaling itself in the wall on the opposite end of the lobby.

 

Droplets of blood painted the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "F.O.V. (Field of View)" by Suzuki Tatsuhisa (aka Kazu-chan).
> 
> Yes, yes, I know. I kinda cockblocked them twice in the same chapter... And I ended it in a cliffhanger. Blame it all on me and my sadistic writer side.
> 
> But I'm sure you will be quite delighted to read what's going to happen in the next chapter. Stay tunned for more :D


	22. Even so, it's never wise to tempt fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Here's today's chapter, a little bit earlier than usual.
> 
> Today I have a little treat for you. And regarding that I also must apologize. Read to know why :D
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

**Intermission I - Third Part**

 

"Owowowowow!"

 

"Stop squirming around and stay put. If you keep doing that, it will only hurt more," admonished Midorima as he sutured the large cut in the raiven haired boy's arm, caused by the lunging knife directed at them earlier. "Did you see who threw that knife?"

 

"Well, no..."

 

"Then how did you knew it was coming?" questioned the green haired male.

 

"I-- ouch!-- saw the knife coming in our direction," answered Takao, wincing slightly as he numbingly felt the needle penetrate his skin again.

 

"You had your eyes covered, though," pointed out Midorima.

 

Takao grimaced at that. "As I told you before, the blindfold is more useless than not."

 

"Then why do you use it?" There was a slight silence between them, and the taller male suddenly froze his movements. "Don't tell me... it's really your fetish to use a blindfold...?"

 

"Of course not!!" abruptly yelled the smaller boy, blushing fervently. "I just... don't want to see it..."

 

"I see." Midorima adjusted his glasses and finished the final suture on the gash on the raiven haired boy's arm. "There, it's done."

 

"Thanks~" Takao looked at the sutured cut, both amazed at the technique of the suture done by someone who hadn't even finished middle school and disgusted at the nasty aspect of the wound.  _This surely will leave a mark._

 

"Yes, it will leave a scar. I tried my best to close it nicely, but with the depth of the cut, it will naturally leave some sort of mark on the skin. Though it will become lighter as time passes."

 

"Woah..." The smaller boy looked up at the green haired male. "I didn't know you also read minds. Well, it doesn't matter. I'm a man, so scars don't bother me. Besides, it's proof that I did something for you, at least once~"

 

Midorima observed as Takao smiled brightly at him, and closer their distance. With a soft sigh, he brushed his lips on the raiven haired boy's, so lightly it could barely be felt. Takao became static and his eyes opened in a surprised way that the green haired boy never thought possible to see on him.

 

Midorima adjusted his glasses and looked away, a slight pink painting his features. "I can protect myself without anyone's help, thank you very much. But I guess I'm in need to thank you for helping me out this time. Anyway, it's getting late, and I need to report to Akashi this incident. Be sure to keep water from touching the wound while bathin--"

 

The green haired boy was getting up when a hand grabbed his uniform's shirt and pulled him down again, back to his sitting position.

 

Takao pushed his body closer to the taller male and tentatively kissed Midorima, first chastely, but quickly deepening it as the other boy started responding and kissing him back. The smaller male wrapped his arms around Midorima's neck, running his fingers through the soft, green strands of hair.

 

"Ngh..." Takao shivered when he felt Midorima's hands grab his sides, close to his hips, and when he regained some of the awareness of his surroundings, he noticed he had been pushed down against the carpet on the floor.

 

With Midorima lingering on top of him, their quickened breaths mingling together, they continued tasting each other's mouth, sucking into each other's tongues, in an endless exhange of both caresses and saliva.

 

"Ah--!" When Midorima's warm hand tugged slightly the raiven haired boy's shirt and entered in contact with his also hot skin, Takao couldn't help the sudden moan that escaped his throat and the shiver that run down his spine at the so wanted touch.

 

Breaking their kiss, the taller male looked at the steel blue eyes of the raiven haired boy, watery from the pleasure. "Takao--"

 

The door's bell suddenly rang and soon followed some knocking. "Takao! Midorima! Akashi is here for you!"

 

Miyaji Kiyoshi's voice sounded outside the apartment. He was the head of Shuutoku's dorm and their upperclassman, though he was in the high school division already.

 

Midorima clicked his tongue and moved away from the raiven haired boy, who was hastily fixing his clothes, always maintaining eye contact with him. He turned around and moved in the door's direction.

 

When he opened the door, Midorima saw both Miyaji and the heterochromatic redhead, Akashi, the leader of the "Miracles".

 

"Miyaji-san, Akashi."

 

"How's Takao?" asked their senior, a glint of worry in his eyes.

 

Midorima adjusted his glasses and moved out of the way, giving space for the two males to enter the apartment. "I treated his wound. It should heal in a couple of weeks. No need to go to a hospital."

 

"Well, you're probably better than any doctor out there, so that's not exactly why I was worrying." Miyaji stepped inside, followed by Akashi.

 

All of them sat at the sofa, while Takao was distributing some cups with tea to all of them, before also sitting down.

 

"I get the situation," Akashi said, after listening to the explanation on the situation directly from the victims. "I will order the security guards to start making rounds more frequently around each dorm, just to be sure that it doesn't happen again, whether on this dorm or on another, and ask Satsuki to analyze the surveillance cameras around Shuutoku's building. She might figure out who was the responsible for this attack."

 

Akashi looked at Takao and when the red and golden eyes met his steel blue ones, the raiven haired boy couldn't help the sudden goosebumps that covered the entirety of his body.

 

_What exactly... am I looking at?_

 

What Takao was seeing with his eyes was shocking... no, it was plainly disturbing. Never once had he seen an aura like the one surrounding Akashi. It imposed on others, it imposed  _control_ on everything. Such a terrifying person couldn't surely be normal. Well, he was one of the "Miracles", but that alone didn't quite make the cut. He stared deeply at the redhead and analyzed what he was seeing. The entirety of the aura was disturbing, but the weirdest part of all of it was the golden glint that eradiated from his left eye. It was... odd, for lack of better words.

 

_No, truth to be told, I see something quite similar to this on a daily basis._

 

He recalled the first time he saw one of his classmates and the shock he got when he saw the bluenette's aura. He had never sensed... no,  _seen_ such powerful ability all bottled up in a small and frail body. By the way his ability leaked unnaturally from his body, it always came as weird to him why none of the other students nor teachers seemed to notice he was there pretty much all the time. He had thought that maybe his ability interfered with the way others perceived the smaller boy, masking his presence, but somehow that also didn't sound quite right to him.

 

Akashi noticed the intense stare the raiven haired male was pointing at him and gave a slight smile. "Takao Kazunari, I thank you for protecting one of my fellow comrades and 'Miracle'. I sure hope you make a swift recovery from that cut in your arm."

 

"T-Thank you..." He gave a small bow with his head and sipped on his tea, finally averting his gaze.

 

The redhead got up from his seat together with Miyaji and they both motioned to the front door.

 

"Ah." Akashi stopped on his track and looked behind to both Midorima and Takao from over his shoulder, golden eye flickering briefly. "I apologize if we interrupted both of you earlier."

 

"...!"

 

The redhead left after Miyaji and closed the door, leaving the two males blushing fervently.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Iwaku Kani-za no Kichijitsu ni" by Ono Daisuke (aka Shin-chan).
> 
> I've come to realize that Akashi, not only doesn't know how to joke, but he's also quite blunt, although he does it with caution.
> 
> Sorry for cockblocking them again. I swear it will be the last time. (I just wanted to write Akashi cockblocking Midorima, for all the future times when Midorima will cockblock Akashi XD)
> 
> I have the habit of listening to music to inspire my works. So I have a full playlist of songs for this fanfiction. I thought I would share that with you guys (I will give you other examples throughout the updates). For MidoTaka, I listen to "Smile" by Uncle Kracker.  
> I think the lyrics suit them quite well for this plot, especially this part:  
> "Don't know how I lived without you  
> 'Cuz everytime that I get around you  
> I see the best of me inside your eyes  
> You make me smile"
> 
> Twitter: Mafy_mod  
> (check it out for updates and other goodies on my fanfictions ;D)


	23. I can see it perfectly in my field of view

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Here's today's chapter.
> 
> The next chapter will be the last of this short intermission featuring our healing angels, Shin-chan and Kazu-chan <3
> 
> Hope you enjoy :D

**Intermission I - Fourth Part**

 

Takao was locking the door to his apartment. It was pretty late, already past 11 PM, but he had suddenly run out of some necessary ingredients for his meals for this week, so he decided to use the time of the day when there were less people in the convenience store in the main street to go for a quick fix on some things.

 

He walked while humming to the main entrance of Shuutoku dorm and passed by the guard positioned by it, giving a quick greeting to the man, which was mostly ignored.

 

The raiven haired male stepped to the street connecting the dorm to the main street and remembered that he wasn't wearing his black blindfold at the moment. He motioned his hand up and noticed that it wasn't at the top of his head like it normally rested during his free time at his apartment.

 

_Tsk, this is going to be a painful shopping trip..._

 

To distract his mood, he started whistling a song from a band that he had discovered recently. He continue doing so as he walked calmly, but he had noticed it.

 

He reached the end of the street, where it divided in two directions, one leading to the main street and other to the backyard gate of Teikou Academy. He looked over at the main street, but made a break for the opposing street.

 

Soon, the shadows that had been following him since he exited the dorm hastened their steps like him and pursued him more openly. It was a total of seven men, all dressed in black, armed with both knifes, like the one that had been thrown to him and Midorima earlier that week, and pistols with both darts and normal bullets.

 

 _If they are still around the dorm at this time of the day, it can only mean one thing._ They were men specialized in kidnapping. Most specifically, kidnapping "Users".

 

One of the reasons Teikou Academy was built was to gather all "Users" in Japan and protect them, not only from their own abilities, but also from those who wanted to use them as both research material and as their own living weapons. There were also a lot of wealthy screwed-up bastards in the world that sought to have their own personal "User" as their bodyguard, or at least that's what they showed upfront in the outside. Most of those "bodyguards" were treated even lower than a slave, used to satisfy the sick whims of their "owners".

 

Takao continue to run, ever so often shifting his direction left and right in order to dodge the darts sent to him. Luckily, his eyes enabled him to see the precise spot where they would fall on, so it was easy to evade them.

 

He was only five minutes away from the Academy, and once there he could contact the guards and request for their help.

 

But suddenly, one of the pursuers fired a flare gun, pointing it in Takao's direction. The flare fell rght in front of him, blinding him momentarily. That was all the time they needed. One of the men lunged his leg forward and swept Takao out of foothold, making him fall hard against the asphalt. The same man secured him to the floor, one of his knees pressing against his back and a hand holding his head strongly against the rough ground.

 

"Let me go!" yelled the raiven haired male, struggling against the man securing him.

 

The man ignored him and grabbed the radio on his waist. "Hound #4 speaking. I've secured the target. We are currently 250m approximately of the main nest. No civilians or 'Users' in sight. Over."

 

There was some static coming from the radio and then a voice. "Understood, Hound #4. Bring the target back to the fort. No violence, please, but you can put him to sleep if needed. Over."

 

"Roger that. Over."

 

Takao was livid, all blood rushing out of his face as he realized  _he_ was the one they were seeking, not just any "User". The reason why he and Midorima had been attacked was only because he was being the target of some sort of kidnapping. He tried to focus his vision, still hazy by the sudden brightness of the flare sent to him. If they had used it, that meant they knew of his ability and, of course, his weakness: all they needed to do was disable him of his vision and he would be as vulnerable as a new born baby.

 

He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves, and focused his hazy eyes on the man on top of him. He tried to move his arms slightly and couldn't sense anything stopping its movements doing so.  _Okay, I can do this._

 

He lunged his hand in the man's leg's direction and grabbed the knife on its belt. With quick movements, he shifted the knife and stabbed it straight into the hard muscle of his upper leg. The man screamed in pain and loosened his grip on the raiven haired male, urging him to struggle even more until he managed to break free from it.

 

Takao stepped away from the man and saw as the other men were approaching them in hasty footsteps.

 

Takao was clearly in disadvantage. They were seven and all of them had weapons; he was only one person and had only a knife protecting him, which was clearly not suited for long distance combat.

 

The man bleeding from his leg limply got up and grabbed his pistol, pointing it in Takao's direction. The raiven haired male quickly dodged the lunging darts, but he quickly noticed he had fallen for their trap. While he was busy evading the darts, he failed to notice that the men were slowly forming a circle around him.

 

_Oh shit, I'm so screwed!!_

 

"Now, little boy. Let's do this the easy way, okay? We don't really want to hurt you, but if you continue to struggle, I swear we will."

 

Takao lifted the knife in the direction of the man most close to him, and breathed deeply. He was resolved to not go with them without a fight. If they caught him after fight them, that was that, but he wouldn't go down without at least injuring one or two. He closed his eyes briefly and focused his mind on the battle in front of him.

 

_Shin-chan..._

 

"Ugh!" Takao hastily opened his eyes at the pained cry he heard coming out from one of the pursuers and saw as he fell to the floor with an arrow of bright light stabbed in his chest. Soon two other arrows came flying from the sky and stabbed other two men, who also fell to the ground.

 

The raiven haired male looked behind him, in the Academy's direction, and saw a familiar green haired student coming from the backyard gate.

 

"Really, now..." Midorima adjusted his glasses, a deep frown on his face. "Don't go around making more trouble for me and touching what doesn't belong to you."

 

"Shin-chan..."

 

The sudden entrance of the "User" soon lost its suprise element and the other four men pointed their weapons to the newcomer, this time their pistols with normal bullets.

 

"Shin-chan, to the right!"

 

Midorima followed the advice of the raiven haired male and the bullets fired against him only hit and rebounded against the iron gate.

 

"Three steps backwards!"

 

The green haired male once again followed Takao's words and dodged a flying knife that hit the asphalt where he previously was.

 

"Shit! Shut the fuck up!" One of the men close to Takao lifted his dart pistol and pointed it in Takao's direction, but his hand was suddenly pierced by an arrow sent by Midorima. The man screamed and dropped the weapon to the floor.

 

"I thought I told you not to touch what doesn't belong to you."

 

"Shin-chan, fire to your left, 500 degrees up in that building's direction!" Takao lifted his hand and pointed it to the white building that was at the end of the street. "And take a step to your right! Now!"

 

Midorima followed Takao's orders, since he came to realize how precise and useful they were in actual combat. He released one of his arrows of light from the bow made of a similar substance, that went flying to the sky and the crashed against one of the windows in the building, hitting a hidden man.

 

However, Midorima was a second late to take that one step to the right and a bullet grazed his cheek, a little trickle of blood rushing down from it.

 

"Shin-chan!"

 

"Don't worry. Continue giving your directions," replied Midorima to the worried voice of Takao.

 

"Okay! Next point to--" One of the pursuers suddenly creeps from behind Takao, a syringe with an immobilizing drug in his hand, and lunged it forward in the raiven haired male's direction, straight to his neck.

 

Takao caught him with his eyes when the syringe was nearing his neck, and in self-defense, lunged the knife he had stolen from one of the pursuers directly to the most vulnerable area he could access. The blade of the knife ripped flesh and a gush of blood came directly to Takao's face and clothes when the men's neck was cut open. Gurgling blood, the man fell on his knees and, after half a second of struggling, he succumbed to the loss of blood.

 

"Takao!" Midorima ran to the raiven haired male after having finished the last pursuer and stopped beside him. "Takao, are you okay?"

 

"..."

 

"Hey, Takao, did they hurt you anywhere!?" The taller male put his hands on Takao's shoulders and shook him lightly. "Takao!"

 

"...No... I'm fine..." Suddenly coming out of shock when he looked at the dribble of blood flowing from Midorima's cheek, Takao hastily dropped the knife to the floor and grabbed his face, checking the wound. "Are you okay!? You're bleeding!"

 

"Don't worry about me right now! You're covered in blood! Are you sure you're okay!?" Midorima searched around with his eyes for potential wounds on the smaller male.

 

"Ah, no~ It's not mine! It's... not... mine... Ngh..." As he spoke those words, tears started flowing down his eyes, as reality came rushing into him. He was okay, but... he had just killed a man. With his hands... he killed someone.

 

"Taka--"

 

"Mido-chin!" yelled the purple haired giant, Murasakibara, coming out from the backyard gate, together with Akashi.

 

"Is everything okay?" asked Akashi, peering at both Midorima and Takao.

 

Midorima pulled Takao closer to his chest, hiding his crying features with it. He adjusted his glasses and gave a quick glance to the redhead. "Yes. Akashi, if you'll excuse us, I would like to check if there are any injuries on him."

 

"Sure. Come later to the main office to give your report. Meanwhile, I'll take care of this mess."

 

Midorima gave a little nod in acknowledgement and stepped forward, leading Takao slowly back to Shuutoku dorm, always maintaining the smaller male close to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "F.O.V. (Field of View)" by Suzuki Tatsuhisa (our grieving raiven haired male).
> 
> I hope I got you on the edge of your seat while you were reading this chapter. I know I did while I wrote it!
> 
> I have the feeling that my chapters are gradually becoming bigger. Well, you may not notice it, but I do, since I try to maintain a regular schedule on how many words I write per chapter and per day. I guess I'm just getting on the rhythm of writing every day.
> 
> Twitter: Mafy_mod  
> (check it out for more news on my fanfictions ;D)


	24. Reinvent yourself and become someone in whom you can believe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hai, hai, minna-san! Here's today's update!
> 
> So now MidoTaka's small intermission has come to an end. And as you may have noticed, the rating went from Mature to Explicit, so that should probably give you an hint of what's about to happen in this chapter ;D But just to be sure...
> 
> Warning: Sexual content
> 
> We will go back to the main plotline a.k.a AkaKuro in the next update, in the new second arc!
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

__**Intermission I - Last Part**

 

"Where's your apartment's key?" asked Midorima, holding the blood-covered body of Takao against his chest.

 

"Here." Sniffing, Takao rummaged through his pants' pocket and took a keychain with a set of keys from it.

 

Midorima opened the door and pushed both of them inside the dark apartment. Takao finally managed to stand firm on his own and went over to turn on the lights of the apartment. On his way to the living room, he passed by the forgotten black blindfold and grimaced at its sight.

 

Midorima followed after him and observed Takao's pained expression while he looked over at the blindfold resting on the small table in front of the sofas. He aproached the smaller male and dragged him around his room. "Come."

 

They stepped inside the bedroom and went over to the bathroom.

 

"W-Wait!" Midorima started undressing the raiven haired male, throwing the bloodied clothes into the farthest corner of the bathroom. "S-Shin-chan...!"

 

The green haired male softly pushed Takao inside the shower and turned the water on, adjusting the temperature to a decent one, not too cold nor too hot. With the sudden contact of the warm liquid on his skin, Takao shivered and tried to cover the most he could of his naked body.

 

Midorima entered the shower too and with the hem of his shirt's sleeve, he wipped the blood staining the smaller male's features. He continued silently wiping the blood from the boy's body, red staining the water and going down the drain.

 

"Shin-chan... You're getting your clothes wet..."

 

Midorima suddenly grabbed the raiven haired male's face and softly pulled it up. "That doesn't matter now. I just want to make sure you're okay. Are you okay?"

 

"As I told you, I'm completely fine." He took a step back away from the taller male and showed him his woundless body, save for the gash he got some days ago, still in its healing process. "See? They didn't hurt me."

 

Midorima pulled him closer once again, embracing him, and released a heavy sigh. "When you suddenly started to cry, you really scared me!"

 

"Sorry. That was just..."

 

"Yes, I know. Killing is never easy, even if it's done to preserve your own life."

 

Takao snuggled himself deeper into the warm embrace of the taller male and put his arms around him, trying to capture every bit of warmth and comfort it could offer.

 

"Takao..."

 

"Hmm?"

 

"You still haven't answered me."

 

"Answered what?" questioned the raiven haired boy, completely lost on the direction where the conversation was going.

 

"I asked you in the infirmary some time ago what you see with your eyes when you look at me."

 

Takao blushed slightly and hid his face in the taller male's chest. "--my life..."

 

"What?" Midorima gently lifted his face and locked his green eyes on the steel blue ones of Takao, prompting him to repeat once again what he had said.

 

"I see the most beautiful shade of green light I've ever seen in my life. One that fills me with happiness and makes me want to tease the responsible for emitting it. One that makes me think that it's okayy to look at all sides of the reality before my eyes, even the nasty sides of it, if it means I get to see it every day. And mostly I see the one thing in my life that I love from the bottom of my heart and gave me back my smile." Takao smiled brightly at the green haired male. "And you?"

 

Midorima adjusted his foggy glasses and looked away, a slight pink painting his face, while mumbling some words. "--you too..."

 

"Hmm~ I didn't quite catch that. Can you say it more clearly again~" teased the smaller boy.

 

"I love you too!" bashfully yelled Midorima, the pink turning to a bright red and spreading even further in his features.

 

"I heard you more than perfectly the first time~" He stuck his tongue out, as he teased the green haired male even further.

 

"Takao!"

 

"But... I want to keep hearing those words. Over and over again."

 

Midorima adjusted his glasses and looked away, sulking slightly. "Too bad, I won't be saying them in the foreseeable future."

 

"Eeeh~ That's not fair! Don't be unreasonable!"

 

Midorima clicked his tongue as he tried to avert his gaze from the naked form of Takao that was glued to his body. "You're the one being unreasonable here!"

 

"Eh~"

 

"Now that I got that blood out of you, get yourself dry and dressed. I'm going to stop by my apartment to change clothes." Midorima pushed Takao gently away and started exiting the shower, but a hand tugged at his shirt and stopped him from leaving.

 

"What's the point on me getting dressed? All in all, we'll both end up without clothes." Takao stepped closer to Midorima's back and rested his forehead on the wet fabric of his shirt. "So you better hurry up to take those wet clothes off of you and take me to my bed."

 

The taller male clicked his tongue and turned to face Takao, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, pushing him down gently into the bed.

 

"Do you even know what you're saying? I'm a man. And you're a man. Do you know what that means?"

 

Takao released a small snort. "Of course I do. I might be in middle school, but I'm not that far behind in health class."

 

"And as a man, you should know that once I get going I won't be able to stop. It won't be like the other time, when we got interrupted."

 

"I wouldn't want it any other way." The raiven haired male lifted his hand and cupped Midorima's face. "So hurry up and give it to me~"

 

"You really should start controlling your teasing..."

 

"Eh~ This is only the beginning~" Takao moved his hand further and pulled Midorima closer to him. "Now enough talking and let's get down to business."

 

The green haired male clicked his tongue again and let Takao lead him into his lips, slightly open to give him full access to its inside. And, of course, Midorima didn't have a self-control strong enough to refuse Takao on any of it.

 

They once again exchanged sweet and delirous kisses, Takao moving his hands in order to help the taller male to take off his wet clothes and have their rising in temperature wet bodies touching each other directly.

 

Clothes on the floor, Midorima climbed further into the bed and pushed Takao further to him, pulling him into a straddling position on his lap so they were up facing each other. Continuing to mutually taste their mouths and tongues, Midorima roamed his hands around the hot skin of the raiven haired male, pausing his hands on the base of his hardened member and getting a good hold on it before he started pumping it up and down.

 

"Ah-- Ngh--" moaned the raiven haired male into his mate's mouth, breath getting more caught up due to the pleasurable sensations coursing through his whole body. "Shin-chan... Shin-chan...!"

 

"Hmm?" questioned the green haired male, noticing the slight affliction behind the call of his name.

 

"If you continue that... I'm going - Ah-! - to cum..."

 

"Go ahead." Midorima hastened the movements of his hand on the honey dripping member, eliciting more moans out of the raiven haired male.

 

"I don't want to cum alone... That's not fair!" Takao leaned over the taller male and gave a long and slow lick to the cut on the other male's cheek, caused earlier by one of the bullets fired at him, and whispered seductively in his ear. "I want to cum with you."

 

Pulling the smaller male a little more up, Midorima glanced over to Takao's feverish features. "You sure know how to push my buttons..."

 

The raiven haired male gave a soft chuckle and put his arms on top of the other male's shoulders, crossing his fingers together behind Midorima's head. "You should know by now that's my specialty~"

 

"Just don't regret it later." Releasing a soft sigh, he looked around the room. "Do you have anything we can use as lube? Like some kind of lotion or hand cream? And condoms."

 

"In the first drawer of the nightstand. There's also a small flask of hand cream there."

 

Midorima put one of his arms around Takao's waist and lunged forward with his other hand to the drawer, rummaging around its contents until he found what he was looking for.

 

Pouring a substantial amount on his hand, he worked through the slick liquid with his fingers for a few seconds to warm it up a little, and then gently probed one of his fingers into the raiven haired male's crevice.

 

"Ngh..." Takao flinched briefly at the foreign sensation entering on his body, but tried to relax as he felt the finger starting to move inside of him.

 

"Does it hurt?" He waited for the smaller male to answer, still moving his finger. Takao shook his head quickly and grabbed into Midorima more closely. "But it doesn't feel particularly good either, right? Then..."

 

Inserting another finger, he pushed them deeper into the crevice and with the tip of his fingers grazed the soft gland, eliciting from Takao a loud moan. Continuing to hit that particular spot while stretching the tight entrance, Midorima returned to kiss the raiven haired male, enjoying the soft gasps and moans he emitted against his mouth.

 

"Ah-- Ngh-- Ahh--!"

 

Repeating the process for a few minutes, the green haired male extracted his fingers and lifted slightly one of Takao's legs, positioning his entrance over his hardened member, after having put a condom on it.

 

"Just try to relax for a moment." In a single thrust, Midorima entered the still tight crevice, making Takao arch his back due to the sudden pain but also to the high pleasure that rushed from head to toes as his pleasure spot was readily hit by something much thicker.

 

"You okay?" panted Midorima.

 

"Mhm." Tears in the corner of his steel blue eyes, he clawed Midorima's upper arms slightly with his fingers as the man started to move. Pushing Takao's back down against the soft mattress and pulling his legs up against his shoulders, Midorima set up his pace and then, Takao noticed, he really started moving, in and out, on him.

 

"Ahh-- W-Wait-- Ngh! Go-- slower--! If not, I--" tried to warn Takao, as he felt his climax nearing.

 

"I told you. Once I get going... I won't be able to stop!"

 

"Ah-- Shin-chan...! Ahh--!"

 

"Takao..." Closing their faces, Midorima hungrily kissed the raiven haired male, while thrusting deep into him.

 

"I'm-- about to-- Ahh--!!"

 

"Ngh!"

 

Reaching their limit, their climax exploded, releasing all the pent-up feelings they had bottled up until that night for each other.

 

-.-

 

"Shin-chan, I'm home~" Opening the door with a sudden  _bang_ , Takao entered in the infirmary, currently occupied only by Midorima.

 

"Takao, haven't I told you to be quiet when coming here?" admonished the green haired student, adjusting his glasses as he looked up from the book he was reading. "So, what have you come here for? Where did you get hurt this time?"

 

"You're so silly~ I've come to see you, of course! After all, you're my boy~fri~end~" teased the raiven haired male as he clung to the taller male from behind.

 

Midorima closed the book and bumped lightly the spine on Takao's head, a slight blush on his face. "Fool."

 

"Hehehe~"

 

"By the way, you haven't gotten any injuries lately. I also haven't seen you walking around with that freaky blindfold either."

 

"I no longer need it," simply answered the raiven haired male. Midorima peered at him over his shoulder, and Takao smiled brightly at him. "After all, I now have my own shade of green guiding me through the reality of this black and white world."

 

"Really, now?"

 

"Mhm~" Takao leaned his head into Midorima's encounter and gave a quick peck on his lips, releasing another ear-to-ear smile.

 

_Because I'm sure that whatever I see with these eyes of mine now will never be as dark as it was before._

 

**END OF INTERMISSION**

**THE WORLD IS NOT BLACK OR WHITE, IT'S A SHADE OF GREEN**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came from the lyrics of "Nerai doori no Destiny" by Ono Daisuke (our freshly cherry popped green haired male XD)
> 
> This is not only the longest chapter that I've wrote for this fic so far, but also the one that took me more time to write. I may be totally used to read any kind of sexual content, but it's different when I'm the one writing it. I just get super flustered while doing so, and the fact that I can imagine it happening perfectly in my head only makes it worse... (also add the fact that I'm weak to Takao being naughty ;D)
> 
> Well, yeah. Now the healing MidoTaka will go away, and the angsty AkaKuro will take its place once again. Get ready for a rollercoaster of emotions!
> 
> [P.S. I probably wrote the most corny confession of my life for Takao to use, and I don't regret doing so. I actually started crying while I was writing them being happy and lovey-dovey in the infirmary after all that shit happened. I can just hope that Kuroko and Akashi have a similar ending.]
> 
> Twitter: Mafy_mod


	25. I repeat these boring, regular days, reaching a point where nothing changes for the better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, minna-san! Here's today's update (or more like tomorrow's?)
> 
> Since I'm going on a small trip, I won't be able to update until Monday, so I decided to be merciful (but not that merciful) and give you guys the first chapter of the new arc, that is back on the main plotline, which means, AkaKuro (with some occasional appearances of other pairings).
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

_Ten days after the incident..._

 

The doors to the main office in the Student Council building were abruptly open, and the panting form of Kise came in stumbling.

 

"I'm sorry I'm late. The interview with the fashion magazine took longer than expected~"

 

"Geez, Ki-chan! We were about to start without you. Next time we really won't wait," warned Momoi, delivering some papers to the blonde.

 

"Hmm? Where's Akashicchi?" questioned Kise, looking around the room and finding the redhead missing.

 

"He's with Kuroko," answered Midorima, adjusting his glasses.

 

"Again? He has barely shown his face around since that day." The blonde gasped loudly suddenly, realizing something. "Don't tell me! Were his injuries really that bad?"

 

Out all of the "Miracles" and Kagami, Akashi had been the one who took more damage during their confrontation with the out-of-control bluenette, especially his right arm. The red and black burn was still painting most of his limb, though he had regained full mobility of it after three days of the incident. The rest of the injuries they suffered were pretty much healed already, but the exhaustion they felt still lingered, mainly because they had been working almost 24 hours a day doing damage control and solving other problems, besides putting the plan they agreed on one year ago on motion.

 

"He's fine. He just wants to slack off and uses Kuroko as an excuse," answered Aomine, covering a yawn with the bunch of paper on his hand.

 

"So he's still maintaining his silent vigil on him? Akashicchi has it hard~" half joked Kise.

 

"Maybe I should bring them some snacks next time I go see them." Murasakibara was eating a chocolate tablet slowly, trying not to make a mess out of the papers he had read before the blonde arrived. "Ah. But he won't be able to eat any of them, so I'll just bring Aka-chin's share."

 

"He still hasn't woken up? It's been more than a week. Did he really not get hurt or something?" asked the blonde, a slight frown on his face.

 

"He simply used too much of his ability. He's on 'recharge mode' right now, as Akashi called it."

 

Though Midorima said that, even he himself was not sure of it. In the reunion they had with Akashi the day after the incident, he recalled the redhead mentioning that Kuroko had said something about a "he" who was making his ability go out of control. There was a slight possibility that this "he" was stopping the bluenette from waking up. Which was dangerous on its own. That meant that someone else other than the "User" himself had control over the unpredictable ability.

 

After "exploding" that way, there was almost no probability of it happening in the near future. But that didn't mean it couldn't happen. After all, the "Bloody Night" was only in its beginning stages when they, or more precisely, Akashi managed to stop it from repeating. So none of them knew how much "energy" was really stored inside Kuroko's small body. They managed to enlarge the time limit, but not defuse the bomb.

 

That was the reason Akashi remained together with the sleeping bluenette. Or at least, that's what Midorima liked to think about the whole situation.

 

-.-

 

Akashi flipped the page of the third book he had started reading that day and seeing as he had reached to the last chapter of it, he picked up the bookmark resting on the small table beside the couch and put it in that page, marking the spot he was in before closing the book and putting it on the seat next to him.

 

He slowly got up, wincing slightly when the burn that still painted half of his arm rustled against the bandage protecting it. With steady and soft steps, he approached the bed where Kuroko was sleeping in a supposedly self-imposed comatose  state.

 

There were times when after a "User" exhausted the "energy" of the ability currently stored in their bodies, their ability would auto-impose a semi-comatose state, to give time to the "User" to restore the lost "energy" and heal the mind and body from any wounds, not to mention protect the own "User" from danger that it could cause to him. All in all, it was a shut-down period for recharging.

 

It normally took around one week for the ability to return to stable levels. Kuroko had been sleeping for ten days. Of course, he was not just your regular "User". He was "The Phantom". His ability, nullification, was completely outside the norm, not only in terms of the things it was capable of doing, but also its intensity.

 

Akashi recalled the report that was given to him and the other "Miracles" one week after the "Bloody Night". Half of Tokyo destroyed, thousands of casualties, most of them normal humans, and then the area of 4.5km in it, later renamed as "accident spot", where no human or object could get close to, due to the threat of disappearing completely.

 

Recalling the details, it was pretty clear what kind of ability Kuroko had, from the analysis of the "accident spot" alone.

 

In order to avoid other catastrophic event like that night, they needed to make everything possible to keep it under control.

 

But they could still use it to their own benefit.

 

Akashi had his own plans for the bluenette, even before he knew the full extent of his ability or even who "The Phantom" was. He also knew that the other four "Miracles" had similar ways of thinking. What their plans were... he could only make guesses. He could predict them to some degree, but he had more to think of than formulating useless theories that he surely would come to know concretely of in the future.

 

He sat down in the bed near Kuroko, and softly ran his fingers through the soft blue strands of his hair. He could hear the faint breathing and see the occasional rise of his chest.

 

"Hurry up, Tetsuya. Hurry up and wake up. Life is starting to get boring again without you around, defying me with those teal eyes of yours."

 

The redhead trailed softly with his fingers the pale skin of the bluenette's features, relishing on the electrifying sensation, and got up from the bed once again, returning to his spot in the sofa and opening the book on the place he left off.

 

_Hurry up and become mine._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "MEMORIES" by "GRANRODEO".
> 
> So yeah, things will seem quite calm for a while, but it's just like they say, "the calm before the storm".
> 
> Twitter: Mafy_mod


	26. You won't be able to continue in front of you if you hide behind your weakness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hai, hai, minna-san! Mafy's back from her trip with a new chapter :D
> 
> I couldn't really write a lot during the trip, since my computer decided to go "puff" and I only had time to save all my chapters in a pen drive before that happened... But I had a lot of time to get new ideas for this fic and others that I'm planning out. Fufufufu~ *evil grin*
> 
> Well, schedule will go back to normal aka every other day.
> 
> Enjoy :D

_Thud, thud..._

 

The dribbling of the basketball echoed through the room. When he grabbed the ball and tried to put it inside the rim, it bounced back, without scoring once more. It was the 24th consecutive failed attempt. In total, it was the 1396th failed attempt. The total points he had scored didn't get past the two digits.

 

_"You really couldn't score even if it was to save your own life, Kuroko."_

 

 _He_ walked over in the ball's direction and grabbed it, gracefully throwing the ball and scoring yet again another point. Kuroko had already lost count of how many points  _he_ had made.

 

Kuroko was panting terribly. He had been dribbling the ball and making useless attempts to score for hours now. How many? He wasn't sure. Time was completely subjective inside the "dream realm". It could seem that hours had passed, when in reality only a few minutes had gone by. Then again, the opposite was also possible.

 

 _"Why don't you rest for a while? You seem exhausted." He_ came closer to the bluenette and patted his shoulder.  _"I created the court permanently, you don't need to be that scared that it will go away."_

 

 _He_ smiled brightly to Kuroko and sat in the floor, motioning his hand in a sign for him to do the same. Kuroko slowly let the exhaustion get the better of him and sat beside  _him_ , though he put a considerable distance between both.

 

_"You don't have to worry. I won't pull you to that room again. I mean, I can't really do anything you don't want to. I belong to you, after all."_

 

"Ogiwara-kun," panted the pale boy. "I never once thought of you as my property. You're my friend. You are my  _best_ friend. How could I see you like that?"

 

 _He_ chuckled and lifted his hand, cupping lovingly one of the sides of Kuroko's face.  _"It's your unwavering and endless kindness to others that makes you so irresistibly easy to manipulate, you know?"_

 

"That's not true..." He bit his lip. He actually knew perfectly well that what  _he_ was saying had some truth to it. He just didn't want to think of it that way. He had been manipulated in the past. Terribly so, at that. Remembering the consequences of that manipulation filled him with dread and made him tremble like leaves in the wind.

 

_"It's because of your foolish kindness that I can't leave you alone."_

 

"Ogiwara-kun... For how long are you going to keep me here?" asked Kuroko, locking his teal eyes with the chestnut ones of the boy beside him.

 

 _"What do you mean? This is your world. You can leave whenever you want." He_ lifted his other hand and cupped the other side of his face.  _"If it's what you truly wish for, you can leave. But are you ready to face the consequences of what you did? You nearly caused another night like the one that happened almost one year ago. Though even I don't know how you managed to stop halfway."_

 

Kuroko bit his lip once again with even more strength and clenched his fists tightly. He hadn't told  _him_ that the reason why he somehow managed to control his ability when it was starting to reach the peak of running out of control had been because Akashi "magically" woke him up from his trance in the last minute by kissing him... again.

 

Things that happened inside the "dream realm" was unknown to those outside of it, but it could affect the outside world, for better or worse, unfortunately. And, apparently, things that happened to his body in the real world when he was in the "dream realm" could somehow affect what happened inside of it, even if only to a certain point. Well, it only happened once, so he wasn't 100% sure of it yet. And honestly, he didn't truly want to know if that was the case or not.

 

However, what  _he_ was saying was truth. He didn't really want to face the consequences of what he did. He might have regained consciousness of what he was doing in the end and managed to seal his running out of control ability inside of him once again, but his memories after the kiss where fuzzy. He wasn't certain if he had caused the destruction of the place where he had been, or even the death of any human or "User"... or "Miracles".

 

From what he could make out of the vague images in his head from that time, Akashi seemed in a pretty bad shape. His body was covered in small cuts and multiple burns colored his skin, together with the huge red and black burn in his arm that Kuroko had caused him for entering in contact with him while his ability was unleashed. And knowing it better than anyone, Kuroko had a feeling that the other "Miracles" and Kagami could have been in the same state as him.

 

_Akashi-kun... Kagami-kun... I hope everyone is okay._

 

 _"What are you thinking about?"_ asked the other boy.  _"I don't like to see you making such a pained expression. It ruins your cute face!"_

 

"Ogiwara-kun, I have to go back." He grabbed  _his_ hands and softly removed them from his face. "It's my ability, so it's my responsibility. I won't let it be like it was the previous time. I don't want to cause suffering to anyone. I don't want to cause suffering to you and most certainly not to myself."

 

_Even though I deserve it..._

 

 _"Are you sure?" He_ looked at the determined look on his face and released a sigh.  _"Have it your way! You know where to find me. I'll be around here, waiting for you to come again."_

 

"Thank you, Ogiwara-kun."

 

_"Ah, Kuroko! Wait! Before you leave, let me tell you something. Well, not that I would know if you actually will remember it when you wake up."_

 

 _He_ grabbed the ball once again and threw it over to the rim, making a perfect and clean shot.  _He_ then looked back to Kuroko and smiled brightly.

 

_"--------------------------"_

 

Kuroko couldn't help the sudden painful throb in his chest when he heard those words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "Can Do" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> I'll leave a little warning for you guys about the next chapter: I almost peed myself while writing it for laughing to much. It's a very serious chapter, but my humor sense is completely twisted, so to me it was the funniest thing ever. Here's a hint: tiger vs lion XD
> 
> P.S.: While I was on my trip, there was a basketball court and luckily I took my basketball with me during the travel, so I finally managed to play in an actual court. And... I did a formless shoot (and scored!), just like Aomine does!!!! I was so proud of myself, even though I knew it was just a fluke XD
> 
> Twitter: Mafy_mod


	27. I will impress upon you the difference in our status

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with today's update!!
> 
> I swear, this was the chapter that I wrote fastest and, up until now, the one that made me laugh the most XD Read to find out why! (though yeah, my sense of humor is pretty twisted, so you probably won't laugh as much as I did)
> 
> I wanted to thank all of you for the beautiful support you have been giving me! I appreciate all the comments and all the kudos you gave me so far! I hope to continue to satisfy your hunger for AkaKuro from now on, as I have been for this past few weeks :D
> 
> Well, enjoy!

"Aka-chin! I've brought you some snacks." The purple haired giant entered the room, a mountain of different types of candies, cookies and potato chips on his arms. Akashi looked up from the book he was reading (the second of that day), and closed it. He knew perfectly well he wouldn't be able to concentrate in his reading if Murasakibara was there.

 

Behind him appeared Midorima, an unusual sour look on his face. Akashi reckoned that he may be a bit too tired for visits, since he had thrown almost all of his responsibilities to the green haired male while he maintained his surveillance on Kuroko. Or he probably had a serious arguing session with his partner, Takao Kazunari.

 

"Dai-chan, hurry up!" Momoi soon followed, dragging Aomine by the arm, whose yawn was as big as a wolf's. Momoi seemed even more cheerful than usual, despite the workload that she had been dealing with, and the reckoning mission that she had been attributed to by Akashi.

 

"C'mon, don't be shy!" Kise seemed to be arguing with someone by the door, but his 'shininess' was still as obvious as ever, despite his double workload of a 'Miracle' and a popular model. "You were the one who had been asking for a visit for ages! He may still be asleep but you'll be able to see him."

 

"Shut up! And stop pulling me!" From the corridor surfaced both Kise and Kagami, a slight frown painting the features of the latter.

 

"Who told you to come?" asked readily the heterochromatic redhead, glaring daggers at the taller redhead.

 

"I don't have to ask you for permission to come visit my friend," defended Kagami.

 

"You are in one of the buildings of Teikou that are in my possession. Wouldn't you call it trespassing if you entered said structure without my permission?"

 

Kagami snorted. "The kettle calling the pot black..."

 

They mutually glared at each other, and those present in the room could see the electrifying atmosphere surrounding the two redheads.

 

"Uwah, look at those two going at it..." muttered Momoi, kind of surprised to see Akashi in an attacking position to another student without any apparent reason to.

 

"We may have brought a tiger into a lion's den," added Aomine, picking on his ear, clearly not interested in the arguing going around him. "I just hope they don't go for each other throats while I'm here. I want this useless visit over the sooner the possible."

 

Midorima just adjusted his glasses and gave a quick glance at the sleeping form of Kuroko. He didn't dare to try to approach him. He had tried during one of his visits to run a diagnosis test on him while he was unconscious, but Akashi had glared at him with such intensity, his left golden eye glowing threateningly, that he had to give up on that. Well, at least for now.

 

Murasakibara only opened one of the bags of potato chips and started devouring them.

 

"Anyway, the blondie over there said it was okay for me to come and check on Kuroko," said Kagami, pointing with his thumb at Kise. Akashi quickly exchanged his glaring from Kagami to the said blonde, who flinched at the penetrating gaze.

 

"I-I-I only thought he would give up on bothering us if he came to check on Kuroko-kun and saw for himself that we weren't hurting him in any way," stuttered nervously Kise, avoiding direct eye contact with the other 'Miracle'.

 

"When are you going to return him to Seirin? I'm sure he'll be able to get a more peaceful rest there than here, surrounded by people who he doesn't trust." This time it was Kagami turn to attack the smaller redhead.

 

"I will not let him return to Seirin. Not only would that be a foolish action to take, it would also put Tetsuya in danger."

 

"Have you tried to ask Kuroko for his opinion? I'm sure he won't be happy to know that you're trying to control his entire life all of a sudden."

 

"I'm not searching for his happiness. I'm trying to secure a threat to the entire country, one that would have killed all the residents of this area, including us, if  _I_ hadn't stopped him."

 

"You know that there's this so called 'right to make choices', right?"

 

"I'm just taking care of what belongs to me."

 

"He's a freaking human being! Slavery has been long abolished from all developed countries!"

 

"I never said he was my slave. But the fact that he belongs to me remains the same."

 

"Just how unreasonable can you get!? Not only you put him between the sword and the wall, in such a way that you made his ability go out of control, but now you want to dominate his entire being!? You're being one hell of an insensible control freak, one who only knows how to think about himself, if I may add!!"

 

"Uwah~ Midorimacchi, can we leave?" asked Kise, half-hiding behind Aomine. "This is totally not a conversation that I wish to hear..."

 

"I don't think this is a conversation any one us wishes to hear," muttered Aomine.

 

"That may be so, but he's still staying," declared Akashi, not fazed at all by the outburst of Kagami.

 

"I just can't deal with you! And I won't leave Kuroko to deal with you either! I'm taking him with me back to Seirin!" Kagami stepped forward and was about to pick the semi-comatose body of Kuroko when a tight grip was placed on his shoulder. Soon he felt his body fall to the floor, knees heavily hitting the wodden floor.

 

"Just try and put one of your fingers on Tetsuya, and I'll make sure you regret the day you were born." Akashi remained threateningly behind the fallen redhead, golden eye glowing so intensely it almost seemed to be releasing small sparks of golden light.

 

A cold sweat covered all of those currently occupying the room. Murasakibara had even dropped the potato chip that was almost entering his mouth. None of them, not even Midorima (after his recent close encounter with the beast lying deep inside the redhead on the day Kuroko had come to the infirmary), had heard Akashi sound so cold... so  _commanding_.

 

Midorima swallowed hard and hesitantly stepped over to the heterochromatic redhead, putting himself close to the catatonic Kagami, frozen by the command that Akashi had inadvertently sent to him.

 

"Akashi." The redhead continued coldly glaring at Kagami. "Kagami won't take Kuroko with him. None of us will let him. And once Kuroko wakes up, he will explain to him that he  _will_ give his consent to remain here with us, for his own sake and protection."

 

Akashi continued to glare at the redhead, but then released the grip on his shoulder and took a step back. He casually turned his back to both of them and walked to the sofa that had been his resting place for the last few days.

 

Midorima suddenly heard Kagami drop to his hands on the floor and gulping the air hastily. The green haired male looked over at the gasping student and clicked his tongue.

 

_His command went as far as stopping Kagami's breathing system. Just how serious are you about your intentions of making Kuroko yours, Akashi?_

 

Akashi slowly sat on the place he had claimed as his own in the sofa and looked at all of them. "You've made your visit and as you all see, Tetsuya is still sleeping and perfectly fine. Now, if you would be so kind, could you all leave for the day?"

 

All of them remained frozen in place, Kagami still making hasty attempts to restore the levels of oxygen in his blood. However, all five "Miracles" shuddered all of a sudden, an electrifying current striking through their whole bodies as unexpectedly and quickly as a thunder.

 

"K-Kuroko..." gasped the redhead still on his knees beside the bed.

 

The five "Miracles", together with Momoi, looked over in the bluenette's direction, as he slowly got up into a sitting position.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "Final Emperor" by Kamiya Hiroshi (our possessive Akashi-kun!)
> 
> So, yeah, once again, I was totally not singing "Crazy Possessive" while writing this... I wasn't, okay!? Um... Maybe... just a little bit? Touch my man again and Imma fuck you up~
> 
> I'm just that big of a fan of possessive lovers (though that's just my masochistic side coming out), so I love it when Akashi gets all defensive and starts verbally attacking Kagami (though Kagami also answered him in the same way), going all possessive asshole over Kuroko. I wonder if there'll be a day where Akashi and Kagami can enjoy together a relaxing cup of tea or something... Probably not happening in the near future, right?
> 
> Twitter: Mafy_mod


	28. Rushing out to the place where we will have our battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good morning, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> Now that our beautiful bluenette is going to wake up, the story can finally start developing once again. Yay! (and when I say "developing", it has a lot of meanings, if you know what I mean ;D)
> 
> Well, enjoy!

Kuroko could hear voices around him, but he didn't seem to be able to completely focus on them. They sounded distant, somehow muffled by an invisible wall. He slowly tried to open his eyes, but the strong light around him made him quickly close them again. Trying one more time, he blinked several times to adjust to the brightness, and then managed to fully open them.

 

He carefully and slowly lifted his body into a sitting position on the soft bed he was laying on and tried to focus his still not fully adjusted vision in front of him.

 

"K-Kuroko..." He heard a voice calling his name, a little more clearly than before, but still somehow distorted. He clutched his hand on his face and glanced sideways at the source of the voice.

 

Beside him was his redhead friend, unusually panting and sort of out of breath.

 

"Kagami-kun..." His voice came out rough and he felt his mouth and throat dry, though he didn't know if his voice really sounded as rough to Kagami as it appeared to him or if it was the distortion of his ears that made it seem so.

 

Then he felt a prickling sensation ran through his whole body, a sensation that had been a recurring occurrence in the latest times. With his vision almost restored to its normal state, he looked away from Kagami and stared into his surroundings, finding a group of people staring back at him.

 

No, it wasn't just a normal group of people. It was all five "Miracles", plus their main informant and data collector, Momoi Satsuki.

 

Waking up to find himself surrounded by the people he had been so desperately running away from was definitely not something he had ever wanted to see becoming true, but there was a small part of him, deep inside his heart, that felt relief over the fear that was starting to fill his entire being. Deep down, he thanked all gods that existed over the entire world for all of the five "Miracles", and Kagami, of course, still being alive and, apparently, not hurt; though he would never admit out loud that he had done so (at least the part that concerned the "Miracles").

 

"Kuroko! Are you okay!?" Kagami got up in a single jump and was about to grab his shoulders when he came to a sudden halt, feeling once again those red and golden eyes staring at his back, daring him to touch what the heterochromatic redhead had declared to belong to him, more than once. The redhead's hands remained static, hoovering in the air near the bluenette, until he decided to drop them again to the sides of his body. "How are you feeling? Does it hurt anywhere? Are you feeling sick or something?"

 

"...No, I'm--" A sudden coughing attack overcome him, interrupting him as he was about to try to calm the panicking redhead.

 

"Leave." All of them looked over at Akashi, as he got up from the sofa once again and motioned over to the table where it laid a jug with water and some glasses. He picked up the jug and poured some of the fresh liquid into the glass, and once again looked over to the other 'Users' present in the room. "Now!"

 

They gulped hard and started to motion over to the door. Aomine stopped beside Kagami and grabbed him by the arm, dragging him out of the room with them.

 

"Hey! What are you doing!? I'm not leaving!" The redhead tried to yank his arm out of the tanned male's grasp, but the other male only held onto him with even more strength.

 

"Leave for now. Unless the next thing you want to happen is to show your friend your headless corpse," warned Aomine.

 

"He's right. Leave with us like we are being told to, and I'll make sure to update you on how he's doing from time to time," whispered the pink haired girl as she passed by Kagami.

 

Kagami clicked his tongue and gave a long last look at the bluenette before turning on his heels and going over to the door. "I'm not leaving him here. Much less with a bastard like you, Akashi!"

 

"Idiot! just shut up, please!!" begged Kise, who also decided to serve as a tow haul and pull the redhead together with Aomine.

 

"Akashi, just don't cause him more distress. It wouldn't be benefic to any of us if he self-imposed another coma," quickly added Midorima before exiting the room and closing the door behind him.

 

Silence reigned the room.

 

Kuroko observed as the redhead approached him with a glass half-full of water. He inched away over to the other side of the bed, trying to put as much distance between them when Akashi sat on the bed and pushed the glass of water on his direction.

 

"Drink." Kuroko just stared at the glass with the clear and refreshing looking water and tentatively gave a quick glance at the redhead. "There's nothing in it, just water. Do you want me to go grab a glass for me too and drink it in front of you?"

 

The bluenette slowly extended his arm and took the glass out of Akashi's hand. He put the glass on his lips and gave a single gulp, but when he felt the cold liquid go down his parched throat, he couldn't help craving for more and quickly downed the rest of the water.

 

"Thank you..." softly murmured Kuroko, giving quick masked glances around the room he was in.

 

"Is that a thank you for the water, or for the fact that I managed to stop you from causing another 'Bloody Night'?" asked the redhead.

 

"...Take it any way you want."

 

"That's what I will do." Akashi grabbed once again the now empty glass, and got up from the bed, motioning over to the table to put the glass back in place. He turned around to face Kuroko and leaned his lower back on the table, arms crossed over his chest. "Do you remember anything that happened that day?"

 

"Which day may you be referring to?"

 

"Oh, right. I'm sorry, that came out wrong. Do you remember what happened two weeks ago, when your ability ran out of control?" corrected Akashi.

 

 _So I've been sleeping for two weeks..._ He shuddered at the thought that he may have passed all that time closed in this room together with any of the "Miracles", but the fact the he also had spent that same amount of time in the "dream realm" with  _him_ wasn't helping him calm down.

 

"I don't," lied Kuroko.

 

"May I take the interpretation of your answer as a 'I don't want to answer' rather than you clearly not remembering what happened?"

 

"..."

 

"Then let me ask you another question. Who is this 'he' you were referring to when your ability broke loose?"

 

"..."

 

"Why does he get a say in the ability of another 'User', or more precisely, on the ability of 'The Phantom'?"

 

"..."

 

"Why did you cause the 'Bloody Night' one year ago?"

 

"..."

 

"For how long have you had your ability, nullification? Is it really able to nullify anything, not only abilities?"

 

Kuroko clicked his tongue and turned his face the other way, away from the questioning look of the redhead.

 

_Great, now they know what my ability truly is..._

 

"Not going to answer, huh..." Akashi moved from the table and approached the bluenette once again, sitting in the same spot on the bed that he earlier had. "I guess that questioning you as soon as you wake up must be uncomfortable for you."

 

 _It's not really the questioning that is uncomfortable,_ muttered Kuroko in his mind.

 

"Let's do the following. I will ask you a question every day and you will answer me, whatever the question may be. You may try to turn the tables around and lie in any way you see fit, but I'm sure you understand that if you do so, I will know. And those lies may end up turning the tables on you. Though I will allow you to refuse to answer to one question alone out of all of those I will make. So make sure you are wise in choosing."

 

"And what makes you think that I will agree to any of that, Akashi-kun?"

 

The redhead shivered when he heard Kuroko say his name, a strange wave of relief washing over him for the fact that it was the normal bluenette, with his normal voice and his usual demeanor, speaking those words.

 

"I wasn't asking for your opinion on the matter, Tetsuya. I'm only doing what I think it is the most reasonable at the moment and, obviously, you will comply with what I'm offering. If you don't like it, you can return to your self-imposed sleep." Akashi gave a quick shrug with his shoulders and locked his red and golden gaze on the teal of Kuroko's eyes. "Not that I will give you an opportunity to."

 

Akashi got up once again and moved over to the sofa, picking his book as he sat down in his claimed spot. "We'll start tomorrow, as you will probably need time to organize your thoughts and try to think up a plan to feint around my questions. I will call someone to deliver some food for you, as you should probably be hungry."

 

After that, the redhead casually opened the book he was reading where he had put the marker and resumed his reading.

 

Somehow, Akashi had a feeling that the next few days would be the most entertaining he has ever had in quite a long time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "WALK" by OLDCODEX (whose vocalist is Suzuki Tatsuhisa aka our healing angel Takao)
> 
> Oh yes Akashi, very entertaining days are about to come. Fufufu~
> 
> The "official" song for AkaKuro in this fic is "Armor" by Landon Austin. I think that song describes perfectly the developing relationship between Kuroko and Akashi, the things they went through in the past and what they will share together in the future. The following lyrics are the ones that suit them the best:  
> "Maybe I'll crash into you  
> Maybe we would open up these wounds  
> We're only alive if we bruise  
> So I lay down this armor"
> 
> Twitter: Mafy_mod


	29. There should be no such need to hurry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> So it's about time that I start really developing Akashi and Kuroko's relationship, isn't it? But let's take it slow. I'm talking with you, Akashi! Take it slow or you'll scare off Kuroko!
> 
> Well, let's just enjoy some more AkaKuro interactions, shall we? XD

Kuroko Tetsuya was currently having the most awkward and mind-taxing breakfast of his life. Not only had he spent a terrible night, under the tight surveillance of the heterochromatic redhead, Akashi Seijuurou, he was currently under the threat of being spoon feed by the redhead himself if he didn't eat the food that had been laid in front of him.

 

"I'll give you two minutes to start eating, Tetsuya. When that time limit ends and you still aren't seated in the table, I will tie you up to the chair and feed you myself," had the redhead said, while leisurely drinking a cup of tea.

 

Kuroko thought at first that Akashi was bluffing, but remembering the short interactions that they have had in the past, after half of the time presented to him passed, he got up from the corner of the bed he had holed himself in and sat at the table, in the seat in front of Akashi.

 

The redhead gave a soft hum of acknowledgment for Kuroko's decision of abiding to his rules, and continued enjoying his breakfast.

 

The bluenette was quite hesitant to start eating, but when his stomach started grumbling silently due to lack of food (because he had been stubborn enough to refuse eating all the food that was presented to him yesterday after he woke up from his two-week coma) and having someone right in front of him eating without a care in the world, made him give up on the idea of once again refusing to eat (so yes, it wasn't only the nightmarish idea of having Akashi feed him that made him giving up on it).

 

He gave a tentative bite to the bread displayed on his plate, always maintaining the redhead in his field of view. But when the rich cream inside of the bread reached his taste buds, he couldn't help the satisfied and relaxed expression that appeared in his normally emotionless face. It wasn't your usual custard cream that filled the bread, it was vanilla custard cream. He had only tasted it once, in a pastry shop that he visited in middle school, but since vanilla was his ultimate favorite he had committed the sweet and fragrant flavor of the custard cream into memory.

 

Akashi gave a quick chuckle, a little surprised that his little machination was actually bearing fruits. "You like it, don't you? Vanilla, that is."

 

Kuroko swallowed the bit of heaven in his mouth and forced his face to return to his usual mask. "How did you know?"

 

"It's actually quite simple. When I went to your room that night, there was a really strong scent of vanilla. I only connected the dots and thought that you may eat what I give you if it has something you enjoy."

 

"How clever of you..." Kuroko continued eating the bread, savoring it like it could be the last time he would taste it.

 

"My cleverness is not only to the point of being able to distinguish what makes a person tick," added the redhead, as he poured another cup of tea, unintentionally revealing the bandage that still covered his right hand.

 

"Yes, I'm quite aware of that." Kuroko observed the ligatures on his limb and felt a pang of guilt on his chest, remembering that the cause of it was his own lack of control on his ability.

 

"Though I guess I shouldn't underestimate your cleverness, either," continued Akashi. "You have revealed to be a quite sneaky one, having managed to stay hidden from us for such a long period of time. Right under our noses, if I may had."

 

"You're one to talk..." muttered the bluenette, in between bites of bread.

 

"Which brings me to the first question I want to make you." Akashi gave a long swallow to his piping hot tea and put the cup back in the saucer. "If you were running away from us that desperately, then why did you remained in Teikou?"

 

The bluenette released a quick snort, prompting Akashi to raise slightly an eyebrow.

 

"That's the first question you want to make, Akashi-kun? I was honestly thinking you would ask me something along the lines of the magnitude of my ability or something related to it."

 

"I apologize if I disappointed you. But I still want to know the answer."

 

"Where would you hide a tree?" asked the bluenette, looking straight into the heterochromatic redhead.

 

"Excuse me?" questioned Akashi, surprised to have been answered back with a question. Looking at Kuroko and seeing the serious demeanor on his face, he quickly understood where he was getting at. He couldn't help the chuckle that once again escaped from him. "In a forest, right? So you decided to remain in Teikou because you would be surrounded by other 'Users' and, obviously, nobody would think of trying to search for 'The Phantom' in the place where he would be in more danger."

 

"..."

 

"How curious," breathed the redhead.

 

"What is?" questioned hesitantly Kuroko.

 

"I've come to realize that your way of thinking is quite similar to my own. Which, surprisingly, will only make you even more difficult to analyze and figure out." Akashi put his elbows on the surface of the table and crossed his fingers, staring deeply into the teal of Kuroko's eyes. "It's exactly like playing shogi. I already know who's going to win, but the path for that is as unknown as the day that it yet to come."

 

"If you continue to live your life thinking it will run exactly like you expect it to, you will find yourself at a loss one of this days," warned the bluenette. "Unlike shogi, life doesn't end when you announce checkmate."

 

The redhead couldn't help the slight rise of the corner of his lips hearing those words. Akashi knew that there was truth in those words, just like he knew that they were spoken from personal experience.

 

 _Really, Tetsuya. You never cease to amaze me,_ thought Akashi in the depths of his mind. He just couldn't put the feeling that the more he got to talk with the bluenette the more similar and yet again different both of them were to rest. And that thought alone filled him with an unknown emotion that he still hadn't managed to put a name on.

 

"Does it hurt?" suddenly asked the bluenette, turning his gaze away from Akashi.

 

"Hm?" The redhead looked down at the place where Kuroko had been focusing momentarily his gaze on. "No, this is nothing to worry about. It will be fully healed in a couple of days." His golden eye flickered briefly. "Are you feeling guilty about having wounded me?"

 

Kuroko quickly returned his gaze at the redhead and denied what clearly wasn't to be denied. "Of course not! It's your own fault for continuously touching me when you tried to talk to me."

 

"I see. So you do remember the little conversation we had and the events of that day."

 

_Idiot! I fell like a mouse into the cat's trap!_

 

"That means you also remember how I managed to stop you, right?"

 

Akashi didn't need to hear the answer coming from the bluenette's mouth. The way he averted his gaze and the slight blush that painted his cheeks was more than enough to answer that question.

 

Heart thumping in a slightly quicker beat than under the normal circumstances of a breakfast, Kuroko returned to look at Akashi, though still not trusting himself enough to look directly into his eyes. He continued eating his food to distract himself with something while he made the question that had been bugging him for a while.

 

"Why did you kiss me?"

 

"Which time are you referring to?" asked back the redhead.

 

"Both."

 

"Truth to be told, I made myself the exact same question several times during the time you were sleeping."

 

"..."

 

"Though even if you ask me to tell you the exact reason why I did it, I would not be able to answer you."

 

"Aka--"

 

The door was suddenly open and the young woman who had come to serve their breakfast entered to fetch the dirty dishes and deliver some papers to the redhead, before exiting once again. Akashi picked the papers and gave a quick glance through them, after which he gracefully got up and went over to the desk to grab his jacket.

 

"Tetsuya, please behave and eat the meals that will be delivered to you through the day. And don't even try to get out of this room. I will know if you did. If you get bored during the day, feel free to read as much books from the shelves as you wish."

 

"How long am I supposed to be locked in here?" glared Kuroko.

 

"In here? Not for too long. In another place? That will depend on you, Tetsuya," answered the redhead readily, motioning over to the door. "Now if you'll excuse me I have matters that I must attend. I'll return to check on you in a couple of hours."

 

Having said that, Akashi opened the door and gave a last glance to the bluenette, as if to make sure that he was still there. He exited the room and closed the door behind him.

 

Kuroko gave a long sigh and bumped his forehead on the table's surface. He gave a quick glance through the windows of the big room and then another to the door from which Akashi had left, that he suspected it would lead to the corridor of the building he was in.

 

_He sure has confidence in himself. It's more than obvious I'm not going to do what he says and just stay put._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "FANTASTIC TUNE" by Ono Kenshou (our wonderful bluenette)
> 
> So I don't really want to foreshadow anything (no pun intended), but in the next chapter another character will make its debut, and that same character may or may not enlighten our heterochromatic redhead on some matters, hehehe~ 
> 
> Want to try guessing who that character is? (Hint: it's not listed in the tags nor it has been mentioned in the fic yet)  
> There's not going to be any prize for the person who guesses it right, it's just for the fun of teasing you all ;D
> 
> Twitter: Mafy_mod  
> Check it out for updates, my thoughts while I write and other goodies linked to my fics :D


	30. You probably have no idea, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^^
> 
> So, yeah. I have half bad, half good news. I was selected to an internship in a company for three months, starting next week, and by the end of this month, my other part-time classes will begin. That means I will have less time available to write aka the updates will come slower. I organized my schedule and I will try to updates three times per week, instead of every other day. The new schedule is releases every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The schedules of my other fics will be the same. However, since I updated today, Tuesday, tomorrow there will be no update.  
> The only positive thing is that my chapters are getting bigger. I used to maintain a 1,000-1,500 words per chapter ratio, but now it goes easily over 1,600 words. There's even one that doubles that (and doubles the fun too *winks*).
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

Akashi opened the door to the main office and stepped inside, as he was greeted by Midorima and the Superintendent-Chief of the Department of Abilities and "Users", Nijimura Shuuzou.

 

The Department of Abilities and "Users" was an organization controlled by Teikou Academy that had as main mission "infiltrate" other organizations, from normal corporations to the very own government of Japan, in order to certify that "Users" weren't being exploited in any way.

 

Nijimura was the head of the department and a "User". He was still a student in Teikou, in his third year of high school; however, just like Akashi, he had been given the responsibility of shouldering that position due to his powerful ability and his good sense of leadership. Another reason why he was appointed as Superintendent-Chief was due to the "advice" that Akashi had given to those responsible for the foundation of Teikou Academy and all other organizations affiliated to it, but that, obviously, was not common knowledge to those outside the leadership circle.

 

"I apologize for being late. We can start the reunion now." The redhead motioned over to his desk and sat down on his cushioned chair. "Shuuzou, I've read the papers you've sent me on my way here."

 

"So as you can calculate, I have a lot on my hands now. I'll try to be as brief as possible so that I can go back to work," complained Nijimura, rubbing his sleep-deprived eyes. "There's been an uproar on pretty much every organization where I have my 'little birds' on about the mysterious crater that appeared in the surrounding area of Teikou Academy. That includes the government and, of course, the less savory organizations."

 

"We did our best to deal with leaks of information, but with a hole of that dimension in the middle of a city, of course people will notice, not to talk about the satellites up there." Midorima pointed his finger up in the ceiling's direction. "I could only do so much as to try to contain the information for a period of time."

 

"What exactly are the things going around in the organizations where you have your 'little birds'?" asked the redhead to Nijimura.

 

"Exactly what you would expect when a crater with almost 800 m of profundity appears from one day to another in the middle of a highly populated area out of nowhere. Rumors that 'The Phantom' is lurking around are starting to dominate the topics of conversation."

 

"And what does the Prime-Minister say about the matter?"

 

"The exact same as one year ago." Nijimura released a heavy sigh. "He wants the 'Miracles' to get their asses on the matter ASAP and deal with 'The Phantom' once and for all, before another 'Bloody Night' happens. His words, not mine."

 

"We already have 'The Phantom' under surveillance. What more does he expect us to do?"

 

"If you ask me, the Prime-Minister's and the other politician's 'deal with' means 'eliminate'. But you should talk to them directly to know more details."

 

Akashi's golden eye flickered briefly and he put his elbows on the desk, entwining his fingers. "Then I guess I should hurry up and offer my apologies to the Prime-Minister."

 

"Why?" asked Nijimura, an eyebrow raised high. Midorima just sighed at what he could already guess it would be the answer to that.

 

"Because I will not kill Tetsuya. And just for the record, I will also not give him away to the government nor any other organization, even if those are the orders of the higher-ups."

 

"Why would you outright defy the entire Japanese government, if it came to that point?" asked hesitantly their senior.

 

"Tetsuya belongs to me. I won't give him away to anyone, even if those are the orders coming from above."

 

"That's your reason? No, wait, what does that even mean?" Nijimura looked over at Midorima. "Midorima-kun, what does he mean by 'belongs to him'?"

 

The green haired male adjusted his glasses and averted his gaze from their senior. "I'm not the best person to explain that, but I guess it means exactly what it seems. Though, 'belonging to Akashi' are very heavy words, so let's just call it 'taking care of Kuroko' for now."

 

Nijimura simply sighed at that. Once again, he just had no idea what were the redhead's intentions. He could only hope that if Akashi truly intended to go talk to the Prime-Minister and other representatives of Japan, he wouldn't be as blunt as he was being with him and tell them that "The Phantom"  _belonged_ to him or anything along those lines. Akashi may be the most powerful "User" that has ever been heard of, but that didn't meant that the Japanese government would just obediently concede to every word he said.

 

 _Though if I know Akashi, he could probably get away with it. And he wouldn't even need to use his ability to convince them of it either,_ internally muttered Nijimura.

 

Nijimura sighed and looked back to the redhead. "Just do whatever you want. But don't cause us any troubles. And to 'The Phantom' neither. From what my 'little birds' told me, you had some kind of role on the sudden outburst of him ability."

 

Akashi simply smirked at the accusation. "Don't worry. I intend to take really good care of him."

 

Both Nijimura and Midorima shuddered at the glint that came out of the heterochromatic eyes. They could only pray that whatever was running inside that twisted and manipulative mind wouldn't be the tragic demise of all of Japan.

 

"By the way, you mentioned the 'less savory organizations' were also running around. Which ones may you be referring to?" asked the redhead, trying to get back on topic.

 

"Oh, you know. The usual ones. Though if I had to keep my eyes on any, it would be Kirisaki Daiichi Labs. I lost all contact I had with my 'little birds' in that organization, and when I tried to send more, I found out that they had emptied all of their buildings and are currently on the loose. And when I said 'emptied' maybe I should have used the expression 'blow them up with everyone inside'." Nijimura twisted his nose slightly. "It wasn't a pretty sight. I still have nightmares with it."

 

"By Kirisaki Daiichi Labs, you mean--" Akashi trailed off.

 

"The ones who tried to kidnap Takao two years ago," interrupted Midorima, a heavy frown forming on his features.

 

"Bingo! Exactly those. I would be quite mindful of whoever you let near your precious 'Phantom', Akashi. You never know who you could be dealing with, if Hanamiya Makoto is involved."

 

"Yes, I will be extremely careful."

 

"So, when do I get to meet the oh so famous Kuroko Tetsuya, 'The Phantom'?"

 

Midorima had an enormous urge to face palm himself when Nijimura said those words, and hesitantly looked over to the other "Miracle", who only stared back to their senior.

 

"After you warned me about Hanamiya Makoto, I think I will refrain from such meeting for the time being. You are on the field every time you're not dealing with paper work, so I just want to be sure and avoid unnecessary trouble."

 

"Really? Is that the only reason?" teased their senior.

 

"Would you prefer to hear that I don't want you to meet him because that would interfere with my time with Tetsuya?" asked back the redhead, a completely serious expression on his face.

 

Once again, Midorima was overcome with the urge to face palm himself but he just swallowed that urge together with the embarrassment he felt for actually hearing Akashi say those words.

 

"Woah, you're starting to sound like a love-struck maiden who doesn't want to let go of their lover because they're afraid they'll go around cheating on them."

 

"Nijimura-san!" quickly interrupted Midorima, when he saw Akashi raise one of his eyebrows at what their senior was saying. The conversation was taking dangerous grounds, and he definitely didn't wish to be present the moment Akashi realized what his wanting Kuroko to become his truly meant. "I know you're busy with all this incidents going around, but I would like to make some more questions about Kirisaki Daiichi Labs."

 

"Ah, sure, Midorima-kun. I think I can spare you some of my time."

 

"Then let's go to my office to discuss this." He peeked over to the redhead, so hesitation on the action due to the suspecting feeling he had that Akashi knew he had interrupted Nijimura on purpose. "Akashi, if you'll excuse us."

 

"Of course, Shintarou. Shuuzou, if I need anything more from you, I'll contact you. I'll be waiting for your reports."

 

"Sure. Continue with the good work," answered back Nijimura, already with a foot stepping outside the office. Midorima quickly followed suit and closed the door, leaving the main office of the Student Council building being reigned by silence.

 

"A 'love-struck maiden', huh..." muttered softly the redhead, before turning his cushioned chair around and looking outside the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "Punky Funky Love" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> I really believe one of the few people who have the actual guts to tease Akashi is Nijimura, ahaha. But maybe that teasing will be favorable for our lovebirds~
> 
> Twitter: @Mafy_mod


	31. Because I don't want to face the fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Konbanwa, minna-san! Here's this Friday's update!
> 
> I have a new challenge for you guys, which I will also be participating. In this following month, October, every day I will check out Oha Asa's lucky item and lucky color and apply them... without missing a single day! As proof, I will post a picture of them in my Twitter account (link at the end). Who wants to join me? XD
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

Walking around from one place to another, Kuroko was observing every spot of the room he had been made prisoner on, now that he was alone. The room was big, with two clear divisions. The main room was divided between the function of bedroom and living room/office. A bed, where he apparently slept for two weeks, was positioned by the wall, where by its side was a small nightstand. There was a large sofa that made the division between the space for sleeping and the space for other activities.

 

The other side of the room was occupied by a large desk, and the walls were fully furnished by shelves and bookcases, filled with books of all sizes. And also all types. There were two bookcases solemnly dedicated to literature, one to classic Japanese literature, other two to diverse ranges of scientific studies (that went from astronomy to the most recent publications on the theories of the emergence of "Users") and one final bookcase for political studies. There was also a large table in the middle of the office space, where Kuroko had had his painfully tense breakfast with Akashi.

 

Near one of the corners of the room was a wooden door that lead to a small but fully furnished bathroom, serving as both toilet and bathroom, in semblance to the European-style of housing.

 

After checking the content of the room, he went to check the windows. There were four big windows covering one of the walls. He peered outside and calculated that he must be in the second floor of a building. He recognized the landscape and managed to pinpoint his location to being in the further away located building from Teikou Academy. Those buildings weren't normally used by a lot of students, since most of them belonged to a particular group of "Users" or, in this case, "Miracle".

 

He didn't saw any locks on the windows, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to open them. Even if he could, he wouldn't risk the danger of breaking a leg by jumping from this height, not when the fall would be on hard stone ground, with not even a single tree near which he could use to climb down.

 

Akashi had truly think of everything.

 

 _So there's really only one way to get out._ Kuroko motioned over to the door and looked at it. When the redhead had exited the room, he didn't hear the sound of the door being locked. That meant that he Akashi was truly underestimating him or that he had some sort of reason why he didn't need to go out of his way to lock it.

 

Kuroko had a feeling it would be the latter.

 

The bluenette lunged his hand forward slowly and gulped down hard, as he approached the knob with his slightly trembling fingers. However, when he touched the piece of metal... nothing happened. He rotated the handle and the door softly opened, showing a desert corridor.

 

 _Well, isn't this quite anticlimatic..._ He dropped his hand to the side of his body and took a step forward, but he suddenly came to a halt.

 

He peered intently to the open door and to the corridor beyond it. Taking a few steps back, he motioned over to the closest bookcase and grabbed a random book. Returning to the same spot, he casually threw the book in the corridor's direction and the book flew to the open space, bumped into an until them invisible purplish colored barrier and bounced back into the room again.

 

-.-

 

"Ouch!" yelped Murasakibara suddenly, dropping the last bit of a pocky stick into the floor.

 

Himuro peered over at him, chuckling slightly. "What's wrong, Atsushi? Did you bit your tongue while eating?"

 

"No..." The purple haired giant took another pocky stick from its wrapper and started munching on it casually. "Apparently Kuro-chin started playing around with my barrier."

 

"Playing around? He didn't try to cross it?" asked the older male.

 

"No. He threw a book at it," simply answered Murasakibara.

 

"A book? Haa, your little 'Phantom' appears to be more cleaver than I thought. Most people wouldn't notice your barrier."

 

"That's why it's so troublesome..." muttered the purple haired giant, crushing the empty pocky's wrapper and picking up another one from the little table beside him.

 

-.-

 

_Damn it!_

 

Now the bluenette knew why Akashi didn't need to lock the door and was so confident on leaving Kuroko to his own devices. If he tried to put a step outside the room, he would crash against the barrier, and if he tried to nullify it with his ability, Murasakibara would immediately know he had done so.

 

_There's no need for a lock if there's a completely perfect barrier surrounding the entire room!_

 

In total exasperation, he motioned over to the shelves and observed the books. He picked the thickest of all of them, an old book about even older laws that no longer where in operation in any sane country, and went over to the open door again.

 

He angrily threw the book at the opening, however, instead of hitting the barrier like the previous book had done, the corner of the humongous compilation hit the forehead of a tall, tanned male that was stepping inside the room.

 

"OUCH!!!" Aomine went down to the floor hard, a huge bright red spot on his tanned forehead. He clutched the spot tightly and with teary eyes looked up at the bluenette. "What the heck do you think you're doing!? Don't throw books of this size at other people!"

 

"Then is it okay to throw smaller ones?" deadpanned Kuroko, cautiously taking several steps backwards.

 

"Don't throw any! Books are already a pain in the ass to read. If everyone started walking around throwing books at unsuspecting people, Hell would break loose!"

 

Aomine got back up, massaging with his fingers the increasing bump on his forehead and muttering softs "ouch" while doing so. He stepped inside and motioned over to the sofa, sitting casually on it (though Kuroko noticed that he put a considerable distance from the spot where Akashi had remained for ages the day before).

 

"What are you doing here?" asked cautiously the bluenette, motioning over to the bed, always maintaining his eyes on the 'Miracle'.

 

"Murasakibara called me saying you were 'playing around' with his barrier and asked me if I could come here to check on you and warn you to stop throwing books at it." Aomine clicked his tongue and submerged deeper into the cushions of the sofa, grumbling aubidly as he did so. "Damn if I hate serving as a messenger for others. Especially to that lazy ass who spends 75% of his day eating snacks. And he never fucking shares any, except with Akashi and Himuro!"

 

"You're one to talk..." softly muttered the bluenette.

 

"Huh!?" grunted Aomine, looking sharply at the smaller male, who visibly flinched at the intense gaze. "What do you know about me, to compare me to that snacks devourer? And stop acting all fucking scared around us! If we wanted to hurt you, we would already have done so while you were taking your beauty sleep."

 

"They why do you keep me locked here?" asked hesitantly Kuroko.

 

"What would you expect us to do to the currently most dangerous 'User' lurking around Japan? To just stop him from causing another 'Bloody Night', warn him to not do it again and let him continue to roam around, free to do anything he pleases?"

 

"Causing another 'Bloody Night' is not on my plans for the future, and nothing would have happened two weeks ago if Akashi-kun hadn't started interfering with me," tried to defend himself the bluenette.

 

"Fair enough." Aomine crossed his hands behind his head and, with one eye open, the other closed, he peered at the smaller male. "Then what caused the 'Bloody Night' one year ago?"

 

"..."

 

"Surely you can't use Akashi or any of us as an excuse for that. None of us had knowledge of your existence until that night. I mean, you must have a reason. I can't really put a finger on it, but you don't seem the type of person to just start random losses of control on your ability and destroying half of Tokyo and kill thousands of people, most of which who had nothing to do with abilities, without a reason to do so. Though I guess that sometimes it's hard to control our own ability."

 

"..." Kuroko simply clenched his fists, so tightly his knuckles were turning even whiter than his already original pale skin.

 

Slightly flashbacks of that night crossed the back of his mind, and he felt a wave of disgust start to gurgle on his stomach. The moon eclipsed in a sky covered by his dark and red shadows, the red staining his body, the multiple corpses surrounding him and those who joined them in a deadly embrace while he ran desperately through the half-destroyed streets of Tokyo, hand being tightly held by  _him_.

 

A shudder visibly ran down his spine as he remembered the parting words  _he_ had said to him when he exited the "dream realm". Kuroko felt as dread instilled in him and his body started shivering as if the temperature in the room had decreased astronomically.

 

Aomine was right. None of the 'Miracles' was involved in his first full loss of control on his ability, and even he hadn't intended it to happen in the first place. But even so...

 

Kuroko clutched his own body strongly, trying to control the shivering of his cold body. Trying to gain control on at least one damn thing in his current life.

 

"Hey. Are you okay, Kuroko?" asked Aomine, worried by the sudden paleness on the bluenette's features. He got up from the sofa and motioned over in the bluenette's direction, who walked backwards as the tanned male got closer. "Are you feeling alright?"

 

"What are you doing here, Daiki?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "CATALRHYTHM" by OLDCODEX (whose vocalist is Suzuki Tatsuhisa aka Takao!!)
> 
> So, if you pay close attention from now on, small details of what happened one year ago in the "Bloody Night" and Miracles + Kuroko's past will start to slowly be revealed. Fufufu~ Let the game start!
> 
> On a side note, I have a small surprise for every fan of Kuroko no Basket that I will post on my Twitter account in a few days (hopefully this weekend). Stay tuned to my Twitter to find out what it is :D
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	32. Keep track of the little voices, left and right, upside down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, minna-san! Mafy's here with this Monday's update :D
> 
> It's barely 5PM over here, and I'm almost dropping to the side... I'm really not used to have to wake up at 6:30AM. So let's just enjoy some AkaKuro to (not) relax my mind (because seriously, it gives me way too many feelings for being able to relax with it...)
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

"What are you doing here, Daiki?"

 

Aomine looked in the door's direction and hastily motioned down the hand that was directed to Kuroko, as he saw Akashi glaring at him from the open door. Kuroko gave a quick glance at the redhead and dropped his gaze again to the floor, still visibly shaking.

 

"Murasakibara asked me to come here to check on him, since I was the closest one." Aomine maintained a suspicious stare directed to the redhead, as Akashi fully entered the room and motioned over in their direction. "Apparently Kuroko had the clever idea of starting to throw books at the barrier."

 

"And I see that the barrier wasn't the only thing that was hit," breathed the redhead, noticing the red bump on the tanned forehead of Aomine.

 

"Ah!" Aomine motioned his hand up and touched the bump. "Well, you could say I was in the wrong place, at the wrong time..."

 

Akashi stopped near Kuroko, who shivered visibly while clutching his own body with a firm grip. Akashi observed the bluenette cautiously, who tried to avoid any eye contact with both the redhead and the tanned male.

 

"Tetsuya," called tentatively Akashi, but there was no reaction to it. The redhead released a sigh and looked over at the tanned male. "Really, Daiki. What exactly have you been babbling about to make Tetsuya become like this? Shintarou warned me not to pressure him too much and then you come and do this."

 

"Hey, don't just outright make me guilty of a conversation you weren't here to hear," grumbled the taller male.

 

"You probably just let your loose mouth run on and on and asked him something you shouldn't." Aomine flinched at the accusation and Akashi released another sigh. "Just leave already, before you cause even more damage."

 

The tanned male just grumbled audibly under his breath and motioned his hand up to scratch his head. "Fine, I'll leave! Just for the record, I won't be always around for when he starts throwing things at the barrier. Next time, if Murasakibara wants to complain, he should just move his own ass and come do it himself!"

 

Aomine turned his back to both Akashi and Kuroko and motioned to the door, closing it after he exited the room.

 

"Tetsuya." Akashi turned his focus once again to the bluenette, and lifted his hand up to touch the blue strands of his hair.

 

_"Tet~su~ya~chan~"_

 

A major shudder ran down Kuroko's spine and a cold sweat coated his skin, as he recalled that man's voice. Seeing as the redhead's hand was approaching him, he lunged his own hand forward and slapped it away, taking several steps backwards.

 

Akashi was shocked, for lack of better words, at the plain look of disgust on the bluenette's face. He knew that Kuroko felt very uncomfortable in the presence of any of the "Miracles" and even more so when any of them tried to touch him, which was probably due to the prickling sensation that both parties felt when doing so. But Kuroko never, not even once, showed such fear... such  _hatred_ for any of them.

 

"Ah... I-I'm so-sorry..." Kuroko caught the shocked expression on Akashi's features and motioned his hand, that was still hovering in the air, down.

 

The redhead saw the disgust look on Kuroko's face turn into a pained one. Then it clicked in his mind. Whatever the conversation between Kuroko and Aomine was about, it brought back some kind of flashback to the bluenette, one that caused him such visible shock. He made a mental note to question Aomine later on that, just to be sure to thread more cautiously around that point when questioning Kuroko than the tanned male had.

 

"Are you feeling all right?" asked Akashi, motioning once again one of his hands up in Kuroko's direction, this time more slowly than the last time. With the sleeve of his shirt he wipes the small drops of cold sweat that had formed in the sides of the bluenette's face.

 

"Y-Yes, I'm... f-fine..." Kuroko recoiled slightly at the touch, but still maintained firm in place. Even though they weren't touching directly, he could still feel a slight tingling sensation from the soft pats that the fabric made on his sweaty skin.

 

Akashi observed as Kuroko looked at every place of the room, in an obvious display of trying to avoid looking at the redhead. He couldn't help the soft chuckle that came out of his mouth, and motioned his hand up, grabbing a soft lock of blue hair between his fingers. The slight tingling feeling spread further, becoming the outright prickling sensation that coursed through their entire bodies. Kuroko looked up and met Akashi's eyes for the first time since the redhead has entered the room.

 

"Tetsuya, you are under no obligation of answering any of Daiki's questions, or any other people's. Though my questions are a different story."

 

"Why should you be an exception?" asked cautiously the bluenette, taking one step backwards, seeing as he was finally regaining control on his body once again.

 

Akashi moved down his hand, releasing the strands of hair, and touched Kuroko's cheek lightly with the back of his finger. "Because you belong to me. And as such you are under the obligation of answering my questions."

 

"I really have to ask you this. Why are you under the impression that I belong to you? I only talked for the first time to you a few weeks ago, and before we only met on  _that_ night. Though we can't really call it 'meeting' what happened back then."

 

Akashi just released a soft, brief laugh. "It was decided one year ago. That 'The Phantom' would become mine. As such, you now belong to me."

 

Kuroko just stared at the heterochromatic eyes of the redhead and shook his head so lightly it would come unnoticed to those who weren't close to him. "What you want isn't me. It's my ability."

 

Akashi was slightly taken aback by those words, but quickly regained his composed self again.

 

"But that's a part of you. And if I get that by having you, then so be it." Akashi's golden eye flickered briefly and he softly opened his hand to cup the soft cheek of the bluenette. "But remember, Tetsuya. I'm not someone as petty as to simply want something for one of its qualities. When I'm interested in something, I'm interested in all of it."

 

Kuroko knew perfectly well that he was only a mean to achieve whatever plans the "Miracles" had. He knew that one year ago when they came to stop him during  _that_ night. He knew that during the time he spent hiding from them while staying in the same institution as all Japanese "Users". And, obviously, he still knew that even now, when he had been put under their clutches. Then why? Why were those cruel and binding words of Akashi so soothing for him?

 

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't understand the logic (or lack of thereof) that ruled over the redhead's mind. Not one year ago, and much less now, that he managed to have actual conversations with him. As always, Akashi remained a pot of mysteries and now, apparently, he had had to put his own lack of dislike to the words that the redhead had told him in that same shelf in his mind.

 

"But let's put that aside for now." Akashi dropped his hand and motioned away from Kuroko, going over to the desk. He took a stack of papers from one of the drawers and put them on the surface of the desk. "Entertain yourself actually reading the books, not throwing them around, while I finish dealing with some actual work for the Student Council. After I finish, we can share another amusing lunch together. I do wonder what excuses you'll give this time around to refuse to eat the food."

 

Kuroko just released a sigh and sat on the bed, slightly sulking at the masked threat that was directed at him.

 

_Are you inviting me to play a game? Sure, I'll play it with you. But don't think I will adhere to the rules that you impose on it for much longer._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "WALK" by OLDCODEX (whose vocalist is our trickster's seiyuu, Suzuki Tatsuhisa!)
> 
> So let's get on board of the approaching angst train, shall we? (And soon enough it won't just be AkaKuro angst too)
> 
> Tomorrow the DVD/Blu-ray for Kuroko no Basket first compilation movie comes out!!!! I'm so anxious to see it XD Though it's a pity that we won't hear GRANRODEO on it... I really like that band. But we'll have OLDCODEX in it (meaning Takao!!)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	33. Even if you close your eyes, the pain will remain in your memory

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again, minna-san! 
> 
> Yup, you're not seeing an illusion. Today it's a double release!!!  
> Today I started my internship, and to not celebrate alone with only a bottle of strawberry ramune, I decided to give you a little treat (though I'm afraid it won't be as sweet as the ramune I'm drinking...)
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

Though it wasn't to his liking, Kuroko was starting to get used to his new routine. He would spend almost sleepless nights being "guarded" by Akashi, then have awkward breakfasts with him (though he took comfort on the fact that each day there would be a new vanilla flavored piece of food for him to eat) and spend the rest of the day closed in the room reading something.

 

The "question of the day", as he came to call it, was the only thing he couldn't predict. Not only in terms of content, but the time it would be announced. Sometimes it would come during their breakfast time, sometimes while he was quietly reading a book, and others just before it was time for him to supposedly to go sleep.

 

During the few days they spent together, Kuroko had come to realize quite a few things about the redhead. Akashi was as much of a binge reader as he was, if not even more. Every day he would bring new books after he went out to deal with his duties as Student Council President and "Miracle" and would readily devour them while maintaining his surveillance on him. He also wasn't exactly talkative, but had a very (and it means  _very_ ) good way with his words. It wasn't easy for the bluenette to feint around his questions, and, every so often, he winded up falling for a trap or two during their conversations.

 

Akashi also managed to stay awake for as much time as Kuroko. The bluenette usually only took short naps to restore his energy when he knew Akashi wasn't around, though there were times when he woke up to find the redhead already reading a book or going through documents in his usual spot in the sofa. Kuroko seriously questioned where, during his busy schedule, Akashi found time to sleep.

 

Kuroko was reading a mystery novel when the door to the room opened, and a red blur appeared in the corner of his eye. He took a quick glance in the door's direction and saw Akashi entering the room.

 

It was a little past 6PM. Akashi would normally return to the room by this time of the day when he went out after lunch and not in the morning. That was another thing that Kuroko had noticed. Akashi was an extremely punctual person. He had a time to go outside to deal with his work as the Student Council President, a time to eat their meals, and a time to return to the room.  _Well, it's not that surprising, seeing as Akashi-kun is that much of a control obsessed person._

 

"Good evening, Tetsuya. Have you behaved like a good boy and ate your meals?" asked the redhead as he casually put a stack of papers in one of the drawers of the desk.

 

"Please don't address to me like I'm your pet or a child," answered Kuroko, returning his gaze to the book he was reading while laid down on the bed.

 

"Of course not. I'm just worrying about your health."

 

"Then you should consider that human beings need to see the light of the sun directly from time to time. Adding the two-week time I was sleeping, I haven't stepped outside this room for almost three and a half weeks."

 

Akashi looked over at Kuroko and then at the outside landscape of the academy through the windows. "If you promise to not try to run away or anything along those lines, I'll consider it. I still haven't forgotten that during the first few days you tried to find an opening in the barrier around the room by continuously throwing things at it."

 

The redhead chuckled softly as he recalled that Kuroko had even managed to make that lazy bum Murasakibara come out of Yosen dorm to exchange some of his snacks in order to stop Kuroko from continuing "pestering" the barrier.

 

Of course, Kuroko soon came to realize that when the purple haired giant's ability was called "perfect barrier" it literally meant "no openings whatsoever". Though Akashi knew perfectly well that if Kuroko truly went head-on against the barrier, a simple touch with his ability would be more than enough to break it in smithereens.

 

Akashi peered at Kuroko's reading form, not fully relaxed but not as much on guard as he was in the next few days after he woke up.

 

"By the end of this week, we will be moving you to another place. So, which do you prefer? Will you behave and just walk there by yourself, or will we need to take measures and tie you up so that you don't suddenly disappear using your ability?"

 

"..." Kuroko continued staring at the book, but soon closed it and turned around slightly to look at Akashi. "Where are you taking me?"

 

"Somewhere safe. Somewhere where you will have more freedom than simply being closed in a room, though not as much as you actually going wherever you wish without our permission."

 

"So, all in all, I will continue to be your prisoner or whatever you want to call it."

 

"Tetsuya, don't call it 'imprisoning'. You gave your consent to remain under our protection, so we are only following that." Akashi motioned over to the bed and sat down near the bluenette. "I gave you a choice and you decided by yourself what you wanted to do."

 

"Choosing between being imprisoned by the Japanese Government and possibly being executed by them or having to remain almost 24/7 beside you 'Miracles' isn't that great of a choice. I only choose the lesser of two evils."

 

"I still can't quite grasp why you condemn us so much and call us 'evil'. Would you explain that to me?"

 

"..." Kuroko quickly averted his eyes and stared at a blank spot on the wall. "Do I really need to answer that?"

 

"Well, of course. Unless you want to use your free pass to avoid answering that question. Though you know you won't be able to use the same trick ever again."

 

Kuroko released a deep sigh and turned his face away from the analytic gaze of the redhead. He knew Akashi was trying to make him use that card now on the beginning, so that when he got to the really meaningful questions he wouldn't have any way out of answering them. But, of course, he wouldn't fall for it that easily. He had to answer the question and he couldn't exactly lie, seeing that the redhead was as good as a lies detector when it came down to it, though he could just go around the subject and never give straight answers.

 

"What did you expect me to think of you after what you did that night?" muttered softly the bluenette.

 

Akashi lifted slightly an eyebrow at the soft accusatory voice of Kuroko. "'That night'?"

 

"The 'Bloody Night'."

 

"You do realize that none of us had anything to do with that night, right? We had no knowledge of you until that time and when we stepped outside Teikou Academy, we did it so that we could stop you from fully destroying the entire city or, who knows, Japan."

 

Kuroko softly snorted. "I know that very well. It's not the 'why' of when you came to try to stop me, it's the 'what you did' when you came to stop me. It's what you did to  _him_ when you came to stop me."

 

"'Him'?" Akashi once again lifted slightly an eyebrow as he recalled the events of that night one year ago. "Ah, you must be talking about the 'User' who indiscriminately started killing everyone who tried to approach you while you were running out of control."

 

"You're wrong!" Kuroko buried his fingers in the soft blanket of the bed and clenched his fists tightly while gripping the fabric. "Ogiwara-kun only did that to protect me! He never meant to kill anyone! He--"

 

"Whatever the reason may have been, one third of the people who died that night where killed by his hands. He was sentenced accordingly by what he was doing."

 

"You call what you did 'sentence' him!? You tortured him... you  _played_ with him until he was cruelly crushed by you!!" Kuroko firmly closed his eyes to stop the gathering tears from flowing down. He would never give any of the 'Miracles' the pleasure of seeing him cry. "He only... He was..."

 

_He was my family. He was my best friend. He was the only person I could trust._

 

Akashi stared at the conflicted expression of the bluenette and suddenly felt something inside of him, right on his chest, bing clutched tightly. He never had felt that way, so he questioned himself what emotion he was exactly feeling at that moment. It was hot like anger but unlike fire, it felt like a burning piece of freezing cold ice. But who exactly what that anger, he had decided to call it for now, directed to?

 

In an impulse, he lunged his hand forward and pulled Kuroko's chin in his direction. He stared at the depth of those clear teal eyes and saw so many emotions of them. Confusion... Sadness... Reminiscence... And a similar emotion to what he was feeling.

 

"And what exactly to you expect us to do about it? We can't change what happened in the past. "His golden eye flickered briefly when he saw Kuroko's usual mask break into an even more conflicted expression. "You want us... no,  _me_ to apologize? Because I won't. What we... What I did at that time was the correct choice to make. If we hadn't stopped him, he would have--"

 

"I know that!" Kuroko grabbed Akashi's hand and pulled it away from him, but instead of releasing it right away, he clutched into it. "I know that all too well. But even so, I... I just can't bring myself to forgive you. Not you, Akashi-kun, nor any of the other 'Miracles'... Not even myself for what I made Ogiwara-kun become..."

 

Akashi once again was forced to raise an eyebrow at Kuroko's words. "What do you mean by--"

 

"Akashi-kun," interrupted the bluenette, releasing his hand and fully turning around to the other side, while covering himself with the cold blanket. "I answered your question. If you want to ask further, wait until tomorrow. But I'll tell you right away, I would most gladly return to my self-imposed comatose sleep than being forced to answer more of those types of questions. Because whatever it is that you want me to say, you will never get it out of me willingly."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "CATALRHYTHM" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> I told you to pay attention to the angst train!  
> So now we know which will be the biggest wall between any AkaKuro romantic development... or any type of development!
> 
> Hehehe, Akashi... You told Kuroko you were "interested" in him beyond his ability in the previous chapter, and now you actually started feeling a "strange type of anger-like feeling"... I do wonder what feeling that was, fufufu~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	34. All you'll get looking down is a view of the ground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, minna-san! Mafy's here with this Wednesday's update!
> 
> Snow, I promised you an escape scene. I'll give it to you, but it will be in another sense of the word ;D 
> 
> Also, as of now, the chapters will be bigger than usual so yay!!
> 
> Well, please enjoy :D

If Kuroko had ever thought of their shared breakfasts as awkward  and heavy, then after the little arguing session (if he could even call that conversation an arguing, since it was just him throwing his own feelings of guilt and regret at the redhead) he had with Akashi the previous day, what could be this strange atmosphere around the table be called?

 

The bluenette hadn't managed to sleep a wink that night and, even though he was dead tired, he was thankful that he didn't fell asleep. If he had, he would have most likely gone to the "dream realm". And in his current guilt-driven state, he mostly appreciated if he didn't go there and saw  _him_.

 

Kuroko stopped his hand mid-way to grab his cup of milk tea and just stared absentmindedly to nowhere in particular. He just stared at the air itself.

 

What was he supposed to do? He had two more days until he was going to be moved from this room to God know where. He had already a pretty tough time dealing with Akashi alone, and now, by the look of what the redhead had told him yesterday, he would have to deal with the other four "Miracles" on a daily basis too. Of course, he would be no longer closed in a single room, but it wouldn't probably be much better than that. All in all, he would remain dependent on them for authorization on anything he wished to do.

 

Was that really what he wished for? Was that what he was seeking when he gave his consent to Akashi to remain under the "Miracles" so called protection?

 

It's true that remaining hidden from them for almost over a year was mind-taxing and physically exhausting, since having to use his ability to nullify his presence to everyone around him was draining, as he was forced to use it during the entire time he was in school or when he needed to go outside his room in Seirin dorm for different reasons. Also, the constant fear he had lived in for being discovered by them had been lifted, now that he  _had_ been caught by them. Of course that fear hadn't disappeared; it just shifted to another type of thing to be afraid of.

 

His ability also had returned to stable degrees, and he hadn't visited the "dream realm" since he woke up from his two-week sleep (and that was probably the only thing he was glad about, lately). It wasn't the fact of visiting the "dream realm" that caused him such concern; it was the unpredictability of what could happen when he was there that worried him. Not to mention the fact that he had to deal with the fake copy of his best friend.

 

"--suya.  _Tetsuya._ " Hearing his name being called, he quickly looked up and broke free from his internal struggling thoughts. Akashi was staring at him quizzically, as if trying to read what was going on inside his head. Luckily, Akashi's ability wasn't mind-reading, though even the bluenette wondered if he could manage to do it sometimes. The redhead would be a perfect detective, at least in terms of reading the expressions on other people's face and entering inside their minds. "If you don't hurry up and finish eating, the food will grow cold."

 

"..." Kuroko looked down at the plate in front of him and finally dropped his hand. "I don't really feel like eating right now. Please excuse me."

 

Kuroko got up from his seat and stepped over to the bed, picking up a book from one of the shelves on his way. He dropped his tired body on the soft mattress and opened the book. He had picked the closest one to him that he still hadn't read, and it turned out to be a romance, one that just by the look of the first few pages would end up being the type that was boring throughout the entire story, only to end in an even more disappointing way.

 

Akashi stared at the bluenette as he made himself comfortable in the bed to begin the first of several readings of the day and sighed slightly. He finished drinking his cup of tea and also got up from his seat, going over to the desk and taking his phone from inside the pocket of his jacket.

 

After going through his contact list, he dialed a number and waited briefly for the other party to pick up. "Good morning, Atsushi. I would like you to drop the barrier for a few hours." He waited until Murasakibara finished talking and continued. "It doesn't matter. Just lift the barrier. Also, tell Shintarou that I will not be going to the Student Council building this morning. If I find time to go, it will be in the afternoon. ...Yes. Please do."

 

He ended the call and put the phone back on the pocket of his jacket. He peered through the windows and then looked over to the bluenette. He motioned over in his direction and stopped beside the bed, lunging his hand forward to take the book out of Kuroko's hands.

 

"Let's go," simply said the redhead to the surprised bluenette. He could almost see a question mark hovering around Kuroko and, since the other male didn't make any move to get out of the bed, he just grabbed his small hand and softly pulled him, relishing on the prickling sensation that he hadn't experience for a while.

 

"Eh? Wai-- Akashi-kun?" Being tow-hauled by the taller male in the door's direction, he started panicking slightly, not sure of what was happening. "Didn't you say I was only going to another place in two days? Where are you taking me?"

 

Akashi stopped by the door frame and peered at it, certifying himself that the barrier had been lifted already. Then he continued walking, always pulling Kuroko with him. "Wasn't it you that said that human beings need to see the light of the day directly from time to time? Rejoice, for I am going to take you to a place where you can enjoy some fresh air without anyone to bother you."

 

"Eh?"

 

"Though I will have to remain with you until you return to the room and the barrier is put back on," added Akashi, peering behind from above his shoulder and seeing the shinning glint on Kuroko's teal eyes for the long awaited opportunity of finally going outside.

 

They walked down the corridor, stepped down the stairs and then just walked outside the three-stored building, making Kuroko confirm his suspicions. He was still inside Teikou Academy, in the few buildings that had been built a little more hidden from the others, to allow privacy to their owners.

 

"Um... Akashi-kun? Can you... let go of my hand?" asked shyly the bluenette, feeling half bothered by the prickling sensation and half highly conscious of who the hand that was holding his own belonged to.

 

"I apologize." Akashi softly released his hold on Kuroko's hand, faintly brushing the tips of his fingers on his warm skin, causing the bluenette to involuntarily shiver at the strange body temperature that emanated from such a cold person.

 

They silently walked through the remote and abandoned roads of that part of the academy, Akashi one step ahead of Kuroko to lead the way. Though the redhead walked in front of him, Kuroko could still feel the tight surveillance he was imposing on him. Akashi was probably on guard, suspecting that if he lost focus on the bluenette for even a second, he would use his ability and nullify his presence in order to run away once again.

 

Kuroko, of course, could easily do it. But running away in this type of situation wouldn't change anything. He would just return to his status of "criminal in escape", and once again be chased high and low by the "Miracles". And if he indeed decided to run away, this time around he would be even more easily caught, for they knew what his appearance was like now. He knew that Akashi knew that, since well, for as much as Kuroko didn't like to agree with things that the redhead had said, they did share slightly the same way of thinking in certain aspects.

 

They followed a road that lead to a small forest. As they walked between the trees, a path no longer beneath their feet, he felt the fresh breeze that caused a rhythmic movement on the branches of the tree, accompanied by the melody of the birds.

 

Although Kuroko knew they were in a highly populated area, he couldn't hear any cars or another sound characteristic of cities. It was almost as if he had entered a piece of this dimension that had been cut off from everything. He slightly bit his lip at that thought, as he recalled his unintentional hand on the creation of the "dream realm".

 

"We've arrived." Akashi came to a halt and Kuroko, who had absentmindedly been taking in his surroundings, softly bumped with his nose on the redhead's back. The bluenette took a step backwards and rubbed his nose, Akashi peering at him with an amused expression on his face.

 

Kuroko looked at what was in front of them and, for lack of better words, he let his jaw drop. They were directly in front of a small lake, surrounded by big and old trees on all sides. The lake had a small bridge that led to a small of land in the middle of the water, where a white bandstand had been placed. The wood that made the bandstand was old, but, in a way, it seemed a pretty recent construction but yet again, it looked as if it had always been there, in the center of the small island in the lake.

 

Akashi looked over at the bluenette's face and reckoned that it was worth the risk of him trying to run away just from the sheer look on his face. Kuroko had completely dropped his usual mask and just stared at the scenery in front of him with amazement.

 

"After the academy was built and we installed the first students here, I decided to take a walk and accidentally bumped into this place," explained Akashi, observing Kuroko's teal eyes jumping from place to place and taking in all of the out-of-this-world scenery in front of them. "I took a liking to this place, since there's no path that crosses the forest and most people tend to stay away from here. Sometimes I come here and just sit in the island to read for a while."

 

"I don't have any books with me to read, though," deadpanned the bluenette, still charmed by the soft surface of the lake.

 

"Really?" asked Akashi, a smirk forming on his features as he took the book Kuroko had been reading from beneath the jacket he had been carrying in his other hand. And yes, Akashi had also brought a book for himself, that was placed beside the one Kuroko had started. Kuroko really wondered just what more tricks the redhead could have hidden on his sleeves or, more precisely, under his jacket.

 

Akashi stepped forward and started walking to the bridge, taking a glance to the bluenette and motioning his chin up in a sign for him to follow. Kuroko followed behind him, feeling the soft and humid grass rustling against his shoes and pants.

 

They crossed the bridge and stepped inside the bandstand, a soft breeze caressing their skin and moving slightly the almost static surface of the lake underneath them. In the small bandstand there were no chairs to sit on, but a bunch of fluffy looking pillows were scattered on the wooden floor, all diversifying in size and color.

 

Seeing as Kuroko was sort of hesitant to move forward, Akashi took the initiative and just sat down on top of a light blue pillow, pressing his back against the white wooden railing that surrounded the bandstand. The redhead peered over at Kuroko, with an expression that asked 'Aren't you going to sit down too?'

 

Kuroko came closer and choose to sit down on a deep blue pillow, a considerable distance between them. Akashi casually opened his own book and started reading it. As Kuroko saw him doing that, he realized that the redhead still had his book with him. He peered over hesitantly to the space surrounding the other male, in hopes to find where the book was, only to find it placed underneath the redhead's hand.

 

"You know..." started Akashi, always staring at the book on his other hand, a growing amused look on his face. "If you want the book, you will have to come here and get it."

 

"..." Frowning slightly, the bluenette got up once again, and softly walked over in the other male's direction, the wooden floor creaking underneath his feet. When he was in arm length to the redhead, he crouched slightly to reach for the book, but a hand lunged fast in his arm's direction and pulled him down. Kuroko stumbled down on top of a soft, red pillow and looked at Akashi, a surprised expression on his face.

 

"Here, your book." Akashi delivered the book to the bluenette and he took it in his hands, but when he tried to get up again to go over to the spot he had previously sat on, the same hand stopped him. "Just sit there."

 

"I-I don't wa--"

 

" _Tetsuya_ , sit there," repeated Akashi, pressing hard when he said the bluenette's name.

 

"..." Kuroko looked at Akashi with a frown on his face and sighed. He moved the red pillow slightly away from the other male and sat down, opening the book on the page where he was in before Akashi interrupted his reading.

 

They both read in silence, side by side. The distance between them was too close for Kuroko to like it, but each time he tried to move away, no matter how masked the movement was, Akashi seemed to see through it and closed the distance once again.

 

Heart beating nervously in his chest due to the awkward, yet again soothing, small space that separated the two students, Kuroko tried to focus on his book. As he reached the end of the first third of the book, he concluded that his initial idea of the book had been correct. He still continued reading it though, since it was the only thing he had to do there, but the lack of both enthusiasm on the book and sleep started to take the better of him, and every so often his eyelids motioned down slightly.

 

Two hours after they had reached the bandstand in the small island and started reading the books, Akashi felt a soft pressure on his left shoulder and heard a small  _thud_ on the wooden surface. As he peered over to the other male, he saw Kuroko sleeping deeply, his soft cheek pressed against his shoulder. The book had apparently slipped from Kuroko's grasp to the wooden floor when he fell asleep.

 

Akashi couldn't help the soft smile that painted his features as he realized that that was the first time that the bluenette had actually fallen asleep in his presence, not just catching him taking small naps midway when returning to the room after having gone take care of his work.

 

He relished on the soft electrifying current coursing through his body and settled the book he was reading on the wooden surface. With his now free hand, he picked up a small and soft strand of blue hair and absentmindedly caressed it, as he just stared to the scenery while listening to the spaced breathes of the bluenette.

 

"You know, Tetsuya... You are the first person I brought here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "The Other self" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> So, what did you think of Kuroko's little "escape" with Akashi? Or maybe we should call it a "reading date" of some sort, ahahaha. I just kinda wanted to lighten up the mood, since it's been nothing but angst in the latest chapters (though this one as it too, in a toned down way).
> 
> I know I shouldn't really say this, but you know me, I'm a tease. So I will leave a warning here regarding the next chapter.
> 
> Warning: AKAKURO!!!! (yes, because they totally deserve a warning against nosebleeds and life-threatening blood loss XD)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	35. While I can't even afford to seek the meaning of what's right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, minna-san! Mafy's here with this Friday's update!
> 
> The so awaited chapter is finally here!  
> There's this saying in my mother tongue that goes like this: "Há terceira é de vez" which literally means that you will achieve something in your third try. I think this saying fits pretty well this chapter *winks*
> 
> Warning: AkaKuro (which deserves a warning of its own due to the danger of nosebleeds - read to experience it ;D)
> 
> Well, enjoy!

Giving an exasperated sigh, Midorima closed the files case and placed it on top of his desk harshly.

 

"Woah, Midorimacchi, I sense a lot of repressed frustration over there," commented the blonde, while writing down a report. "Not getting enough lovey-dovey~ time with your sweetheart?"

 

"Shut up, Kise." Taking his glasses off his face and softly putting them on the wooden surface of the desk, he slowly looked up and rubbed his tired eyes.

 

"Or did you have an argument with him? I totally understand. By the end of this week you won't stay in the same dorm as him anymore. Though you can just sneak out at night and pay him a visit! I know I will~"

 

"Don't lump me together with the likes of you! I'm sure that Kasamatsu-san is more than delighted to get rid of you, even if it's just for a while," defended himself the green haired male.

 

"Eh~ No way! We're totally lovey-dovey! We are in our honeymoon period right now, you know~"

 

"What 'honeymoon period'..." Murasakibara snorted loudly, as he munched on some rice cookies. "Isn't it just you following Kasa-chin around like a lost puppy?"

 

"Woah! One more to the frustrated people list~ You just say that because you can't do anything with Himurocchi right now! ...Ah..."

 

Kise hastily covered his mouth and averted his gaze from the other male, seeing as those purple eyes were glaring daggers at him.

 

 _Idiot... You just stepped on a landmine,_ admonished Midorima in his mind, putting his glasses back on.

 

The green haired male picked up the next files case and opened it, rumbling through the pages in search of what he was looking for. He came to a halt and looked outside the window, the sun already starting to set. He sighed deeply.

 

"Murasakibara, didn't you say that Akashi would return in the afternoon?" asked the green haired male. "It's almost night!"

 

"I was also thinking the same until just now. He told me that he would return in a few hours and then I could put the barrier like it was." He put one more cookie in his mouth and lazily munched it. "But I haven't got any news from him since his call in the morning."

 

"Maybe he got unexpectedly busy with something... or more like, someone~" half-joked Kise, spinning the pen on his fingers, a knowing smile on his face.

 

-.-

 

The soft breeze was starting to pick up and turn into a stronger wind, ruffling the leaves in the trees with more intensity. The straight surface of the lake was also becoming wavier as the wind hit the waters.

 

Akashi just remained sitting in the same place since that morning, the soft and fluffy cheek of the bluenette pressed against his shoulder, while the latter peacefully slept. The start of the setting sun painted both of their features in a light orange shade. All he could hear was the singing of the evening birds and the soft and rhythmic breathes of Kuroko.

 

However, the ring of his phone cut out that silence. He put his hand on the pocket of his jacket, which lay down next to him, and picked up his phone, reading the name of the caller on the screen. He internally clicked his tongue and answered the call quickly, so that the noise didn't disturb the sleeping bluenette.

 

"What is it, Shintarou?" asked right away the redhead.

 

 _"Akashi, where the hell are you!? You told Murasakibara that you would return in a few hours and show up in the main office in the afternoon. It's almost night, you know?"_ admonished the green haired male through the phone.  _"You took Kuroko outside the room, didn't you?"_

 

"I apologize, Shintarou. But some unexpected situations stopped me from returning until now."

 

 _"'Unexpected situations'?"_ Akashi could see Midorima raising an eyebrow just from the tone of his voice.  _"He didn't run away, did he!?"_

 

"Of course not," answered the redhead. "He has remained under my gaze the entire time."

 

 _"Then what have you been doing the whole day that you couldn't even grab your phone and call us to warn me that you wouldn't be back until later?"_ admonished further Midorima. The redhead could hear Kise's voice yelling something along the lines of 'Hey, don't ask something like that' and 'You might get an answer you don't want to hear' from the background.

 

"I've just been reading. Tetsuya is sleeping."

 

 _"He's sleeping? Wait, he didn't go back to the self-imposed sleep, right?"_ said the green haired male, worry painting slightly his voice.

 

"Shintarou, I told you. Everything is--" Kuroko suddenly sneezed softly by his side and the redhead felt the other boy shiver slightly. "Hold on a second, Shintarou."

 

 _"Hey, Akashi!"_ Akashi put the phone down on the wooden floor and picked up his jacket, softly putting it on top of Kuroko's body. He could still hear the nagging voice of the green haired male coming from the phone, but he couldn't help but pause and look at the sight of the bluenette peacefully sleeping by his side, the strands of blue hair brushing lightly on the side of his neck as he used his shoulder as a pillow.

 

The redhead picked up again the phone and interrupted the nagging monologue Midorima was giving. "Anyway, Shintarou, everything is okay. I'll return after Tetsuya wakes up and then call Atsushi to ask him to put the barrier back on. Is that satisfying for you?"

 

_"Well, yes. But you--"_

 

"Goodbye, Shintarou." As the other male was starting to talk again, the redhead clicked on the button on the screen and ended the call. He sighed briefly, but the soft movements that suddenly started by his side caught his attention.

 

When he looked over at the bluenette, he was lazily rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, his blue locks of hair in a curiously disheveled state, even though he barely moved an inch through all of his rest.

 

"I guess it was worth it coming here, even though you didn't read that much and just spend the entire day sleeping," softly said Akashi to the still half-asleep pale boy.

 

However, just as if he hadn't noticed he was there by his side, Kuroko suddenly fully opened his eyes and looked in Akashi's direction, their noses almost touching each other due to the proximity. The bluenette inched his face away almost instantaneously and Akashi could see in his expression that he was internally admonishing himself for actually having fallen asleep in front of his enemy (well, he wasn't his enemy per se, but the redhead couldn't call himself his friend either).

 

Akashi continued staring at him and Kuroko averted his gaze, looking down at his body. There, he saw that Akashi's jacket had been placed on top of him and when he looked around he did notice that the temperature had dropped quite a bit and the wind had picked up.

 

Kuroko grabbed the jacket and motioned it over in the redhead's direction. "...Thank you..."

 

Akashi continued observing him and the bluenette couldn't help the fidgeting feeling that was growing inside of him. Was he feeling nervous because the taller male was looking at him so closely? No, it wasn't nerves that he was feeling. Was he... embarrassed?

 

_Well, I did fall asleep and used his shoulder as a pillow for the entire day. There's no way I wouldn't feel embarrassed for that!_

 

The redhead grabbed his jacket, always maintaining his gaze on the teal of Kuroko's eyes, and brushed his fingertips on the cold skin of Kuroko's hand on the way. Both of them felt the brief prickling sensation, and Kuroko couldn't help but shiver at the feeling of Akashi's strange body temperature.

 

"Tetsuya..." muttered softly the redhead, as he put the jacket down on the wooden floor and lunged slowly his hand to Kuroko. He softly touched his slightly cold cheek with the back of his finger, giving a light caress to his fluffy skin.

 

"A-Akashi-kun?" Kuroko was confused, not knowing if he should pay attention to the hand that was touching him or if he should try to read more of the emotions that the heterochromatic eyes of the redhead were showing. He couldn't make up his mind so he just darted his eyes back and forward between the two.

 

"Tetsuya..." called again the other male, finding how the word almost seemed to taste sweet when he was saying it. He shifted his hand and cupped the soft cheek, giving light caresses with his thumb. "Can I kiss you?"

 

"Eh...?" The bluenette widened his eyes and when he fully took in the question that was made to him, a pink blush appeared on his features. This time he intentionally averted the constant gaze of the other male and darted his eyes back and forth through the lake, the trees, everywhere except Akashi.

 

"That's the 'question of the day', in case you're wondering," added the other male.

 

"T-That's..." started the bluenette, at a complete loss of what to do. He was on the verge of begging Akashi to stop looking at him with his heterochromatic eyes. Eyes that were supposed to instill fear on him. He wanted so badly that the other 'User' would take his hand off of his face and put an end to the prickling sensation and spreading heat that the touch was causing on him. Touch which was supposed to only make his skin crawl.

 

Then why was he  _not_ feeling any of those things?

 

"Tetsuya..." called again the redhead, searching for a way to make Kuroko look directly at him once more.

 

Kuroko just tightly closed his eyes and lifted one of his hands, motioning it forward to try to push the redhead away, even if just an inch. But he had to open his eyes again, as he felt a hand grab his own and pull it, bringing him even closer to the other "User".

 

In Akashi's features was painted a knowing smirk and he led the bluenette's hand closer to his lips. He planted a light and chaste kiss on the pale skin of the back of his fingers and relished on the slight shiver that even he felt go down Kuroko's spine. With growing amusement, the redhead continued giving butterfly kisses on the smaller male's hand, going through every finger, always maintaining his gaze on the growing blushing face of the boy sitting in front of him. The redhead opened his mouth slightly and gave a tentative, soft bite on the small knuckle of one of the bluenette's fingers.

 

"Ngh..." Kuroko tried to suppress the best he could the growing heat inside of his body that was screaming to get out in the form of a half-moan. Getting even more frustrated, not only at Akashi' ministrations, but also at his own reactions to them, Kuroko abruptly pulled his hand out of the redhead's grasp, slightly out of breath. "S-Stop trying to manipulate me."

 

"I'm not trying to manipulate you, Tetsuya. I actually like you better when you defy me."

 

If Kuroko's heart was already beating fast, then after Akashi had mentioned the word "like", his heart was on verge of leaping out of his chest.

 

"You're the only human being in this world that is able to defy my commands. And you're also the only person who I  _allow_ to defy them," continued the redhead, inching even closer to the other male. "Had you been any other person, I would have not tolerated your existence and probably would have made sure that you would disappear."

 

"But that's because I'm 'The Phantom'. I'm only meant to serve whatever your and the other 'Miracles's' plans are. That's why you keep me with you."

 

"Do you really believe that?" asked Akashi. The bluenette felt a slight sting inside his chest when he saw the deep frown on the other male's features and readily averted his gaze, but once again a hand came forth and cupped his cheek, making him look directly into the red and golden eyes of the redhead. "Tetsuya, you still haven't given me your answer."

 

"I-I don't want to," stuttered the bluenette, trying to find an opening to escape. He gulped down hard when he came to realize that there was none.

 

"Really?" questioned Akashi, moving his hand further into the smaller boy's features, touching with his fingers the soft locks of blue hair. Their faces were so close they could feel each other's breath on their skin. "Are you sure you don't want to?"

 

"I d-don't," denied softly Kuroko. He was currently doing his very best to not lean in to the tender touch of the other male, so his refusal came out weaker than what he intended it to be. He gulped down hard once again and looked straight into the heterochromatic eyes. "I will not do that with you ever again."

 

"Do what, Tetsuya?" Akashi's golden eye flickered briefly, his teasing towards the bluenette escalating even more. He grazed lightly the other male's earlobe with his finger and deeply enjoyed how he simply shivered at the touch.

 

Suppressing another half-moan, he continued forward with his half-hearted decision of denying Akashi of his teasing on him. Because yes, he knew the taller male was simply doing that to tease and, maybe, toy with him. "I won't k-kiss you again."

 

"You should know this already, Tetsuya." Akashi motioned his other hand up and cupped the other side of the bluenette's face, his lips drawing a smirk. "I can see right away when you're lying."

 

Akashi just moved half an inch and his lips touched the bluenette's. Once again, the prickling sensation they felt became more noteworthy, sometimes escalating to a slightly stronger electric current.

 

Kuroko shut his eyes tightly, not being able to endure the stare of the heterochromatic eyes any longer. Though that turned out to be a bad move on his part. When he closed his eyes, he got strangely even more aware of the redhead and of what he was doing with him. He remained static, trying to muster his strength, any strength that still remained inside of him, to push the other male away from him.

 

However, when one of Akashi's hands moved down and gave the lightest of touches on his neck, he couldn't help himself anymore. Not the opening of his eyes to meet the red and golden ones of the other male. Not the major shiver that went down his spine, from head to toes. And most certainly not the moan that was finally fully voiced out.

 

Akashi separated briefly their lips, a knowing smirk on his face at the unexpected reaction of the bluenette, who was panting slightly. But he soon returned to his ministrations, a finger trailing down the side of Kuroko's neck.

 

"Ah-- Wait-- Ngh..." started Kuroko, but the taller male lunged forward and continued where their kiss left off, this time with even more  _hunger_ , even more  _desire_. While Akashi's right hand was occupied teasing softly the bluenette's neck, apparently his weak spot, his other hand moved down to encircle the small waist of the other boy, pulling him closer to his body.

 

Kuroko's hands readily when to grip on Akashi's clothes, clutching into them for dear life. No matter what, he would not surrender. Even if every nerve, every cell of his body was screaming at him to give up and let himself go, he would not. Akashi was a "Miracle". Akashi was the only "Miracle" that managed to make eye contact with him during the "Bloody Night", even though the redhead hadn't noticed at the time. Akashi was the one who set the final order to kill Ogiwara. So he couldn't... he  _wouldn't_ surrender.

 

Even if it was getting almost physically unbearable for him to continue resisting... Even if his heart was racing like it never did... Even if... Even...

 

 _More... More... More...!_ For the first time, Kuroko kissed Akashi back, catching the latter momentarily by surprise. The bluenette softly released his hold on the other male's clothes and moved his hands up to encircle his neck and touch what he always had thought as soft red strands of hair. When his fingers touched the red of Akashi's hair, it was confirmed. It was indeed soft. It was soft and so cold to the touch, due to the fresh wind that had been hitting it throughout the entire day.

 

It felt good. It felt oh so good. The cold brush of Akashi's hair on his fingers contrasting with the feverish touch of Akashi's fingers on his neck. The pleasure that rushed through his body contrasting with the loud warning alarm ringing on his head. Their hungry kisses contrastic with how their fingers touched each other so gently.

 

Everything was the  _ultimate contradiction_.

 

After minutes of continuously exchanging kisses, saliva, caresses, they finally separated their lips. They stared at each other's eyes for what it seemed an eternity without saying anything, only their hasty breathes interfering with the silence that surrounded them.

 

Kuroko carefully analyzed what the red and golden eyes of the redhead were saying at that moment. They were a confusing mess of both desire and a tinge of another emotion, stronger than the former, and the bluenette could imagine that his teal ones would probably look like that too right now.

 

"Tetsuya..." started Akashi, interrupting the silence of the night. When exactly was it that they lost track of time? The sun had only begun to set when Kuroko had woken up and now the moon shined brightly on a starry sky. Akashi motioned his hands up and cupped the red cheeks of the bluenette.

 

Was it weird of him to think that Kuroko right now, with his disheveled hair, bright red features and panting heavily, looked the most adorable thing that Akashi had ever seen? He had thought of him as cute for several times now, with the way he always looked straight to his eyes when answering his questions, or the way his eyes danced around everywhere except in his direction when he was feeling at a loss of words, or how he let his guard down enough to allow himself to fall asleep in his presence, using his shoulder as a pillow... but never to this degree.

 

Simply put, everything Kuroko did was cute in his eyes.

 

_This is the first time that I ever thought of someone else as adorable..._

 

"I'm experiencing nothing but first times with you, Tetsuya," breathed softly the redhead, looking straight into the teal of Kuroko's eyes.

 

"Eh?" softly asked the bluenette, but before he could ask what exactly that meant, a phone started to ring. They both looked in the jacket's direction, where the sound was coming from.

 

Akashi clicked his tongue (this time not internally, but in person, which sort of surprised Kuroko), and moved one of his hand away from the bluenette to rumble through his jacket's pocket. For as much as he would like to ignore the call and continue whatever moment he and Kuroko were having at the time, he knew he couldn't ignore his duties more than he already had.

 

He looked at the screen of the phone to see who was the caller, and mentally cursed Midorima for bothering him once again. He pressed the button to answer the call and angrily picked up the call. "What is it, Shintarou?"

 

_"Nijimura-san's new report has arrived. I think you... probably should see this."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "ZERO" by Ono Kenshou (our panting heavily bluenette XD)
> 
> They are such lovable fools. Akashi still hasn't managed to relate his feelings for the other male as love, and Kuroko is too busy blaming himself and Akashi for what happened in the "Bloody Night" to see that he's slowly falling for him. I don't know why, but I feel so exasperated for knowing something better than the ones directly related to it...
> 
> I did say that Midorima would have his revenge on Akashi by also cockblocking him~ Which will be Akashi's reaction next time he sees him?
> 
> For as much as I hate "50 Shades of Grey", I was listening to "Love Me Like You Do" while writing this entire chapter. Figures why...
> 
> So, let's make the count! How many of you needed to take a blood transfusion due to loss of blood caused by nosebleeds? I needed three packs... I fear that I will make my local blood bank go bankrupt by the end of this fanfiction XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	36. Wondering what would happen if I did

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with this Monday's update.
> 
> So today I wanted to make you guys a question. I know I'm far from ending Shattered Miracles, but, if my daily schedule allows, I would like to work on another AkaKuro fic. And I'll let you choose which will it be. I'll give you 3 options, and you will vote for which you would like to read first (because yes, I will do them all!). You can only vote for one.
> 
> Option A: Romantic-comedy AkaKuro (has other pairings and it's basically the GoM + Kuroko getting cursed and having to confess to their crush under some very funny circumstances due to the side effects of the curse - Kuroko, Akashi and Aomine's side effects just crack me up, hahahaha - specially Kuroko's *winks*) [Side Pairing: KiKasa, MidoTaka, AoKaga, MuraHimu]
> 
> Option B: Historical AkaKuro (with a Medieval setting, it's so tragic that you will be or crying buckets or yelling at Akashi for how much of a manipulative bastard he is - I wouldn't be surprised at all if Akashi managed to turn Kuroko into a masochistic little kitten throughout the story)
> 
> Option C: Healing AkaKuro (Akashi is the sweetest thing ever (so sweet he'll give you a sugar rush), while managing to maintain his possessiveness and sexiness)
> 
> So my dear children, which pokemon will you choose? *winks*
> 
> Meanwhile, enjoy :D

Ending the call after Midorima had finished explaining that Nijimura had send them an email, since he himself couldn't make the report personally due to work, with information regarding what they had all discussed previously, Akashi picked up his jacket and put it on top of Kuroko's shoulders, since it had gotten quite chilly already and the bluenette hadn't brought anything with him when exiting the room that morning.

 

The redhead got up and looked at the other male, extending his right hand for him to take it. Kuroko peered intently at the taller male's hand and motioned his own to take it, but he suddenly hesitated.

 

 _What the hell am I doing!?,_ admonished the bluenette in his head. That he couldn't stop Akashi from kissing him (for the third time) was comprehensible, but for him to have kissed the redhead back... that didn't make any sense! Why was he letting himself be seduced by someone he... someone he... despises? ...hates? ...should try to run away from? ...wants to make pay for what he did to Ogiwara?

 

That's all that should be running inside his head when he's together with Akashi or with any other "Miracle". Then why was he not feeling like that? Not a few minutes ago, when they were so desperately kissing, and not now, when he just blindly moved his hand to take the other male's.

 

_What exactly is it that's changing?_

 

Staring at the hand that was left hovering in the air near his own and then to the half-masked conflicted expression on the bluenette, Akashi deduced that Kuroko was once again having one of the internal conflicts that were so common to happen when he was present (though he didn't know if it happened with the same frequency when he isn't around).

 

He continued waiting for the bluenette to take his hand by his own choice, but the hesitation was making him slightly irked. At whom he couldn't really tell. It could be at Kuroko, who despite the fact that his body at least acknowledged that it was safe enough for him to fall asleep in the presence of the redhead, refused to take his hand right away. But it could also be at himself, for the fact that he hadn't really given enough reasons to the bluenette to accept him.

 

 _But why should it matter if he accepts me or not?,_ thought back the redhead.

 

He lunged his hand forward and grabbed the small pale one of the other male, pulling him up. This time, he knew who he was angry at: solemnly at himself, for starting to have conflicted thoughts. Maybe it was contagious. "We don't have time for you to be contemplating on your own. Shintarou requested my presence in the Student Council building, but since I don't have exactly the time to put you back in your room and wait for the barrier to be activated again, you'll be coming with me."

 

"Eh? Wait, Akashi-kun!" Suddenly tow-hauled by the redhead, Kuroko only had time to grab the jacket with his free hand so that it wouldn't be blown away by the wind.

 

They exited the bandstand and crossed the wooden bridge that linked the small island to land. Though they were still inside the protection of the barrier of trees that surrounded the little lake, the wind was definitely strong and cold.

 

The mixture of the still present heat in the redhead's hand holding his own and the freezing wind was making it even harder for Kuroko to try to think up an excuse, any excuse, to stop Akashi from taking him to the Student Council building. He could accept, in some roundabout way, to stay in that room in Akashi's building in Teikou, but he  _definitely_ didn't want to step even a foot inside their headquarters. Inside the place where they all reunited and discussed ahead of time their next moves and plans, not only for him, "The Phantom", but every "User" in Japan.

 

"Umm, Akashi-kun. I think I would prefer if you brought me back to that room instead of taking me with you to the Student Council building," honestly declared the bluenette, still half-conscious of the other male's hand pulling him.

 

"Is it that uncomfortable for you to come inside our main office?" asked back Akashi, peering slightly over his shoulder to see Kuroko's expression.

 

"..."

 

Reading the bluenette's expression as 'adamant', Akashi softly chuckled and turned his face back to the way they were going. "You don't have to worry. Most likely, there will only be Shintarou there, since it's already quite late. The rest of them are already in their respective dorms."

 

After having said that, suddenly something clicked inside his mind.  _So that's why Tetsuya choose to be in Seirin dorm. None of us is staying there._ There was one of the Uncrowned Kings living there, but the "Iron Heart" was almost as harmless as a fly, personality wise, and Akashi doubted that, even if he knew that Kuroko was "The Phantom", Kiyoshi Teppei would tell anyone about it. Though it slightly annoyed him that due to him staying there, Kuroko had befriended Kagami Taiga enough to be invited to his apartment and stay there until night time.

 

After that, they walked in silence. Having come out of the little forest, they followed the same path they had this morning, only in the reverse direction, and, instead of turning to the personal owned building, they motioned over to the central part of Teikou Academy, where the Student Council building had been placed.

 

When they reached the door, Akashi released Kuroko's hand and looked over at him, after having entered the building. He just remained there, staring at the bluenette. Was he testing him? To see if he would take the initiative to step inside of what he considered enemy territory by his own two feet, not by being dragged inside by anyone? Was Akashi... giving him a choice?

 

He never tried to get close to the Student Council building. Even when he was still in the middle school division of Teikou Academy, he had never tried to approach the building that the "Miracles" used at that time as their headquarters. It was the only place in the entire school he would never, under any circumstances, try to enter.

 

And right now, Akashi was giving him the choice of entering or not said building. Well, if he was talking about the redhead, it wasn't really going to be a choice. Akashi always knew what other people were going to do, and the bluenette wasn't an exception, for most part. The thing that sometimes put him outside the list was the fact that Akashi couldn't read what was inside his head. No, he didn't  _let_ Akashi read what was inside his head.

 

Kuroko gulped down and moved one of his legs forward, fear slowly starting to creep inside of him and twist his stomach. He knew he was just following what Akashi expected him to do, what he was making him do, but even though a choice had been given to him, there was only one of the options for him to take: follow Akashi and wait for him until his duties in the Student Council building were done.

 

The bluenette entered inside the building fully and looked up at Akashi, an almost neutral expression on his face. Akashi hummed in acknowledgment and moved his hand up to ruffle softly the other male's blue locks.

 

Akashi shortly after started walking once again into the upper floor of the building, where the main office was located. However, not before grabbing the pale boy's hand once again. Kuroko recoiled at the touch, but when he tried to shake him away, the redhead gave him a light squeeze to his hand, as if declaring that he didn't make any plans to let go until they were successfully inside his office.

 

It wasn't only the prickling sensation that was bothering him. For most part it was, but the strange body temperature that the redhead had was confusing to him. Akashi was the calculating type of person, but his skin was surprisingly not cold, but at the same time, not hot. It was a soothing type of warmth, one that you would expect to find on the touch of a motherly figure. Was this an indication that maybe, just maybe, Akashi was not that bad of a person?

 

While the bluenette was brooding over the matter, Akashi came to a halt in front of a closed door. If Kuroko hadn't been at least half-paying attention to the path they were following, for "future reference", he would have crashed against the redhead's back once again.

 

Akashi swiftly opened the big door and entered inside the office, pulling Kuroko softly with him.

 

"it was about time, Akashi," admonished right away Midorima, sitting on a side desk by one of the walls. He looked away from some papers on his hand and peered at Akashi. However, when he saw Kuroko with him, he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his appearance, mostly at his disheveled hair, and at the fact that they were holding hands. "You brought Kuroko with you?"

 

"Yes. I was in hope that Atsushi would still be around to ask him to put back the barrier later on."

 

"Murasakibaracchi left to go get more snacks. Since he's sulking right now, he eats more than usual," said suddenly Kise, who was half-hidden by a plant on the other side of the office. "Oh, you brought Kuroko-kun with you, Akashicchi! Woah! What's up with your hair?"

 

Surprised at the presence of the blonde, Kuroko jumped slightly at his voice, and when Kise got up from his seat and motioned over in their direction, he took a half-step backwards.

 

"As a model, I can't let a cutie like you walk around with your hair looking like that! Let me fix it for--" As soon as the taller blonde motioned his hand in his head's direction, Kuroko recoiled immediately and closed his eyes tightly. However, he never felt anything touch his head nor his hair. "Owowow! Akashicchi, that hurts~!"

 

Kuroko opened his eyes hesitantly and saw the redhead grabbing tightly Kise's wrist, who had a slight frown on his face due to the pressure on his limb.

 

"Ryouta, who said you could touch Tetsuya?" glared Akashi at the taller blonde.

 

"Eh~ You say that, but you are clearly holding his hand right now," complained Kise.

 

The hold on his hand being reminded to him, Kuroko hastily pulled his hand away from the redhead's and averted his gaze, moving his eyes to a blank spot on the floor.

 

Akashi peered at Kuroko sideway and inwardly chuckled at the soft pinkish blush on the bluenette's face that flushed even more after his following words. "Tetsuya belongs to me so I can touch him however and whenever I want."

 

If Kuroko could crawl into a hole right now, he would. Maybe he should just make one with his ability right now and hide there until Akashi was done with his business in the Student Council. Or he could simply erase his presence and turn his "invisibility" on. But since he couldn't do that, he just tried to focus his mind on something else, such as, for example, gut-punch said redhead with Ignite Pass or something along those lines.

 

"Yes, yes, whatever you say, Akashicchi." Kise walked back to his seat and grabbed the papers on top of the table, then moved away from it once again and went over to Midorima, who was apparently ignoring the whole conversation on the outside, but in fact, was paying a lot of attention to what was going around him. "Here, Midorimacchi. The report is done. Can I leave now? I wanted to go over to Kasamatsu-senpai's place and he gets mad at me if I stop by too late."

 

"Sure, Kise." The green haired male took the papers out of the blonde's hands and looked at him, a dark glint in his eyes. "But expect me to interrupt you two if there's anything along the lines of the last report in this one."

 

"Geh! Midorimacchi, you know I'm not good at writing reports," whined Kise.

 

"Then just learn how to do it already. Even monkeys can do something once they have been taught."

 

Kuroko felt a shudder suddenly ran down his spine at the mention of the word "monkeys" and he felt all the blood on his entire body go cold. On instinct, he closed his eyes tightly and clenched his fists, as if waiting for a blow to come his way.  _Don't remember! Rule number two: no remembering!_

 

"Tetsuya?" called suddenly Akashi, making the bluenette open his eyes and notice that his breathing was once again irregular and his body slightly trembling. He unclenched his fists, leaving in the palms of his hands red marks of his nails, and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

 

Kuroko looked over at Akashi, his expressionless demeanor back in place. Akashi continued to stare at him and the bluenette tilted his head slightly at it. Was the emotion that he was reading in the heterochromatic eyes of the redhead worry?

 

The door of the main office was suddenly open and two new faces appeared.

 

"Yahoo, guys~" yelled brightly Momoi, Aomine behind her picking on his ear, a bored expression plastered on his face when he muttered a dry "Sup". It was more than obvious by the countless bags in Aomine's hands that the pink haired girl had made him go out shopping with her. That explained his lack of motivation at the moment.

 

"Hmm?" Momoi looked over in Akashi and Kuroko's direction and immediately focused her gaze on the bluenette. A delighted expression suddenly popped up in her face and she started trembling, hands motioning up and opening and closing consecutively, as if she wanted to grab something. "S-S-So..."

 

"Oh no, Satsuki, don't!" warned the tanned male, as he could read in the pink haired girl's expression what she was going to do next.

 

"SO CUTEEEEEEEEEEE!" In a single jump, Momoi motioned over in Kuroko's direction and gave him a bear hug, tightening her arms around Kuroko's frail body like an anaconda killing its prey. "You're so freaking cute, Kuroko-kun! And you're so soft and fluffy! Hey, hey, can I call you Tetsu-kun? For some reason, I think it's just like breathing for me that I must call you Tetsu-kun! So can I? Please!!"

 

"..." Kuroko just remained frozen in place with the pink haired girl squeezing him half to death. How could this girl still have such monstrous strength on her tiny arms?

 

Aomine just sighed and dropped her bags in the corner of the room, passing by Kise on the way, who was just cracking up as he laughed out loud. Midorima remained his composed self, but even he seemed amused at Momoi's sudden outburst.

 

However, all of them were forgetting about someone. Aomine, Kise and Midorima felt a sudden shiver and looked right away at Akashi, who was, for lack of better words, releasing a murderous aura while watching Momoi all over the bluenette. When Aomine saw Akashi slowly lift his hand while glaring daggers at the pink haired girl, he run over in their direction, wanting to stop the redhead on whatever he was planning to do to his childhood friend.

 

Akashi put his hand softly on Momoi's shoulder, and between rubs of her cheek on Kuroko, she looked over at the redhead. The pink haired girl felt a shiver run down his spine, from head to toes, when she saw the perfect smile on Akashi's face contrasting with the dead glare of his heterochromatic eyes. "Satsuki-chan, you are squeezing him too much."

 

"A-Ah... Y-Yeah." She quickly released the bluenette and took several steps backwards, near to Aomine's encounter. "I'm sorry, Tetsu-kun. I got too excited."

 

"It's okay," answered the bluenette, finally able to breathe again.

 

"Satsuki! Learn to control yourself, woman!" admonished the tanned male.

 

"That's right, Momoicchi! I don't want to have the image of your dead body in the floor etched into my mind!" whined Kise, approaching Momoi and Aomine to certify himself that Akashi wouldn't get any other idea on his head and decide to punish the pink haired girl in any way.

 

"No way~ Akashi-kun wouldn't do that." She peered over at the redhead, his eyes still showing the remnants of a glare when he caught her looking at him. "Probably..."

 

Midorima returned to his documents, but a soft look of relief was painted on his face.

 

Kuroko was surprised at the interactions rolling around him. They all seemed to get well with each other (of course, Akashi's death glares didn't count, seeing as that was becoming a usual thing for the redhead to do, recently), something that he would have never expect from the "Miracles", a group of "Users" who only got together due to the common trait of being the first "Users" to appear and their unusually strong abilities.

 

He would have never guessed that the "Miracles" could be so...  _normal_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter is from "Can Do" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> As I said on Twitter, I don't think I will end this fic without having Akashi death glare every character, hahaha. And I just loved how Kise just ignored Akashi's claim on Kuroko.
> 
> I think the only Miracle who hasn't been death glared by Akashi is Murasakibara... I have to fix that! *winks*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	37. It's searching for a reason to fight, this imitation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with this Wednesday's update :D
> 
> The votes for my next AkaKuro are going pretty well. So if you want to help me decide which will be the next adventure Kuroko has to go through, go to the previous chapter and vote on the comments (I will wait until Friday to the conclusion) ^^
> 
> Well, enjoy :)

Midorima delivered the documents he had received from Nijimura to Akashi, who took them in his hands and motioned over to his desk, sitting down on his cushioned chair while reading the first page.

 

He quickly went through all seven pages of information ad put them down on the wooden surface of the desk. "This could be troublesome."

 

"Yes," answered Midorima while adjusting his glasses.

 

"What does the report say?" asked Aomine, sitting down on one of the sofas while rotating his shoulders, tired from carrying around almost 50 kg of bags from the center of the town back to Teikou Academy. Momoi truly knew how to use his ability for her own convenience.

 

"Hanamiya Makoto has been spotted in Tokyo International Airport, accompanied with other 5 men, who, from what Nijimura-san's 'little birds' had told him, are his henchmen. Basically, they follow his orders on anything he wishes. Knowing his ability, they're probably not doing so by their own free will, but they are a dangerous lot. It hasn't been confirmed if they are 'Users' or not, though," reported the green haired male.

 

"Having come to Tokyo after disappearing from both our and the Government's radar is a clear proof that he found something worthy of his attention," added Akashi, putting his elbows on the desk and entwining his fingers together. "Luckily, our preparations are pretty much complete. As long as everyone follows the plan, I don't expect any problems occurring in the near future. That includes you, Tetsuya."

 

"I agreed to stay with you, but I never said I would follow your plans," interrupted Kuroko, staring directly into the heterochromatic eyes of Akashi.

 

"..." The redhead simply stared back at him, trying to read what was going inside the bluenette's head while he was present in what ended up being a small reunion, with every 'Miracle' there (plus their informant), except Murasakibara.

 

"Kuroko-kun, I think you should just listen to what Akashicchi says," advised the blonde, spinning a pen on his fingers to entertain himself during the conversation.

 

"Yeah, it's your ass they're after," added Aomine. However, when he saw Akashi glaring at him, he mentally cursed his poor choice of words and tried to make a hasty attempt to correct himself. "I mean, if Hanamiya gets his hands on you, who knows what he'll use you for."

 

"Though I don't have any wishes to fall into the hands of this Hanamiya Makoto, I also don't plan on becoming your little marionette and move according to your personal devices. I have my own free will." The bluenette was speaking to everyone in the main office, but his following words were directed solemnly at Akashi. "As such, I will not fall as low as to become someone's property."

 

 _Ah, Tetsuya... You really are the best,_ thought Akashi to himself, a knowing smirk painting his features. He did tell Kuroko that he could try his best to turn the tables on him, but for him to actually play this card in the other "Miracles" presence... It seemed like the bluenette had completed the warming up and was now ready to fully enter his "game".  _However, you should know this already, Tetsuya. The more the prey struggles, the more fired up the hunter becomes._

 

"Whatever your thoughts on the matter are, it doesn't change anything. As I told you before, you will comply with what I'm offering," added the redhead.

 

"Yes, I will. But not by my own free will. Regardless of how you choose to put it, I will always be nothing more than a prisoner that you made in disguise of what you call 'protection'."

 

"That's the label you put on yourself. Not what we intend you to be."

 

"Really? From what I know, the definition of 'prisoner' is a person captured and kept confined by an enemy, or a person who is or feels confined or trapped by a certain situation. Tell me, Akashi-kun, how does that not apply to my own circumstances right now?"

 

"..." Akashi didn't answer, but he continued staring at the bluenette. What was this? What was this itching sensation he was feeling inside of him? It was almost as if he was... having fun.

 

Midorima was, for lack of better words, flabbergasted at the exchange of words going on between Akashi and Kuroko. Apparently, there was someone with enough guts to confront the redhead in a duel of words and skill enough to actually manage to make him speechless. The green haired male was starting to understand where all the curiosity (more like outright possessiveness) that Akashi felt for the bluenette had come from.

 

Midorima knew that Kuroko wasn't doing it knowingly, but right now he was only adding fuel to the fire. If the bluenette hasn't completely picked Akashi's interest on him already, he was on the verge of accomplishing it. He peered over at the other students present in the room, but he knew that if he hadn't intervened in the conversation up until now, the others probably wouldn't either. They all knew how scary Akashi could be when angered.

 

"Let's not go over to the discussion of the meaning of your label of 'prisoner' again," continued Akashi. "Though I still don't know what you find so displeasing in being with us. As I told you before, you will be granted freedom to a certain extent and you have food and a secure place to stay. What more do you wa--"

 

"But have you ever asked yourself if that's what I truly want for my life? Yes, freedom, food and shelter may make people in similar situations to my own happy, but not me. I don't want to be bound to a future that others have delineated for me. I swore to myself I would never fall into the same mistake of playing by other people's rules." Momentarily, Akashi thought he saw a remnant of hatred in the teal of Kuroko's eyes, but just as quickly as it appeared, it disappeared without a trace. "Besides, you already know what my opinion on you and the other 'Miracles' is after the last question you made me."

 

"'Last question'?" Akashi smirked at the small mistake that the bluenette made and got up from his chair, walking in Kuroko's direction. "From what I remember, my last question for you was something entirely different."

 

"...!" Kuroko blushed as he remembered the true last question that the redhead had made and what it lead to.

 

Akashi stopped in front of Kuroko and lifted his hand, touching with his finger the bluenette's chest. "Opinions change all the time. You don't truly know nor understand any of us. What you think you know is what you saw in the 'Bloody Night', which was far from being under the ideal circumstance to get acquainted with others. Whatever goals you think we want to reach by using you are totally off base, but well, I won't deny that we don't have them."

 

Kise readily averted his gaze from both Akashi and Kuroko and stopped spinning the pen on his hand. Midorima adjusted his glasses and peered to the outside scenery through the window. Momoi looked over to Aomine and saw the shadow of a pained expression on his face as he listened quietly to the conversation between the two smaller males.

 

"But you are not that different from us in that sense, are you, Tetsuya?"

 

"..."

 

"You only accepted our offer of protection because you yourself have some kind of goal that you want to accomplish. Even if that goal could be as simple as avoiding the Japanese Government from executing you, or as far-sketched as pursuing vengeance and eliminate us one by one for what happened that night," added Akashi, peering intently at Kuroko to register the tiniest bit of change on his demeanor.

 

"..." Kuroko stared back at Akashi, straight into his heterochromatic eyes, and forced himself to maintain his stance while facing him. "Like you just did, I won't deny that I don't have my own reasons for staying here with you. But of those two guesses that you mentioned, one of them couldn't be more far from what I want to accomplish."

 

 _But I will leave it to your imagination to try to guess which it is,_ is what Akashi could read in the teal of Kuroko's eyes.

 

"Having said that, shouldn't you also try to compromise with us? When two parties wish to take from each other, they agree beforehand what are the limitations of what one can offer to the other."

 

 _Don't go making this seem like a business transaction,_ mentally admonished Midorima. Though he knew that was the easiest way to come out and say it.

 

"So let's put a limit to how far we can use you and how far you can use us."

 

"..." There it was again. Kuroko couldn't understand what was going on inside the calculating mind of the redhead, but at the same time he couldn't understand his own. Why was he taking that statement as more of an offer of good will than the outright manipulation that other people would take it as. This change that was slowly growing inside of him was messing up his thoughts and he hadn't found a way to clear the mist of confusion that the redhead was inflicting on him.

 

Akashi's golden eye flickered as he saw the bluenette actually giving what he just suggested a thought. "Tetsuya, what are your limits?"

 

"I..." Kuroko gulped down hard as he looked straight into Akashi's red and golden eyes. "I, under any circumstances, will not use my ability to cooperate with you."

 

"That's all?" questioned the redhead.

 

"I will also not let you run any type of examinations or investigations on me and on my ability."

 

 _The ones I went through before are enough to last me a lifetime. No, probably my and all existing 'Users' lifetimes,_ mentally mumbled the bluenette, suppressing a shudder at the memory of what he had to experience before.

 

"That's more than fair," answered Akashi, giving a side glance at Midorima, who simply adjusted his glasses. "As for our limits... I think all us 'Miracles' will agree with me on this, but I don't think we will need any limitation. Even though you didn't really gave out your goal, as we will call it, I don't really think you would do us any harm, at least intentionally. Use us for whatever you want. However..."

 

"..." Kuroko peered intently at the redhead. It was more than obvious that Akashi would not give without taking something in exchange. He just hoped that Akashi wouldn't wind up being the type of person that when given a inch, will take a mile.

 

"However, I will impose a limitation on you. By the end of this week, when you will be moved to the new building, you will obey the rules that are set for everyone there. In the new building, I have to obey certain rules, Shintarou has to obey certain rules, so on and so forth. You will not break any rules, as long as they don't clash with the two limitations you set for this... little contract."

 

Kuroko was very suspicious of this condition. Surprisingly, it wasn't as far-sketched as he thought it would be. Though he didn't have any guarantee on that, since he didn't know any of the rules that said building had. No, he didn't even know where the building was or how it was.

 

But what other option did he have? He may not know the rules yet, but if he declined and Akashi thought up another condition that would limit him even more, that would also be troublesome.

 

Kuroko sighed and looked up again to Akashi. "...Okay. I agree."

 

Akashi hummed in acknowledgment and turned his back to the bluenette, motioning over to his desk again. He grabbed the report that Nijimura had made for them and turned back to face all the students present in the office.

 

"Now that we have reached an agreement on this matter and I have with me Shuuzou's report, I think this settles everything we have to do today. I will take Tetsuya back to my building and call Atsushi for him to put the barrier back on. You can all go back to your respective dorms, since you probably have things you must do there before the end of this--"

 

The door was suddenly opened with a bang, and Murasakibara stepped inside the office, a deep frown on his face. In his arms he was carrying a variety of snacks, from potato chips to at least 9 different types of pocky flavors. He walked over to his personal seat and dropped all the snacks on top of the table beside the sofa before furiously motioning down to sit.

 

Everyone present simply peered at him, some with a certain curiosity for seeing the purple haired giant so aggravated.

 

"U-Um... Muk-kun, is everything okay?" asked hesitantly Momoi.

 

"No... It's a disaster! A tragedy!" began Murasakibara while opening a bag of potato chips.

 

"What's wrong? Did something happen while you were out?" asked Kise, already with his eyes on the cookies with extra chocolate chips.

 

"The store where I usually buy my snacks raised the prices on ALL snacks over 15%!"

 

"..." All of the present just stared at Murasakibara, Kise doing his best to not start laughing at the purple haired giant.

 

"What? It's very troublesome for me! The now cheapest store is almost 1 km further away from Teikou than this one."

 

The blonde couldn't take it any longer, and broke down in laughter, clutching his stomach tightly as he did so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "CATALRHYTHM" by OLDCODEX (our little raiven haired male hasn't shown up recently... I have to fix that quickly!)
> 
> I absolutely LOVE to create bickering dialogues between Akashi and Kuroko, because they sure know how to deal with each other using words (well, sometimes...). Though I think that if Akashi wants to convey more than possessiveness to our sweet angel, he will also need to use some body language *winks*
> 
> I'm sorry that I ended this chapter with crack, but I just wanted to sooth down the atmosphere a little bit before the next chapter.
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	38. How low am I when I'm at my wit's end?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Did you have a good week? I worked as hell, trying to maintain a steady writing schedule while going to classes... (the only positive thing is that I learned that I don't need to study for marketing classes, because I apparently use marketing strategies while creating/planning my stories, so I already know them by instinct XD)
> 
> The votes will continue until my next update so be sure to vote (since two of the options are tied XD). So vote:  
> A) Romantic-comedy AkaKuro  
> B) Historical AkaKuro  
> C) Healing AkaKuro
> 
> Btw, I've recalculated this fic's size and arcs/intermission and... Rejoice, my children! This fic will easily go over 100 chapters, and it won't have 4 arcs, but 5!! (since the intermission explaining the Miracles + Kuroko's pasts and the "Bloody Night" is big - and important - enough to be considered an arc :D)
> 
> Oh, and since it's been a while...  
> WARNING: MAJOR CLIFFHANGER (ahahaha, I can already feel your glares... Please don't kill me... *runs away*)
> 
> Enjoy :D

Kuroko was walking in silence under the moonlight sky back to his room in Akashi's building, together with the redhead himself, who maintained his surveillance on him as usual, and the purple haired giant, Murasakibara Atsushi.

 

"Atsushi, please remind me again of why you are coming together with us back to my building?" asked Akashi, who seemed, at least to the bluenette, to be sulking about something.

 

"Ahh, so troublesome..." mumbled Murasakibara, munching on a pocky. "I want to check the barrier activated with Kuro-chin inside and outside of it."

 

"Why?" asked again the redhead.

 

"..." The purple haired giant peered sideways to Kuroko and gave another bite to the pocky. "While he was sleeping, I continuously felt a presence inside the barrier. Ah, and no, it wasn't any of us. It was something or someone that has touched my barrier before, because I kinda remember feeling it before. But you didn't let anyone inside the barrier, right, Aka-chin?"

 

"Yes, the only people who entered inside the barrier were all of us 'Miracles', Satsuki-chan... and Kagami Taiga." The redhead furrowed his eyebrows at only the mention of the taller male. "Nobody else ever stepped inside that room while Tetsuya was sleeping."

 

"Well, anyways. When Kuro-chin woke up, I never felt that presence again. Well, at least inside. There were some nights that I felt something -  _someone_ \- trying to break through the barrier. From outside." Murasakibara picked another pocky and bit on it with his lips. "Though the presence is kinda familiar to me, it doesn't feel quite right, somehow..."

 

"How so?" asked Akashi, the subject starting to catch his attention.

 

"It was like... Hmm... How should I put it?" Murasakibara picked another pocky and bumped with the chocolate covered part of the stick on his lips successively as he thought. "It wasn't like Muro-chin's presence. It was more like... Ah! Like it wasn't really human!"

 

"...!" Kuroko suddenly stopped on his track, a sudden paleness covering his features. He could feel the blood inside his veins pumping with a stronger rhythm, spreading the alarm ringing inside his head to every single cell of his body.

 

"Tetsuya?" called Akashi, peering over to the bluenette for his sudden halt.

 

Kuroko looked over at Akashi and then at Murasakibara, but quickly averted their gazes. He motioned his hand slowly and squeezed the hem of his shirt, in search for calming down his quickened heart rate.

 

Unlike what he had felt with Akashi some hours ago, he knew what this heartbeat meant very well. Fear... Dread... Panic...  **Danger...**

 

He was overcome with a sudden urge to start running. To run as fast as he could, to a far, far away place. A place where he didn't have to deal with any "Miracle" or even any "User". Preferably, it would be a place where he could completely isolate himself from everyone. Because, wasn't it better that way? If he was alone, he didn't need to think about anyone. To  _feel_ about anyone. And most of all... he didn't ran the risk of being manipulated, of being used like he previously was. Like he most likely would be in the future by the people he distrusted the most in this world.

 

Well, it wasn't like he truly had anyone he fully trusted anymore. Since the only person in this world that he gave his complete trust, and even more than that, to was already...

 

"Tetsuya, are you okay?" asked once again Akashi, getting closer to the completely pale bluenette.

 

_Go away..._

 

"Kuro-chin?"

 

_Don't get close to me..._

 

"Tetsuya?"

 

_Don't mess me up any more than I already am!_

 

_"Kuroko, I'm so glad that you called for me again."_

 

As soon as Akashi motioned his hand up to touch Kuroko, a string of black and red shadow lunged forward with an incredible speed, grazing the redhead's hand on the way to lodge itself in the wall of the building they were closest to.

 

The redhead looked sideways at the black mass, its blood-red veins pumping slightly in a confusing frenzy. He quickly looked back to the bluenette, who panted heavily as he looked at both him and Murasakibara. No, he only seemed to be looking at them, but Akashi doubted that right now Kuroko was really seeing any of them.

 

"Tetsuya, calm down," said Akashi, trying to soothe down Kuroko. He took a step forward in the bluenette's direction, but a new string of shadow suddenly appeared and lunged aggressively in his direction, craving itself in the floor near his foot.

 

"No... Don't..." His vision swaying between the dark of the night and the darkness of that 'room' that he knew so well, he took several steps backwards, only stopping when his back bumped into a tree.

 

Akashi and Murasakibara watched with half amazement, half horror as the tree began to rot, first only a few leaves starting to die but quickly spreading further into the trunk, only stopping when the entirety of the tree was consumed and disappeared into nothingness, leaving only a hole in the ground where previously the root was.

 

"Not again... Please, don't take me there again..." started mumbling the bluenette, not even conscious that he was saying those words out loud.

 

"Tetsuya, what are you talking ab--"

 

"Ogiwara-kun, please, don't make me do it again."

 

_"What are you saying, Kuroko? You were the one who suddenly called me. I only did as I was told."_

 

"I admit that I may have thought about it, but I didn't mean it. You can't--"

 

_"Shh... Don't be afraid, Kuroko. I'll make it all go away. I always have, haven't I? Be it before, be it that night, be it now, be it in the future."_

 

"No... I don't want to... Please, Ogiwara-kun!"

 

_"Kuroko, what you gave me back then, I'll repay it to you in the form of companionship, protection and love."_

 

"I don't-- You can't--!"

 

Akashi observed Kuroko as he continued his monologue, clearly talking to someone only perceptive to him. As soon as his muscles flexed with the intention to take another step forward, three more strings of black and red shadow lunged forward and made the draft of some kind of barrier, craving themselves in the floor even quicker than he could have averted them if he had indeed taken a step forward.

 

He couldn't quite put a finger on it, but Akashi had the feeling that Kuroko couldn't control his ability at times like these at all. It could be that the bluenette just didn't care enough to learn to control it, but he sensed that some other factor, some kind of external factor, was involved in that lack of control.

 

The redhead knew that Kuroko was not an idiot; he was clever and could think up a strategy and put it on motion almost as quickly as he could. So, if Akashi himself had managed to control his ability, to dominate the beast that laid sleeping inside of him, then he was absolutely sure that Kuroko could do the same, if he truly wished for it.

 

"Aka-chin... What should we do?" asked Murasakibara, munching on a new package of pocky. "Do you want me to call the others? They shouldn't be that far away, since they left at the same time as us."

 

"No... That won't be necessary."

 

It was as clear as water what Akashi had to do. If Kuroko couldn't control his ability, he would force the bluenette to do it. No matter how many times it would be needed, he would force the bluenette to take control on his ability, keep it bottled up inside of him and never let the "Bloody Night" repeat itself again.

 

Be it for the people that he had the duty to protect... Be it for the promise that he made to himself when that nightmarish night came to an end... Be it for the things that he and thousands of other people had lost...

 

_If Tetsuya doesn't submit, I'll make him submit._

 

Akashi skirted around one of the strings of shadow that were blocking his path and walked casually to Murasakibara. He looked intently to the mountain of snacks on the giant's hands and took out of his grasp a small cardboard box.

 

"Eh? Aka-chin, what are you doing?" asked the surprised purple haired giant. "You're not thinking of just standing here eating a snack while Kuro-chin is like that again, right?"

 

Akashi opened the small package and took a white-colored stick from inside its wrapping, giving it a bite with a smirk painted on his lips. "Of course not."

 

The redhead started walking forward in Kuroko's direction, munching on the stick while feinting skillfully the attacking black and red shadows that suddenly appeared at an incredible speed.

 

"You should know this better than anyone, right, Atsushi?" declared the redhead, taking another stick and putting it on his mouth to give it a bite.

 

"Know what, Aka-chin?" asked Murasakibara, not knowing what the redhead wanted to get at with either this conversation or his actions.

 

"Tetsuya can't resist vanilla. You were the one who prepared all the vanilla flavored dishes that he ate, and since he was inside your barrier, you should have an inkling to his reactions at those times."

 

"Ah..." Murasakibara looked at the small mountain of snacks in his hands and noticed that his package of Morinaga White Birch Twigs was missing. "Well, if it was me, that may work, but I don't think that Kuro-chin will be that easily convinced with food if you're the one that it's eating it."

 

The redhead smirked as he bit another mini-stick and relished on his accentuated vanilla flavor. "It's exactly because I'm the one that's eating it that it will work."

 

Murasakibara lifted slightly an eyebrow at that answer, but it was Akashi who he was talking to. The redhead's plans may seem somewhat ridiculous and with low probability of success at times, but he didn't recalled a time when Akashi was wrong when formulating them. Whatever his little machination to stop Kuroko was going to be, it was obvious that it would be the most correct action to take at the moment and it would lead them to victory.

 

Continuously averting lunging strings of shadows, Akashi continued to skillfully avoid all of them as he gained ground and got closer to Kuroko. When he got only a few steps away from him, he stopped and peered intently at the bluenette, still mumbling to whoever it was that he was talking to.

 

"Tetsuya," called the redhead.

 

"Aka--" started Kuroko, suddenly looking up at the redhead, but he bit his lower lip before he could continue whatever it was that he was going to say.

 

 _"Kuroko? What's wrong?"_ The voice inside his head,  _his_ voice, made a sudden pause.  _"Oh, isn't he that guy? The 'Miracle' or whatever he is called that appeared that night and... well, killed me, I guess?"_

 

"..."

 

_"Is he the reason why you have been so instable lately? Not in terms of your ability. Emotionally, I mean."_

 

"...No..." answered the bluenette, averting Akashi's gaze, or what he thought it was his gaze, since his vision was still continuously switching from where he was to that 'realm'.

 

"Tetsuya, calm down and think carefully on what you are doing right now. Didn't you tell Daiki that it wasn't in your future plans to cause another 'Bloody Night'?" asked the redhead, trying to soothe Kuroko as he took another step forward, avoiding the black and red shadow striking at him.

 

_"Do you want me to get rid of him?"_

 

"No, don't!" suddenly yelled the bluenette.

 

Akashi halted suddenly, peering at the conflicted expression of the smaller male. He concluded that he wasn't talking to him and took another step forward.

 

_"We should just get rid of him. Actually, we should get rid of all of the 'Miracles'. Maybe even of all of 'Users'. Isn't that what you wish for? A world where there are no abilities. Then let's get rid of them, starting with this one."_

 

"You know I condemn abilities as much as I condemn taking the lives of others."

 

_"You say that now, but that's not what happened on that night."_

 

"..."

 

_"Or are you saying that the act of taking lives is only right if it's justified by a reason? Does that mean that when they killed me, that action was justified because I was killing others too?"_

 

"I didn't mean it like that!"

 

Akashi used the opportunity when Kuroko was momentarily not seeing him again, from what he could gather, to fully approach the smaller male. A string of black and red shadow automitically charged at him, almost hitting his upper body if he hadn't used his commands to move a piece of the hard floor up to shield him.

 

"Tetsuya, stop," commanded Akashi. Since he knew that it would be useless to put his ability in it, he simply spoke the words without activating it.

 

Kuroko's vision switched back to the place where he was truly at, and when he saw Akashi's hand slowly motioning in his direction, a small dribble of blood flowing through the gash that his shadow had made on the redhead's skin, his heart thumped hard and quickly, images of both the "illusions" of that "room" and  _that_ night rushing back into his brain.

 

"No... Get away from me...!"

 

A group of shadows motioned in Akashi's direction and, this time, he knew Kuroko was talking to him due to the distressing tone of his voice.

 

Akashi probably stepped too close to his personal space (well, following that mindset, he had stepped too close to the bluenette's personal space a few times before already, including that same day), and even though the redhead didn't really enjoy to see such an afflicted expression on his face, this time he didn't had any other option than to cross it.

 

He once again used the block of hard floor as a shield to divert the shadows, the block fragmenting in small shards at the impact. Akashi was also forced to take a half-step backwards to avoid being hit by some of the shards, though he managed to command to most of them to avoid hitting him.

 

_"My dear Kuroko, for as much as I like your stubbornness, you should know when to give up. You know it better than anyone, right? Even if you manage to befriend any of the 'Miracles', or even bond with them, which I seriously doubt that it will happen, you are destined to stand in different sides of the battlefield. You're a shadow. You can't stand in the light because you will disappear if that happens."_

 

"..." Kuroko's face became even more pained at hearing those words coming out of  _him_. It wasn't like the bluenette wanted to bond with them, hell, he didn't even want to be near them. However one thing is thinking like that, another is being told. "But..."

 

_"Kuroko, my sweet little Kuroko... I know you want to deny the path that was written for you, but you can't go against it. It's dangerous for you to remain together with them. It'll be even worse for you if you stay with them. Remember what has been told to you time and time again: 'The one who brings all this to naught'."_

 

Akashi tried to approach the bluenette once again, since he wasn't again conscious of his presence. "Tetsuya, you probably can't really see me right now, but I know you can hear me." There was no reply from him, but he knew Kuroko was listening. "Whatever it is that you are being told, don't listen to it. You are free to choose for yourself on what you want to do. And I know you don't want to do this."

 

"..." Kuroko but his lip, listening to both Akashi's voice and  _his_ voice, each one mutually contradicting the other without knowing, while his vision continuously switched between the two realities. "You say that, Akashi-kun, but you never gave me a chance to choose for myself. You may think you did, but that was nothing but a manipulation on your side."

 

"Making a choice and accepting it, even if it was artificially made by others, is still better than knowing you don't have one in the first place," added the redhead.

 

"You can only think like that because you aren't in the receiving end of the manipulation. Did you ever thought about how the ones being manipulated feel when they know they are being shamelessly used for someone else's goals?" asked Kuroko, managing to catch a quick glimpse of Akashi's features between the switches.

 

_"Whatever it is that you want to choose, you can never choose them. Just like you bring about disaster to them, they are bringing instability to you. You should just give up on whatever it was that made you exit this place and go back to reality some weeks ago."_

 

"Ogiwara-kun, what you're asking of me is unfair," defended the bluenette.

 

The sentence that Kuroko spoke made Akashi lift and eyebrow. He recalled that the bluenette had mentioned that name, Ogiwara, when they were talking yesterday. He had called the "User" they executed in the "Bloody Night" by that name. But that "User" was dead. Akashi had made sure of it personally.  _So then how is Tetsuya "talking" with this Ogiwara right now?_

 

"Tetsuya, wake up from your daze and let's go back to my building. We'll put back the barrier like it was and everything can return to the same routine, at least for two more days."

 

_"Kuroko, forget about your desire to change your destiny and let's return to our routine. Leave Teikou. Let's run away together, just like we planned on doing that night. There's nothing stopping you now, right?"_

 

"After you get installed in the new building, you can return to your day classes and live like you did before. The only difference is the place where you go back to."

 

_"There's no future for you here in Teikou. There's no future for you at all until you destroy all five 'Miracles'."_

 

"if you learn how to control your ability, everything can return to normal.  _You_ can live normally, just as much as every 'User' in Teikou lives."

 

_"For as much as you would like to think otherwise, even if they knew everything you know and everything I know, they won't understand you. They won't understand us."_

 

"Shut up, both of you!" The sudden outburst of the bluenette caught both  _him_ and Akashi by surprise. "For as much as I would like to believe I can, I will never be normal. Not after what I lived through. Not after what  _they_ made me go through. And not after what  _you_ made me go through. Akashi-kun, for as much as I wish it, I'm not a normal 'User' and I'm not a 'Miracle' either. I don't fit in any of those categories. I never did and I never will. And you, Ogiwara-kun, even if you think you do, you don't understand me either."

 

"Tetsuya..."

 

_"Kuroko..."_

 

Through his cold and pale features, a clear and full of emotion tear rolled down the bluenette's cheek, falling to the floor completely cracked due to the intense pressure of his ability.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "RIMFIRE" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Please, don't kill me for ending this on a cliffhanger. Think like this: if you kill me, you will NEVER find out what happens next!
> 
> This whole AkaKuroOgi relationship is really well described in "Loves Me Not" by t.A.T.u. Listen to it and you'll understand a lot about it.  
> Lyrics:  
> "No where to turn,  
> No one to help,  
> It's almost like I don't even know myself  
> Now I have to choose  
> I don't know what to do."
> 
> I wonder if anyone will notice a little detail that lead to this scene, hehehe~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	39. Even if you have regrets, nothing is going to start

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, minna-san! Mafy's here with this Monday's release~
> 
> So, I have two announcements:  
> 1) The election has come to an end and the winner is... option A!!! My next AkaKuro will be a romantic-comedy. I'll probably start releasing it on a weekly basis in November. Just to wet your appetite, here's the synopsis of the fic:  
> "To celebrate having passed to their second year of high school, Kuroko and the other members of the Generation of Miracles meet at Kise's house. They enjoy a good evening together, chatting and eating snacks. But in the next morning, they find out they have been cursed... by magical jelly beans! And the only cure is... confessing to the person they are crushing on!?"
> 
> 2) I've open up commissions!! There's only two slots per month, and one of them has been taken already (for a MidoTaka fic), so hurry up if you want me to work on a commission (it's first come, first serve). Go to my profile page here in Ao3 to find more details ^^
> 
> Well, now back to Shattered Miracles! Let's see how our lovebirds will deal with the situation that started in the previous chapter, shall we?
> 
> Enjoy :D

Akashi stood frozen in front of Kuroko, observing as those crystal clear tears slowly flowed down from his teal eyes. For some reason, he thought those tears were beautiful, full of pureness, but, at the same time, he wasn't appreciating seeing them. They were causing his stomach to clutch inwardly and he felt in his chest an acute pain, one that was growing stronger as he continued to stand there, motionless.

 

He slowly motioned his hand up and caught with it one of the tears that fell down the bluenette's cheeks. They were hot, but didn't burn his skin like the ones he had touched during that morning when Kuroko started to lose his control on his ability.

 

Feeling the warm drop of salty water on his hand, he started to question himself if they weren't the reason why Kuroko was feeling so conflicted. He knew that manipulating or being manipulated was not that easy of a topic to discuss with the bluenette. It wasn't fair of him to manipulate Kuroko, but did he really have any other choice to deal with him?

 

They never stood under the ideal circumstances to start their relationship with the right foot. They were never presented with that opportunity. And he knew that there was nothing that he could do to change that. Akashi didn't even understand why he wanted to change that. Was it simply because that would give him ground to more easily control Kuroko? To more easily make the bluenette his? But why did he even want to make Kuroko his?

 

From what he has observed of the bluenette, he was nothing more than a young male that due to his past was broken, shattered in so many pieces that not even the person himself was being able to pick himself up.

 

 _Heh, think about what you are before you judge others,_ thought the redhead, recalling his own breaking point when his ability first manifested itself and how much he had to struggle to pick himself up and control the beast inside of him.

 

Was that where his interest for the bluenette first came from? Was it pity that he felt for Kuroko? Was he just mirroring his past self and experiences in the smaller male? He didn't even know Kuroko's past, so how could he even think that what he went through was similar to his own?

 

_All in all, what I know of Tetsuya is all by a small piece of the complex puzzle that his person is._

 

However, was his curiosity and interest in the smaller male justification enough to tie him up to him? was even only curiosity and interest that he felt for him?

 

Akashi suddenly motioned his hand up and grabbed the black and red shadow that was craved in the floor beside him, feeling his skin being immediately burned.

 

"Aka-chin!?" yelled Murasakibara, not understanding that sudden action of the redhead. He was about to take a step forward in their direction when he saw Akashi raise his other hand to order him to stop.

 

Akashi gripped tightly the shadow, the hot burning sensation on his bare skin helping him to clear his mind from all the countless questions spiraling inside his head and clouding his judgment.

 

He released the shadow, feeling his skin tingling due to the pain of the burnt piece of flesh, and motioned his two hands in Kuroko's direction. The redhead gripped Kuroko's upper arms and felt the bluenette recoil at his touch, taking a half-step backwards to bring some distance between them, together with the stronger prickling sensation that immediately run all over their bodies.

 

"Tetsuya, every single 'User' in this academy, even me and the other 'Miracles', did our best to control our abilities, independently of what it is. In that sense, all of us stand in the same stage. 'Users', 'Miracles' and whatever it is that you define yourself as... Deep down, we all have to withstand the same suffering and pain due to the knowledge that we are different from the rest of the human population. However, you are the one that is creating a line that separates us from you."

 

"I don't--" started Kuroko, but Akashi interrupted him before he could continue.

 

"Throw away whatever definitions and ideas you label yourself and others with. Throw away the things that those you were with before told you and taught you. You no longer are standing in the 'Bloody Night', you don't need to be bound to some silly sentimentalism nor the crucifix that you try to bear all by yourself." Akashi released Kuroko's arms and motioned his hands up to grab the bluenette's tear-stained face, bringing it closer to his own, and leaned his forehead softly on the other male's. "You don't need to be alone anymore so throw away all those useless ghosts that you are dragging around."

 

"I can't do that!" His vision momentarily in the real dimension, Kuroko focused his teal eyes in the heterochromatic ones of Akashi. "I thought countless times of nullifying all of my memories about my past, about the 'Bloody Night', about everything... But I can't throw it away! It would be disrespectful to those who didn't have anything to do with my own disputes and had to pay the ultimate price through their own life. It would be disrespectful for  _him_ and even to myself. It's a part of me!"

 

"Your past doesn't define you!" suddenly yelled Akashi, surprising the bluenette. He softly caressed Kuroko's cheeks, wiping the tears on the corners of his eyes with his thumbs. "Your past doesn't make who you are in the present and most certainly not who you will become in the future. Wasn't it you who told me that I shouldn't believe that things will always go according to my plans?"

 

"..."

 

"Well, let me tell you this then. Every since I met you, nothing has been going according to my plans. You may think that all of my talks with you were me trying to manipulate you, and I won't deny that I never tried to, but one way or another, you always managed to destroy my plans."

 

"..."

 

"You are the biggest miscalculation of my life. And if I go down to the bottom of the question, I have no idea what I will find there because I can only know what to expect if I know, understand or have experienced it before. But I told you that some hours ago, didn't I?" Akashi pulled Kuroko closer to him, the tips of their noses touching. "I'm experiencing nothing but first times with you, Tetsuya."

 

Akashi lunged forward only half an inch and chastely kissed the bluenette. He saw as Kuroko softly closed his eyes and more tears flowed down his cheeks from his teal eyes, wetting his fingers. He then closed his own eyes and deepened the kiss, feeling the bluenette slowly surrendering his body and once again leaning in to his touch.

 

It was only halfway through the kiss that Kuroko noticed two things. The first one being the intense taste of vanilla inside the redhead's mouth. If he recalled it correctly, it was the taste of Morinaga White Birch Twigs, a special version of Koeda chocolates for winter. He wondered how the redhead had managed to get a hold of it since they were so rare, now that winter had came to an end.

 

The other was that he no longer was able to listen to  _his_ voice. Once again, his theory that if something happened to his body in the real world, the "dream realm" would be affected was confirmed. Or it could be something even more complex than that. Something along the lines of Akashi having managed to get a hold of some part of him that made him somehow disconnect from that realm.

 

Akashi dropped one of his hands and put it around the bluenette's waist, pulling his cold body close to his own warm one.

 

"Ahh... I totally didn't need to see something like this right now..." mumbled Murasakibara between bites on one of the packages of cookies with extra chocolate chips that he had bought (he left the other one with Kise, since the blonde was almost starting to salivate from just looking at them). Seeing Akashi kissing Kuroko made him wonder when it was the last time he had kissed... no, even touched Himuro. And that thought was making him even more aggravated.

 

Akashi separated their lips (though he had to admit to himself that it was unwillingly), and supported immediately Kuroko's body when his knees buckled down, the cause being a mixture of both exhaustion and the kiss.

 

"Are you really that weak to vanilla?" teased the redhead.

 

"I don't think that vanilla was the problem here," deadpanned the bluenette, gripping his hands on Akashi's arms for support.

 

The redhead looked around him and saw that all the black and red shadows had disappeared, though the damage that they caused was very noticeable: all the plants around them were totally rotten or in the process of dying and the floor and buildings in the vicinity harbored large cracks on their surfaces. The hard surface of the floor beneath where they were standing had completely disappeared and the second layer underneath it was on display.

 

"I think we probably will need to do some repairs around this area," mumbled Akashi. When he saw the bluenette twisting his nose at that innocent comment, he cleared his throat and added, "I'm not blaming you, though."

 

"Hey, Aka-chin! Is it safe already?" asked the purple haired giant, waving one of his hands at the two smaller males.

 

 _Oh dear god, I totally forgot Murasakibara-kun was here,_ admonished the bluenette in his head. He blushed fervently at the thought that the purple haired male had seen him kissing Akashi. Well, it was the other way around, but that was not the point here.  _Can I just crawl into a hole or something!?_

 

Akashi peered at the blushing features of the bluenette and softly chuckled. "Yes, it's safe, Atsushi."

 

Murasakibara started walking in their direction, munching on a cookie. "Aka-chin, you grabbed the shadow with your bare hands. Are you okay?"

 

"Ah..." The redhead looked down at his hand and saw blood staining the fabric of the bluenette's clothes where he was holding him. He released his hold on Kuroko with that hand and put more strength on the other arm to have a look at his burned palm. He opened and closed his hand several times to test the moving ability of his member. "It doesn't look that bad, but I'll ask Shintarou to take a look at it tomorrow, just to be sure."

 

"If it hurts a lot, you should call him now," advised the purple haired giant.

 

"I don't want to interrupt him. He gets in a terrible mood when someone does so," answered Akashi.

 

 _Not as much as you,_ muttered Murasakibara in his head.

 

"Tetsuya, do you think you can walk?" asked the redhead, peering over at the bluenette, who was struggling to support his own weight on his legs.

 

"Yes, I think I can. Ah...!" As soon as Kuroko moved one of his legs forward, his knees buckled down once again and he would have fallen to the ground if Akashi hadn't grabbed him on time. The redhead sighed and put one of his arms around the bluenette's back and the other one went down to pull up the back of his knees. Akashi pulled Kuroko up in a single movement and held him like a bride. "A-Akashi-kun! Put me down! I can walk by myself!"

 

"No, you can't," answered the redhead, starting to walk while carrying the smaller male on his arms, close to his chest. "And I'm not about to stay here in the cold waiting for you to have enough strength to walk by yourself."

 

"Then at least give me a piggy back ride..." mumbled the bluenette.

 

"Well, you are with poor luck, then. Just deal with it."

 

"I already have a lot that I must deal with. Please don't add more to the list, Akashi-kun," deadpanned Kuroko, half admonishing, half feeling extremely exposed to the redhead.

 

Akashi chuckled and tightened his hold on the smaller male, already reaching his building in the more secluded area of Teikou Academy. Murasakibara was still accompanying them, walking a step behind the redhead and the bluenette.

 

"Atsushi, maybe it would be better if you checked the barrier tomorrow. Tetsuya is probably extremely tired right now and I want him to rest as soon as possible."

 

"Ah, sure, Aka-chin. Just tell me how long you'll need to reach to the room, and I'll activate the barrier after that time passes," answered Murasakibara.

 

Akashi got silent for a while, thinking. "Ten minutes should be more than enough. My building is right over there and I only have to climb the stairs to the second floor."

 

"O~kay," confirmed the purple haired giant. He stared intently at Kuroko and Akashi and then started to rumble through his snacks. "I want to ask just to be sure, but I get the inkling that I probably shouldn't mention what I saw to the others, right?"

 

Akashi peered down at the bluenette and saw the myriad of shades of red in his features, making him chuckle once again. He probably has been chuckling involuntarily way to frequently since he started interacting with Kuroko. "Yes, Atsushi. I think that would be for the best."

 

"Here." Murasakibara grabbed one of the packages and put it on top of Kuroko. The bluenette grabbed the small box and read the name: it was daifuku filled with anko, sweetened red bean paste made from azuki beans.

 

"T-Thank you," answered Kuroko, a question mark floating around him. Why was Murasakibara giving him daifuku?

 

"For tomorrow's breakfast, should I prepare it in Japanese style and include Sekihan to the menu?" asked Murasakibara, peering intently at both Akashi and Kuroko.

 

Akashi had to restrain himself from actually starting to laugh and just turned his back to Murasakibara to start walking once again, before all the blood rushed to the bluenette's face in the form of a blush. "I don't know what kind of misunderstanding you are under, Atsushi, but that was not the first time I kissed Tetsuya."

 

"Ah, is that so? Then I'll save Sekihan for another occasion. Just enjoy the daifuku."

 

"Sure. Give us a few more weeks and then you can cook it," teased the redhead. Kuroko glared at Akashi and elbowed him in the stomach, on the verge of dying from embarrassment. He peered down at the bluenette, arching slightly an eyebrow. "That hurts, Tetsuya."

 

"Please... Just shut up, Akashi-kun..." shyly said Kuroko, covering his massive blush with the palm of his hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> For those who don't know, Sekihan is a Japanese dish made of rice and azuki beans, which is usually served in special occasions, such as birthdays, weddings and other important ceremonies. And since in the timeline we are in the beginning of the school year (around April-May), it's not their birthday that they would be celebrating about *winks* (Do you see the little connections? That's where you should focus on when reading this fic: the small details!)
> 
> I seriously love when Akashi teases Kuroko, they are adorable when bickering <3
> 
> In the next few chapters, I'll be centering around the other pairings of this fic, and you'll get an inkling about a lot of things going around. (KiKasa fans, get ready to squeal and fangirl in the next chapter XD)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	40. Break it up, we have to turn the clock back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with this Wednesday's update (though it's not exactly Wednesday over here yet...)
> 
> I have been quite tired lately, having to wake up at awful hours in the morning to go to my classes... But what motivates me through the day is the fact that when I get home, I can continue writing this angsty little(?) story and laugh at your reactions to it XD Thanks a lot for all the support; without it, I wouldn't have reached this far ^.^
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

Kasamatsu Yukio was turning off his TV when he heard the bell ring. He rolled his eyes immediately. There was only one person in the entire universe who would think of visiting him at this god damned hour of the night.

 

He put down the remote control on the small table in front of the sofa and walked over to the front door. He sighed once and only then moved his hand to open the door.

 

"Yes, I see. Oh, wait a sec, Murasakibaracchi! Hi, Kasamatsu-senpai<3 I've come to give you a little nighttime visit~ Let me just finish this phone call and you can have my attention all you want!"

 

 _I would rather not,_ mentally mumbled the black haired male, but he still made way for the blonde to step inside his apartment.

 

"Then, everything is in order already and the damages were only superficial. Is Kuroko-kun already inside the barrier?" continued Kise, still talking on the phone. "...Okay. Did Akasshicchi mention anything more? No, wait, how did Akashicchi even stop Kuroko-kun again? ...Eh~ What do you mean, it's a secret? I think all of us should know, just in case it happens again and Akashicchi's not around. ...Why would he not want us to do it? ...Ahh, geez! Fine, I get it! I'm already in Kasamatsu-senpai's place so I'll hang up now, okay?"

 

Kasamatsu peered from his seat in the sofa to Kise as he walked around the room while talking on the phone with, from what he could understand, Murasakibara Atsushi, another member of the "Miracles".

 

Kise ended the call and motioned over to the sofa, dropping his body heavily on the cushions. He sighed and put his phone back on his pants' pocket.

 

"You sure seem busy..." said the older male as he noticed the tired appearance of the blonde.

 

"Eh~ What's this? Have you been feeling lonely because I haven't been spending as much time with you as before?" asked Kise, a glint of hope in his eyes.

 

"What are you talking about, you idiot!?" admonished Kasamatsu, kicking Kise's leg angrily. "I mean, what are you even doing here at this hour? I told you time and time again to not show up here this late in the night, didn't I!?"

 

"You say that, but every time I show up this late or even later, you always let me in. Though you kick and punch me more when I do~" smiled the younger male.

 

"I do that because you deserve it!" replied angrily the black haired male, but he soon calmed down and averted the blonde's gaze. "And I only let you inside because if I ignored you, you would just stand in front of the door for hours. And I don't like to abuse dogs or any type of animals."

 

"You still think of me as an animal? Does that mean that you are dating a dog? I didn't know that you were into zoophilia, senpai~" teased the blonde.

 

"I-Idiot!" stuttered Kasamatsu, blushing madly. "Of course I know you're not a dog! I'm not dating you because of that! It was only a comparison! And how come an idiot with terrible grades in everything except English knows a word like that anyways!?"

 

"Hmm~ Does that mean that you're dating me because you have another reason? Is that your way of saying that you love me, senpai?" teased further Kise, enjoying the older male's blushing expression that grew even redder at his words.

 

"T-T-That's not it..." defended Kasamatsu, his stuttering growing worse.

 

"Eh~ Senpai, are you the type of man that dates another man without loving him?" Kise feigned a shocked face and motioned his hand up to cover his mouth. "Don't tell me you are only after my body?"

 

"I-Idiot! If someone's after the other's body in here, it's you!" argued back the black haired male.

 

"Really? I've been repeating day after day how much I love you since over a year ago, when we met." The blonde got closer to his senior and leaned over him. "And I've been quite patient, haven't I? Every time you told me to stop, I did."

 

_I've been so patient that all I've managed to do so far was cup a feel or two a dozen of times and we kissed so little I can count the times with one hand..._

 

"Y-You did, but... Ugh..." Kise closed their faces even more, peering intently at his blue eyes, and Kasamatsu was starting to feel even more embarrassed. Those golden eyes of the blonde affected him in strange ways, especially when he looked at him all puppy eyed. He clenched his teeth and shoved the blonde's face away from him from his hand. "Ah, geez! You're too close! Never heard of personal space!?"

 

"What do you need personal space for with someone you're dating?" asked innocently Kise, tilting slightly his head.

 

"You need a fucking lot of it!" Kasamatsu sighed, already feeling tired from dealing with his mate's denseness. "Seriously, I don't understand what those fangirls of yours see in you..."

 

"Eeeeeh!? how can you not know!?" Kise got up from the sofa and put himself in front of his senior, a proud look on his face. "I'm cool! I'm a popular model of a very famous magazine, Zunon Boy! And I'm one of the most powerful 'Users', a 'MIracle'!"

 

"You're only all brawns and no brains, though. Kindly remind me who it was that had to beg me to give him some lessons in Math because he was on the verge of miserably failing his high school entrance exams?" asked Kasamatsu, ignoring completely the blonde's blatant boasting.

 

"Geh! I had to ask you because I didn't have anyone else that could help me! I swear I tried to do it by myself and I even resorted to ask Akashicchi for help at a certain point, but you know how scary he is!" whined the taller male, suppressing a shudder when he remembered the Spartan regiment he had to go through in the one day where he managed to convince Akashi to tutor him in some subjects. "If I hadn't used all the cards in my grasp, I would have never fulfilled all of the terms in my agreement with you!"

 

"So you just asked the person who forced you to make that agreement in the first place for help?"

 

"What did you expect me to do? I'm not mature enough to just calmly think about how I should deal with all the steps that will make me have the person I'm in love with!" Kise crouched down in front of Kasamatsu and put his hands on each side of the smaller male's legs on the sofa. "I was desperate at the time! We only have one more year to be together so I had to rush things the most I could!"

 

"What is it that you see in me that makes you think like that?" asked Kasamatsu, averting the blonde's gaze with a pained expression on his face. "I mean, I shouldn't even be here in Teikou Academy anymore. I'm only still here because you convinced Akashi to let me stay. Besides, the me that you feel in love with ceased to exist the moment I stopped being a 'User'. So your attachment to me should have been broken the moment I lost-- The moment my ability was stolen..."

 

Kise suddenly got up and grabbed the black haired male's face, closing their distance to stare deeply into the other male's blue eyes. "Senpai, do you want to see me getting angry?"

 

"..." The smaller male bit his lower lip while continuing to avert the blonde's stare on him. "I'm only saying the facts as they are."

 

"I thought that after all this time, I had managed to convey my feelings to you. But I guess I was wrong..." smiled Kise with a sad and pained expression. "I may have fallen in love with you before he stole your ability, but I don't love your ability, I love  _you_. You, Kasamatsu Yukio, as a person, as a man, as a human being, not as a 'User'. I could have cared less if you are a 'User' or not! You probably wouldn't have gone through all that happened if you weren't one in the first place..."

 

Kasamatsu peered sideways to the downcast look of the taller male and sighed. "Do you still feel guilty for what happened last year? You know perfectly well that I never blamed you for what happened between me and Haizaki."

 

"It doesn't matter if you blame me or not! What happened back then was my fault... Ah...!" Kise abruptly looked up and observed the pained look on Kasamatsu's face while he stared at him. "No, that's not what I meant! I swear I'm not with you out of guilt! I love you, Kasamatsu-senpai. Just because you're not a 'User' at the moment--"

 

"I'll never be a 'User' again, Kise," smiled faintly Kasamatsu.

 

"You don't know that yet! I'll find a way! I promised you I would find a way to take your ability back from Shougo-kun. And... You were the one who told me that I can have the word 'revenge' in my dictionary!" desperately backed up Kise.

 

"I did told you that, Kise, but..." Kasamatsu motioned his hand up and ran his fingers softly through the blonde strands of the other male's hair. "I don't need you to apply 'revenge' on others because of me."

 

"But I--"

 

"Ah, shut up with it already!" The black haired male lunged his head forward and violently bumped his forehead in the blonde's.

 

"Ouch!" yelped the blonde, clutching his forehead with one of his hands.

 

"I'm slowly getting used to live without my ability again. I wasn't born with it in the first place, so it's just like I'm returning to how I used to be before I came to Teikou. Besides, even though Haizaki stole my ability, that doesn't make less of me as a person. So stop torturing yourself because of me, you idiotic dog!"

 

"Senpai... Senpai!!!" Kise lunged forward and hugged the black haired male tightly in his arms. He relished in the warm temperature of his body, the temperature that the blonde knew so well and that remained the same even after the other male had his ability stolen. "Hey, Senpai... Can I kiss you?"

 

"..."

 

Kise peered sideways and saw the red blush that colored the entirety of his senior's face, even reaching at his ears and the back of his neck.

 

"Y-Yes..."

 

"Hmm~ So even though you deny it, you really do love me, Senpai~" smiled happily the blonde.

 

"S-Shut up and just do it already!" yelled angrily Kasamatsu, the blush on his features getting even more accentuated, making Kise chuckle.

 

"Yes, yes~ I'll do it right away<3"

 

Kise slowly moved his face forward and softly pressed his lips on the older male's warm ones. He wrapped his arms around Kasamatsu's back and just relished on how he seemed to fit there so nicely, almost as if he was meant to be wrapped around by his arms. Kise felt the black haired male clutch his clothes, bringing them even closer to each other.

 

_Ah, damn it... It's been a really long time since I kissed Senpai... I don't think I'll be able to control myself if he keeps acting this cute in front of me!_

 

The blonde put one of his knees on top of the sofa, between Kasamatsu's legs and deepened the kiss, joining their bodies even closer. He treaded his hand down the older male's chest, stopping near the hem of his shirt.

 

"Ngh!" When Kasamatsu felt the blonde tugging his shirt to pull it up, he immediately broke the kiss. "W-What do you think you're doing!?"

 

"Awww~ C'mon, Senpai! It's not like you'll lose anything if I cup a feel or two~"

 

"This is not a matter of losing or not! Ngh...!" Kasamatsu tried to suppress whatever embarrassing sound was about to come out of his mouth as soon as Kise touched his skin directly, giving light caresses to it. "Hey! I told you to stop it!"

 

"What's the harm? You say you don't like it, but you're not really resisting either, right, Kasamatsu-senpai..." said the taller male, slyly licking the length of his senior's neck as he pulled the shirt even more up to expose his chest with his hands.

 

"Ah-- Wair, you idi-- Ngh...!" The black haired male tried to push the blonde away from him, but he had no strength whatsoever in his limbs so he just clutched at the other male's clothes as he motioned down on him.

 

"Just relax and let me have a small treat. Senpais should give rewards to their kouhais after a day of hard work, isn't that right?" added Kise, sticking his tongue out once again to lick the hot and supple flesh of the male underneath him. "And it's not like I'll show you a bad time, either~"

 

"Aah-- Geez, you stupid dog!" admonished Kasamatsy, trying to stop his body from shivering at the feeling of Kise's fiery tongue run through his increasingly feverish skin. He arched his head back and looked up at the ceiling, trying to deprive himself from staring at the blonde's ministrations on his body. "Fine, do whatever you want! But hurry up and do it! I want to go to bed!"

 

"Patience is a virtue," answered Kise, in between small bites on the pinkish nipple of the older male. "And if you want to go to bed, I'll obligue you personally~"

 

"Don't try to sound - ahh! - smart on me... It doesn't suit you...! Nggh..." panted the smaller male. "And when I said 'go to bed', I meant to sleep, you idiot!"

 

"Eh~ Wouldn't it be better to explore the other functions of a bed? Only sleeping in it is boring." Kise bit one of the nipples and softly pulled it with his teeth, relishing on the moan that escaped the other male's mouth and the shiver that ran down his whole body.

 

"I personally enjoy... using the bed solemnly to sleep, thank you very much," said the black haired male in between heavy pants.

 

"Hmm~ But, during those nights when I can't come to see you or those weeks that I have to go away due to my work as a model or as a 'Miracle', don't you get lonely and..." Kise let his hand slip down through the hot skin of the smaller male and stopped it on top of his crotch. "...enjoy the nightly pleasures that the covers of a bed can hide all by yourself?"

 

Kasamatsu blushed fervently at the insinuation of the blonde and motioned his fist forward, gut-punching the blonde.

 

"Ouch!!" cried Kise, bending over his stomach to clutch the spot where the other male had hit him. "Senpai, that hurts~!!!"

 

"Just be glad that I didn't kneed nor stepped on that thing standing up in the middle of your legs!" yelled angrily Kasamatsu, getting up from the sofa and pulling his shirt down while the blonde was busy dealing with the pain on his stomach.

 

"You're so mean, Senpai~"

 

"It's your fault for acting like an asshole!" Kasamatsy angrily walked to his room and stopped at the door, looking behind at Kise while gripping the door's handle. "Go back to your room! I don't feel like looking at your fucking face at the moment!"

 

"Eeeeeeeh!? Senpai, you can't be--" Kasamatsu closed the door harshly and Kise could hear the sound of it being locked from inside. He quickly motioned over to the door and knocked on it. "Senpai! I'm sorry! I won't do it again! Please open the door!"

 

"Shut up and go away! I want to sleep!" yelled the other male from the other side of the door.

 

"I won't go away until you open the door!"

 

"Then just camp out there! It wouldn't be the first time! And by what I see, it won't be the last either!" added Kasamatsu.

 

"Geez... You're so mean, Senpai..." muttered quietly the blonde, leaning his back on the wooden door and sliding down to sit in the floor. "Good night, Senpai..."

 

Kise bumped his head softly against the door and smile faintly, when he thought he had heard the murmur of a 'Good night, Kise' coming from the other side of the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "RIMFIRE" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Did you enjoy this little KiKasa moment? XD
> 
> In terms of teasing, I think Akashi maintains his first spot as the most skilled, but Kise is slowly getting there (although he's clumsy about it and angers Kasamatsu more times than what not, ahaha)
> 
> [Commission]  
> Slot 1: MidoTaka  
> Slot 2: (open)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	41. There is little time left

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with this Friday's update :D
> 
> First of all, I have to apologize to all of you. I will become the most hated person in the planet, no, in the universe after this chapter... In my defense, I can only say: "Blame it on my sick and twisted brain and those that made it become like that."
> 
> Well, enjoy (if it's even possible to...) *runs away to go cry in a corner*

Takao was humming a song, an old favorite of his from a band that he has been following since their indie days. He busied himself finishing preparing his late night snack, in between glances at the front door of his apartment.

 

He was taking a glass from the cupboard when he heard the front door's bell ringing. He couldn't help but smile at the so expected sound and, mostly, at the so expected visit. He motioned his hand down with the glass and put it on the countertop, but he apparently miscalculated the distance and let the glass slip from his grasp.

 

"Oh, shit!" The glass motioned down in the floor's direction and shattered at the impact. "Ah... Shin-chan, just come inside, the door's not locked!"

 

Takao squatted down to pick the shards of glass and heard the front door opening, together with the characteristic sound of the green haired male's steps.

 

"Takao?" called Midorima, not finding the raiven haired male anywhere to be found.

 

"Over here, Shin-chan~" answered Takao, waving his hand up to signalize his location on the kitchenette's area to the taller male.

 

Midorima motioned over to the other male's encounter and peered over at him, raising slightly an eyebrow when he saw him cleaning the broken glass. "You sure have been getting clumsy lately, Takao. Want me to check your lucky item from Oha Asa for tomorrow?"

 

"Ahaha, it's not needed, Shin-chan. Knowing Oha Asa, I would probably have to carry around something ridiculous for the entire day, so I'll politely decline your offer," answered the smaller male, trying not to laugh at the green haired male, for his lucky item of the previous day had been bunny ears. And, of course, Midorima walked all day with them on his head.

 

"Need help?" asked Midorima.

 

"No, thanks~ Just sit wherever you'd like. I already finished preparing our little snack and I'm almost done cleaning up this mess."

 

"Just don't cut yourself with those shards," advised the taller male.

 

"Hmm~ Maybe I should~ You haven't paid me almost any attention lately," whined teasingly the raiven haired male. "Shin-chan, you're starting to neglect your boyfriend. What would you do if I cheated on you because you made me feel lonely~?"

 

"Hmph! Yeah, right. You probably would think of breaking all of my lucky items before even resorting to cheat on me."

 

Takao looked up in Midorima's direction and smiled brightly. "Hehe~ That's true!" He got up with the pieces of the broken glass on his hands and put them on the trash can, clasping his hands together to shake any small piece off of his hands. "Okay, I'm done~ Today's menu is Anpan, served together with this apple tea that Ootsubo-san recommended me. He said it was Turkish or something like that."

 

"You call it 'menu', but it's just a late night snack," corrected Midorima, making space in the sofa for the raiven haired male to sit down next to him.

 

"Geez, don't be such a party pooper!" Takao brought the food over to the small table and sat down, almost gluing himself to the taller male. "Let's just enjoy the night and the food, okay?"

 

Midorima adjusted his glasses, peering over to the Anpan in front of them. He then looked over at the raiven haired male, already enjoying one of the red bean paste filled sweet breads with a wide smile painted on his face. The green haired male could only softly smile at the sight in front of him.

 

He lunged his hand forward and grabbed one of the Anpan, giving it a bite and enjoying the sweetness of the red bean paste.

 

"Ah, pass me the tea, Shin-chan," asked Takao.

 

Midorima leaned over to the table again and picked up one of the glasses with apple tea in it, motioning it over in the raiven haired male's direction.

 

"Thanks~" The smaller boy moved his hand up to grab the glass, but when he approached the cup with it, he missed it and grabbed only the air. "Ah..."

 

Midorima frowned at Takao's actions. "Takao..."

 

"..."

 

"Have you been getting worse again?" asked softly the green haired male.

 

"..."

 

Midorima sighed, feeling slightly exasperated. He put down the glass on the small table and lunged his hand forward, putting it on top of the raiven haired male's forehead. "You've got a fever again! I thought your body temperature was a little bit high when you sat next to me, but... You fool! Why didn't you say anything!?"

 

"I didn't want to worry you... You've been very busy while dealing with your work on the Student Council building, so I-- Ouch!"

 

The green haired male bumped his hand softly in the smaller male's head, frowning. "Are you an idiot or something!? Tell me these type of things the moment I walk in! Do your eyes hurt? Are you feeling bad in any other place? Did you take your medicine already?"

 

"Shin-chan, calm down~" interrupted Takao. "I'm not feeling that bad. And so what if I have a fever? Just use your body to make me sweat it off~"

 

"This is not the time to be joking around, Takao," admonished Midorima, getting up from the sofa. "Do you still keep your meds in the same place?"

 

"Ah, no, wait! I'll go get them!" intervened Takao.

 

"Just be there quietly and drink the apple tea! When you have fevers, you should maintain your body hydrated. I'll go get your meds. And, Takao... if I find out that you haven't been taking them, expect me to give you a very stern lesson on why it's important for you to take your medicaments every day."

 

"Ugh..." The raiven haired male readily averted his gaze, looking at the glasses placed on the small table. "I-I only forgot to take them occasionally..."

 

"You call this 'occasionally'?" asked the green haired male, the frown on his face even more accentuated as he took out of a drawer a small flask full of pills. "It's exactly like I remember seeing it! And I've seen it almost three weeks ago! It's no wonder you are feeling bad!"

 

"Geh... I've been feeling pretty well lately, so I thought I could just take less of them..." shyly answered Takao, averting once again the admonishing gaze of the taller male.

 

Seeing the pained and sad expression on the other male, Midorima sighed once again and walked over in his direction, sitting beside him. "Takao, you know what will happen if you stop taking your medication, right?"

 

"..."

 

The green haired male grabbed Takao's hand and put the flask with the pills on it, squeezing his hand with the flask in the middle. "I don't want to lose anyone else, Takao. I don't want to lose  _you_ because of a stupid illness that you can still fight against with the help of this medicament that I created especially for you."

 

"'That I can't still fight against'..." repeated softly the raiven haired male. "Does that mean that there will be a time when even the meds won't be enough?"

 

"..." Midorima adjusted his glasses and looked away from the other male. "There's still a lot that we don't know about your illness. We can't be sure that the meds will work 100%, but we also can only find that out if you don't stop taking them."

 

"So all in all, I'm only a specimen where you can test the meds on..." muttered Takao, a downcast look on his face.

  
"Fool!" admonished Midorima. "If you were only a specimen, then I would have stopped making the medicament the first time it failed! But didn't I keep trying, adjusting it according to what you told me that felt more comfortable and had fewer side effects on your body?"

 

"Yeah, but... Who knows if other 'Users' won't develop the same illness as I?"

 

"Tha's a possibility, I won't deny it. But there are so few 'Users' whose ability is based on a particular organ of their bodies that the probability of that happening is less than 5%."

 

"Heh, your way of trying to comfort me isn't going very well, Shin-chan~" added the raiven haired male, smiling faintly.

 

"I'm sorry if I'm not as skilled as Akashi with my words," said Midorima sulking, adjusting his glasses.

 

"Buwahahaha! Nobody talked about Akashi-san here, though," pointed out the smaller male.

 

Was Midorima really that mad at the head of the "Miracles" for having dumped a lot of work on him for these past few weeks? Well, Takao wasn't really that happy to have to spend less time with the green haired male, either. Since he couldn't even predict if his illness was going to get worse the next day, he wanted to spend all the time that he was feeling well together with Midorima. Though, of course, he would never voice that desire out, for he knew that it would trouble the other male.

 

That's why he just preferred to ignore the whole illness thing and just focus on the time he could spend and enjoy with his partner. He ignored the fact that his body was slowly starting to not function properly... He ignored the fact that he could not even last enough time to graduate together with his Shin-chan...

 

"Hey, Shin-chan... Will you stay for the night?" asked the raiven haired male, looking up shyly to the taller male.

 

Midorima adjusted his glasses and squeezed the other male's hand tighter. "Of course, you fool. Who will look after you if I'm not beside you? I'm sure you won't be able to get up from bed tomorrow if I don't put you back in form."

 

"Haha! I think I would prefer not being able to get out of bed in the morning because you fucked me senseless the previous night~" teased Takao.

 

"F-Fool..." Midorima looked away, a pink blush softly painting his features. "Hurry up and take your meds with the tea, so that you can rest."

 

"Hehehe~ Sure thing!" happily answered the raiven haired male, opening the small flask in his hand to take out of it one of the multi-colored pills.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "CATALRHYTHM" by "OLDCODEX".
> 
> I have to be honest, I'm quite scared of what may happen to Takao... If Akashi doesn't kill Midorima first due to his cockblocking and breaks our MidoTaka couple apart, then it may be Takao's illness doing it... *runs off to a corner while crying desperately*
> 
> Just to lift your spirits a bit (especially for those who like it), the next chapter will be centered on a possible new pairing for this fic, AoKaga. It's not confirmed yet, though! This story is HUGE and the scenarios and events can change to another direction as quickly as the weather! (that's why I basically gave up on trying to plan things a lot ahead on time - nothing is guaranteed in this fic)
> 
> [Commissions]  
> Slot 1: MidoTaka  
> Slot 2: (open)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	42. Connecting the trembling time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, minna-san! Mafy's here! Did you all have a good weekend?
> 
> In this chapter, we will have the beginning of a possible(?) new pairing tag for this fic. So let's watch over their growing relationship and see if it goes as I want it to go, okay? (Yes, I may be the writer but I have absolutely no control on the characters...)
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

"Dai-chan! Hurry up!" yelled Momoi to the tanned male, who walked leisurely some meters behind her. "I have some things I have to check for the Department of Abilities and 'Users' tonight!"

 

 _Ahh... That's right, Satsuki started working under Nijimura last week,_ muttered Aomine in his head, adjusting the weight of the tons of bags on his hands.

 

"If you're that busy, then why did you invite me..."  _More like threatened,_ mumbled the taller male on his head once again, "...to go out shopping with you?"

 

"Every girl needs to go binge-shopping every few months, you know?" smirked the pink haired girl, turning on her heels to face forward again.

 

"So you made poor little me your slave for the entire day while you jumped from store to store, when on most of them you just walked around trying every fucking piece of clothing available on and then not buying any of it?" pointed out Aomine, a bored and, most of all, sulking look on his face. "You know that I have classes, right?"

 

"You're not fooling anyone, Dai-chan! As a 'Miracle', you are exempt from going to classes every time that it's needed. Besides, even if you weren't, you would most likely skip them to go to the school gym or to the street court to play basketball," counterattacked Momoi.

 

"Ugh..." Why did he even bother to try to give such a sloppy excuse to Momoi Satsuki, known as 'The Book', a 'User' whose ability could rival against a super computer in terms of both memorization and research? The girl was basically a walking encyclopedia on every subject that has been explored, and her research skills were a bonus that came with the perfect memory.

 

Shortly after Aomine arrived to Teikou Academy on his first year of middle school, he soon found out that his childhood friend, Momoi, also had  _awoken_ as a 'User', and a powerful and useful one at that. Akashi, the head of the 'Miracles', had seen the prospects of having her work with them right away, and decided to appoint her to the Student Council as one of Nijimura's temporary 'little birds'.

 

Two and a half years later, she has now been permanently appointed to work for the Department of Abilities and "Users" as the newest secretary, and "little bird" on part-time only, of Nijimura Shuuzou, the Superintendent-Chief of the organization.

 

Aomine had had a serious arguing session with Akashi because of that. The Department of Abilities and "Users" wasn't exactly the safest of "User"-related organizations to work on, since they had to go to the field for research purposes a lot of times through infiltrations and other methods that sometimes weren't the most ethical ones. However, Akashi had managed to soothe down his worries with the vindication that she had always been successful in her missions, even the most risky ones, and the pink haired girl herself walked to work in the organization. And when he heard the same very words come out from Momoi herself, the only thing he could do was shut up and pray that nothing bad would happen to her.

 

_I sure wouldn't be able to take it if I lost another childhood friend..._

 

The two students arrived to the main hall of Touou Dorm and entered the building, Aomine accompanying the pink haired girl all the way to the front door of her apartment in the female section of the dorm, so that he could drop her bags there.

 

"Thanks a lot, Dai-chan! I owe you one~" added Momoi, smiling brightly at the tanned male.

 

"Sure, sure... Just how many times do you think I fell as low as to be your slave for a day during all these years?" asked Aomine while picking on his ear and looking over the other way. "One, two... It's been so many times I've already lost count."

 

"Oh, Dai-chan~ You say that, but I know you actually enjoy walking around with me!" teased the pink haired girl.

 

"'Sure do... if it's in the lingerie store," counterattacked the taller male, a sly smirk on his features.

 

"Your bad habits sure are starting to kick in again. Just don't get caught again in a trap because of a gravure book with Horiuchi Mako in it," admonished Momoi.

 

"It's not Horiuchi Mako-chan, it's Horikita Mai-chan!" corrected immediately Aomine. "There's a real big difference between them! And by 'big', I mean their boob sizes."

 

Looking at the tanned male with a blank face, Momoi grabbed the door knob and started closing the door. "Of course, Dai-chan. Good night. And don't play until too late."

 

"Are you my mom or what?" asked teasingly the taller male, turning on his heels to go back the path he had come from.

 

He walked back to the male division of the dorm and went over to his apartment, crossing by some other students on his way. Reaching his apartment, he lunged his hand up to unlock the door with the key he took from his pants' pocket, but he came to a halt. He looked down and stared intently at his hand, a frown on his features.

 

"Tsk!" Clicking his tongue, he unlocked the door and furiously opened the door, walking with heavy steps to the inside of his apartment without closing his apartment's door. He lunged forward to his bedroom and grabbed the basketball on the floor and motioned once again to the door, exiting his apartment afterwards, this time closing the door, but not bothering to lock it.

 

-.-

 

Panting slightly at the continued handling on the ball, Aomine wipes the sweat on the side of his face with the back of his hand. Shooting in the basket's direction, the ball bounced on the rim and, luckily, entered inside it.

 

He looked at the ball as it bounced on the floor of the street court of the neighboring area of Teikou Academy, and put his hands on his knees, bending his back slightly to catch his breath.

 

Once again, something was missing. Every time he played basketball, be it alone, in the school gym or on the street court, be it against other players, on one-on-one or on a made ahead team, something was always missing. But what was it?

 

Ever since  _that_ day, two years ago, something inside of him was missing. A part of him had been cut off of him. And the thing that bothered him the most was that he didn't even know what that was. No... it wasn't that he didn't know. It was just that he couldn't remember.

 

On  _that_ day, he suddenly woke up in a hospital bed. He had a broken leg and three completely crushed ribs, one on the right side, the other two on the left, and apparently he had been in a coma for three days due to excess of usage of his ability. Momoi was also in a similar situation, but not due to the same reasons: she had a severe concussion on her head and had to be operated due to a small burst vein inside her brain.

 

When Akashi and the other "Miracles" came for him, to question him about what had happened, Aomine came to realize that he didn't remembered anything from one week previously to the day he entered the coma. Actually, when he thought more about the subject, he noticed that there were a lot of bits of his memory that were missing and others very fuzzy and clouded.

 

After Momoi also came out of her coma, one and a half weeks after Aomine did, she was in the same situation that he was in: she didn't remembered anything about the accident and a lot of her memories were or missing or fuzzy.

 

The case was left open, since there were no witnesses on what truly happened on  _that_ day, and the unconscious bodies of the two students had been found by two police officers in the same street court where he was playing at the moment, after the police station had been contacted by an unknown source about a fight going on, which was later concluded to be, by the Department of Abilities and "Users", a possible planned attack by a secret organization made of non-registered "Users".

 

Non-registered "Users" are the "Users" that  _awoke_ and weren't collected by Teikou Academy on time and were caught by others or choose to go to other types of non-governmental organizations aka the "less savory organizations" that the Department of Abilities and "Users" kept an eye on.

 

The unknown source that contacted the police was investigated, but all they could find was an abandoned cell phone that was completely broken and the number that it had been registered with was under a fake name.

 

So, even though almost two years have passed since then, no one in Teikou or its affiliated organizations knew what happened to both Aomine and Momoi nor the ones that attacked them.

 

Aomine motioned over to the ball and picked it up. He peered over to his hand and closed it, forming a fist. He frowned at the sight, starting to feel the same sensation of the beginning of a huge headach form in his head that he usually felt whenever he tried to connect what that gesture was about and what it truly meant to him.

 

"Fuck!" The tanned male angrily slammed the ball against the floor and punched his closed fist in the pole of the basket.

 

_What is it that's missing? 'Who' is it that's missing?_

 

"That's a lot of repressed anger you're holding there," said a sort of familiar voice from the other side of the wire railing that surrounded the street court.

 

Aomine readily looked in that direction and recognized the redhead that was motioning in his direction with a basketball in his hands as the friend that came to visit Kuroko some time ago and was present when the bluenette lost control on his ability, Kagami Taiga. He knew almost nothing about the other male; only that his ability was similar to his own in terms of type and that he had monumental guts, for he had dared to confront Akashi when he made his little visit to the bluenette (though he had serious doubts he would pull the same stunt any time soon due to what happened back then).

 

"What are you doing here?" asked Aomine, raising slightly an eyebrow.

 

"I could ask you the same," answered Kagami, coming inside the street court into Aomine's encounter. "But I think that being in a street court with a basketball is self-explanatory enough."

 

Kagami dropped his bag near the basket's pole and put his ball down next to it.

 

"I never would have pictured you to be the type of guy to be in a street court at 3 A.M.," started the redhead, peering over at the tanned male while he sat down in the floor, near the pole, putting his ball in the middle of his crossed legs. "Are you mulling over something?"

 

"..." Aomine picked up the ball and started dribbling it again, shooting it in the basket's direction and scoring another point. "What makes you think that?"

 

"Because when I need to think about something, I do the same," simply answered Kagami, spinning the ball on his finger.

 

"Hah! So you're saying you came here at this time of the night because you also needed to think about shit?" asked teasingly the tanned male.

 

"..." Kagami stopped spinning the ball and caught it with both hands, frowning slightly as he motioned up. He dribbled the ball and jumped over in the basket's direction, dunking the ball in it. The ball entered through the rim and fell to the floor, bouncing in their direction. The redhead grabbed the ball again and started dribbling it. "...How's he? Kuroko, I mean."

 

"Oh-ho, what's this?" teased Aomine, handling the ball in his so familiar street-basket way. He prepared himself to shoot the ball and put it inside the rim while using his formless shoot. "You worried about your buddy?"

 

"Who wouldn't!? He's in the middle of people who he can't bring himself to trust, apparently. And I bet that crazy bastard Akashi is around him all the time!" angrily complained the redhead. "Did you know that I first meet him when he suddenly popped up in the middle of the night in my apartment because Kuroko was there, accusing me of stealing from him!? What the hell is wrong with that dude!? Is he a stalked or something!?"

 

"Ahh... That sounds like Akashi, indeed..." cringed Aomine, remembering Akashi's reaction to the pink haired girl when all she did was but hug the bluenette. "But it's not like we are planning on hurting him or anything. We just want to make sure that the 'Bloody Night' doesn't happen again."

 

"You're not being really that successful at making that happen, though," admonished Kagami, remembering what happened some weeks ago right in front of his eyes. "It was your fault in the first place that he lost the control on his ability that morning. Well, Akashi's, that is."

 

 _I bet I shouldn't mention what happened a few hours ago, then,_ mumbled the tanned male in his head, recalling the phone call he and Momoi had gotten from Murasakibara.

 

Aomine really had to wonder what was running inside the mind of the heterochromatic redhead. He knew from the beginning that Akashi was twisted and manipulative to the core when he wanted to be, and the short interactions he had with Akashi regarding Kuroko in any way proved that.

 

Aomine came to realize that, whenever Kuroko was involved, the beast that lies inside the redhead, and was only under control because Akashi wished to maintain it so, slightly showed its "fangs". He had seen Akashi with his inner beast completely unleashed once and he didn't want to see it ever again. The thought alone of having to look at those bloodthirsty eyes and the murderous aura and presence that could be felt from Akashi was enough to instill dread on him... and he wasn't a fucking sissy!

 

Kagami himself had had a close encounter with that beast when he came to visit the bluenette on Akashi's building.

 

"Just relax a bit! Akashi may be somehow fucked up in the head, but he has his responsibilities as the Head of the 'Miracles'," added Aomine, playing with the ball in his hands. "Besides, more than anyone, he wants to avoid another 'Bloody Night'."

 

The tanned male grabbed the ball with both hands and suddenly passed it to the redhead, who had to drop his own ball to catch the other.

 

"Wanna go at it?" smirked Aomine, pointing with his thumb to the basket, in a blatant invitation to a one-on-one.

 

Kagami smirked while taking off his jacket, dropping it near his bad. "Sure. But don't come crying on me when I dunk on you."

 

"Hah! The only one who's going to cry tonight will be you after I kick your ass!"

 

"Yeah?" Starting to dribble the ball in an attacking position, Kagami suddenly lunged forward, feinting skillfully the other male. "Then come and try me!"

 

"Oh no, you don't!" Aomine lunged after him, tapping the ball with his hand to take it out of the redhead's grasp.

 

They continued playing back and forth, attacking and defending, throughout the entire night, slowly starting to put their worries behind their backs, at least momentarily, just so they could focus on facing against each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> So, we got some background info on Aomine (and Momoi). You should know who that missing person is, right? *winks*
> 
> Okay, there's one more chapter, where I will focus on MuraHimu (yes, Himuro will finally have a chapter dedicated to him), and then we will go back to our lovely and angsty AkaKuro (not that the other relationships aren't being angsty enough...)
> 
> Speaking of AkaKuro, I feel that the fact that in my playlist "Double Core" is followed by "Fantastic Tune" which is followed by "Final Emperor", is the universe telling me that AkaKuro is canon. It kinda makes me fantasize about Kuroko having a threesome with Akashi and "Akashi" XD (And no, the playlist doesn't go by alphabetic order or anything. It's completely random)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	43. Even if it's just an afterimage, it doesn't matter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with one more chapter ^^
> 
> This is the last chapter of the little break I took from AkaKuro. The next chapters will go back to our bluenette and devilish angel, full of angsty moments, a lot of introspection and maybe some revealing discoveries (both about the characters and the own characters will discover new things, fufufu~)
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

"Muro-chin, I'm back," greeted Murasakibara as he stepped inside his apartment. He closed the door behind him and turned on the lights of his living room. "Muro-chin?"

 

He peered intently around his living room and kitchenette, seeing no one in sight. He motioned over to his bedroom and opened the door, sticking his head inside to look around that division of the house. The room was empty.

 

He lifted slightly an eyebrow at the strange emptiness of his apartment. Himuro was always around when he arrived to his apartment after he returned from Teikou, watching different types of American dramas on the computer.

 

"Atsushi," called suddenly a voice. Murasakibara looked in that direction immediately and saw the black haired male standing near the counter that separated the kitchenette from the living room area. Himuro smiled at the purple haired male when he saw the confusion painted on his features. "I had to step over  _there_ for a bit to deal with some things, but I'm back now."

 

"Ah, okay," acknowledged the taller male, motioning over in his direction to drop the snacks that were still being held tight on his arms in the counter. "Did you know that the store where I usually stock up on snacks has raised their prices? It's a nightmare! I have no idea what I should do."

 

"Haha. Yes, that sure can be inconvenient. Especially for you, Atsushi, since you depend on sweets and snacks to be able to function properly," teased Himuro. "Can't you use another store?"

 

"That's too troublesome... The closest one is still too far away from Yousen or from Teikou," answered the purple haired giant, setting the snacks one by one on the countertop, placing them according to their characteristics, such as flavor, type and, of course, preference. He would obviously keep Neruneruneru for later, his favorite when it came to sweets, and eat the other ones first.

 

"You really should start exercising more, though," advised Himuro, an amused expression on his face due to the shock that Murasakibaa suddenly showed on his features at his words. "Ah, no. You're not getting fat or anything. I'm just worrying about the sugar levels in your blood."

 

"I'm big, so I don't think that this little quantity of sugar can do me much harm," muttered Murasakibara, looking over to the display of sweets and snacks on the counter's surface to try to decide which one he was going to pick to eat right now. He decided to choose a package of strawberry Hello Panda biscuits. He lunged his big hand forward to pick the box once again, but he ended up dropping it to the floor.

 

"You're such a klutz sometimes, Atsushi," admonished half-jokingly Himuro while dunking down to grab the small box of biscuits. "Here."

 

Murasakibara moved his hand up and grabbed the box, brushing accidentally his finger on Himuro's hand. A sudden blur started to cover his hand immediately, spreading quickly through his entire body. The black haired male's body started to appear and disappear in quick succession, a static-like black and white color painting its entirety.

 

"Ah, sorry, Muro-chin! Are you okay?" asked alarmed the purple haired giant as he observed his mate's state due to his touch. "I accidentally brushed my finger on you."

 

"Don'... orry... ushi... 'll... better... oon..." answered a broken and sort of mechanical voice that the purple haired male, no matter how much he tried to, could never come to recognize as Himuro's. The older male smiled faintly, peering at the downcast look on the taller male. "Yo... n't... make... at... ace... sushi..."

 

"..." Murasakibara slowly lifted his hand and motioned it over in the other male's direction. He stopped it at mere inches away from the black haired male's face, but instead of touching his body, he just clenched his fist.

 

He wanted to touch Himuro so badly. He couldn't even remember what his body's temperature was like anymore; that was how long it has been since he had last touched him. Touching him... kissing him... holding him in his arms... He could no longer do any of those things.

 

Every time a "User" tried to touch Himuro's "body", he would begin to blur and a static-like color would cover its entirety, flashing in and out of this reality with the other realm that the black haired male had accidentally created and been stuck on since over one and a half years ago. Well, he could exit the realm through illusions but his real body was permanently stuck in the "mirage realm", as Himuro himself called it. He could touch objects and normal humans, but not "Users" nor, much less, the five "Miracles".

 

Murasakibara couldn't even put his barriers anywhere near Himuro, for it completely destroyed the illusion that he could manifest himself as. That was the only reason why he didn't even try to convince Akashi of taking Himuro with him to the new building, though it highly pained him that he would no longer the able to see and be with his mate on a daily basis.

 

"Muro-chin..." muttered softly the purple haired giant, dropping his hand down.

 

"Atsushi... I don't like to see you looking like that," said Himuro, finally managing to stabilize his 'body'. "I know you don't like the situation I'm in, but there's only one person ro blame for it: me."

 

"..." Murasakibara averted the smaller male's warm gaze and put the package of biscuits back on the counter.

 

"You're not going to eat?" asked softly the black haired male.

 

"Later... I need to take a shower to relax a little..." answered the taller male, turning on his heels on his bedroom's direction, but he paused near the door, supporting his hand on the frame. "Are you staying or are you going to return  _there_?"

 

Himuro softly smiled at the other male and put the small box of biscuits on the correct place. "I'm staying, of course. There's a new American drama that I am really anxious to see. One of the characters is a basketball idiot, so he kind of reminds me of-- Ah, no, never mind. Do you want to watch it with me?"

 

"Sure, Muro-chin," smiled brightly the purple haired male. "As long as you don't mind me filling the sofa with crumbs again."

 

"I'm used to it, already," laughed briefly Himuro, motioning over in the computer's direction to arrange it in a way where the two of them could actually fit in the same sofa without directly touching each other (which sometimes was a challenge due to Murasakibara's overgrown body). "Go take your shower quickly, then, while I prepare the computer and make some popcorn for you. Is butter flavor okay for you?"

 

"You know that I eat everything that you make, Muro-chin," answered Murasakibara, already undressing his school jacket and shirt while he stepped inside the bedroom.

 

"Ahaha, that's true," chuckled the older male, averting his gaze from the half naked body of the passing purple haired male.

 

_I just would have liked it if it was my real body that was able to prepare your food, Atsushi._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "CATALRHYTHM" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> So yeah, those of you who asked for Himuro before must be cringing quite hard right now at the angst involving MuraHimu, right?
> 
> I have absolutely no idea why I only create such... such tragedies in terms of background stories. I get to the point that when I'm creating Kuroko's or Akashi's (or any other characters') past, I have to make a pause and go watch videos of cats falling down while jumping from a table or a little comic episode from whatever anime I can think of at the time, because I get REALLY depressed of being hurting my beloved characters so badly :( But then I remember that everything(?) will end well, so!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	44. With a little bit of introspection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with this week's last update!
> 
> So, I bet you all missed my angsty AkaKuro chapters, didn't you?  
> Well, let's go back to where our adorable bluenette and teasing devilish angel left off, shall we?
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

Akashi lunged his hand forward and grabbed the door knob to open it, wincing slightly at the pain that struck his nerves immediately due to his burnt palm. Putting his hand right back in place, in order to continue to support Kuroko's weight on his arms, he motioned his foot forward to open the door for them to step inside.

 

"Akashi-kun, you can put me down already," said Kuroko, avoiding looking the redhead directly on the eyes, mainly due to all the things that Akashi had told to both him and Murasakibara this night.

 

"Can you already walk?" asked Akashi, peering down at the male tightly held against his chest. He saw as Kuroko nodded his head in confirmation and raised slightly an eyebrow, reluctant to released the bluenette off of his embrace, out of his touch. He motioned over to near the bed and put Kuroko down on top of the soft mattress.

 

Kuroko put the small box of daifuku he had been carrying on his hands beside him, and peered around the room aimlessly, at a loss of what to do about the awkward silence.

 

The redhead looked from the other male down to the screen of his phone, to check the time. It was a little past 11 PM. At this time of the night, nobody would be around this area of the school nor on the building. "You probably should go take a shower, Tetsuya."

 

"Eh!?" Kuroko immediately looked up in the other male's direction, his eyes wide open. He inched slightly away from near Akashi, climbing further into the bed. "W-Why?"

 

"'Why', you ask?" repeated the taller male, a smirk forming on his face at the little misunderstanding that was probably running inside the bluenette's head (though, most likely, he was the one to blame for it). "You need to change your clothes. They're covered in my blood. And you'll feel much better after relaxing under the warm water. For what other reason would it be?"

 

"...!" Kuroko blushed slightly, embarrassed of his misunderstanding on what Akashi was proposing to him and of the fact that the redhead had completely read it as such only by seeing his facial expressions.

 

Chuckling softly, Akashi grabbed the box of daifuku beside Kuroko and motioned over to the big table in the center of the room. "While you're taking your bath, I'll fetch us some food. We haven't eaten anything throughout the entire day and, fortunately, we are not like Atsushi, so we can't run on snacks alone. Though there's no one around in the building anymore, so you'll have to make do with what I can make with very limited ingredients."

 

"I'm not hungry, so you don't have to concern yourself with me," added readily the bluenette.

 

"Even if you are 'The Phantom', you cannot go without eating, Tetsuya," reasoned out Akashi, peering over to the smaller boy. "You are tired due to having used your ability in that way and you haven't eaten anything for more than 12 hours straight. No matter how you look at it, there's no way you aren't hungry right now."

 

"..." Kuroko looked down at his stomach, which he felt slowly starting to grumble. He truly wasn't feeling hungry, but the vanilla flavor he got to experience while kissing Akashi earlier somehow had managed to open his already very frail appetite. The one to blame was solemnly himself, since, just like the redhead had mentioned, he was truly weak to vanilla and his unhealthy addiction to it.

 

_Ahh... What I wouldn't give to drink one of Maji Burger's vanilla milkshakes..._

 

Kuroko closed his eyes briefly and sighed, then opened them again to look straight into Akashi's. "Fine, I'll eat. I'm not a picky person, so you can also bring me whatever it is that you are going to eat. And I'll go take a shower, just like you suggested."

 

Akashi nodded his head slightly in acknowledgment and observed as Kuroko slowly got up on his feet. With wobbly steps, the bluenette passed by him and motioned over to the bathroom.

 

"Do you want me to help you take your bath?" asked the redhead, following with his eyes the frail stance of the smaller male.

 

"Of course I do," ironized the bluenette while continuing walking in the wooden door's direction. "I also want you to be hit by a meteorite on the way to the bathroom if you do indeed have plans on coming inside while I'm there."

 

The redhead chuckled, amused at the blatant display of pride that Kuroko was showing him. Akashi had come to understand that, most of all, the smaller male liked to deal with his own problems all by himself, not resorting to anyone else in times of need. And that could be a double edged sword when it came to the almost entirety of his problems. Then again, Kuroko showing himself unwilling to accept his good will when he is weakened due to his own ability was sort of endearing.

 

"I understand. I'll go prepare our late night dinner, then," answered Akashi while he observed Kuroko opening the wooden door that lead to the bathroom.

 

After having confirmed that Murasakibara's barrier around the room had been activated once again, Akashi motioned over to the door that lead to the corridor, but paused under its frame. "Try not to fall asleep inside the bathtub. I don't think that death by drowning is a very suited ending for you."

 

Glaring at the redhead, Kuroko saw the amused smirk plastered on Akashi's face as he exited the room and turned his back to him once again, motioning inside the bathroom and closing the door behind him with a little more strength than what he normally would.

 

Inside the bathroom, he leaned his back on the wooden door, as his legs were almost about to give out once again, and sighed deeply. He looked over at his reflection in the mirror and saw his pale demeanor on it, his clothes painted with bloodied palm and fingerprints around the waist and upper arms area where Akashi had grabbed him giving him an even more sinister and ghostly semblance.

 

"Idiot... Not only Akashi-kun, but I as well," mumbled the bluenette, averting his gaze from the mirror with a deep frown on his face.

 

He motioned over to a corner of the bathroom where his body wouldn't be reflected in the mirror and started undressing, removing first the coat of the redhead that he had been wearing since they exited the bandstand on the small island, and then his other clothes, placing them all together in a small pile for them to be washed later.

 

With wobbly steps, he slowly moved his heavy and tired body to the shower. He would love to take a bath using the bathtub, however, just like Akashi had warned him, he would probably fall asleep the moment he submerged his body inside the warm and comforting water, so he put that thought back to the depths of his mind, if only to not give the redhead any more reasons to tease him about.

 

He opened the faucet of the shower and moved his hand forward, testing the water in order to be able to adjust it to a warmer or colder temperature. When he deemed the temperature to be the most ideal one, he stepped inside the shower, relishing on the hot, clear liquid caressing his dead frozen body.

 

The after-effects of having used slightly more his ability were one of the reasons why he frowned upon using it. The stiffness that complicated his mobility and the dead coldness that overtook his body really made him realize that he wasn't a normal human being (well, as if the ability itself already didn't make him understand that). Though he was lucky this time around and didn't felt the worst of all of them: the heavy price he had to pay every time he used his ability slightly more than the usual amount he adhered to during his daily life.

 

He closed his eyes and peered up, feeling the hot water dripping on his face, comforting him in a way that only something warm could. He scrubbed his face with his hands and looked over at them, a small smudge of blood coloring his pale skin. Akashi had even managed to put blood on him.

 

He just couldn't figure out the redhead, no matter how much he thought about it. Akashi may be a manipulative and calculating person, he may be the one responsible for his best friend's death, he may be one of the "Miracles" he has been so desperately trying to avoid to come into contact with, but...

 

Akashi was the first person to tell him those words. Nobody had ever told him that he had the right to be included together with the other "Users" and even with the "Miracles", and be able to enjoy a relatively normal life. And nobody, not even Ogiwara, had told him that he had the right to put his nightmarish past, including the "Bloody Night", behind his back and face a future where he could make his own choices.

 

_I mean, no matter how you look at it, I'm not like them. They were made to be under the sun, while my only purpose in life is to life hidden in the shadows. Just like Ogiwara-kun said, I can never stand in the same side as them._

 

However, when Akashi told him that he didn't have to be alone anymore nor that his previous actions in the past would decide who he would become in the future... A part of him wanted to believe his words. One of the pieces that made his fragmented and broken self wanted to  _trust_ the redhead's words and somehow create a path which could lead him to such idealistic future.

 

He knew he shouldn't think like that, though. More than anyone, he knew that wishing for something that wasn't guaranteed could only lead to grief and to a pained future, painted in the dark shades of self-delusions and false hopes. He once had wished for something, but in the exact same day where he finally fully voiced out that wish, that  _dream_ , his whole world came crumbling down in the most terrifying of ways.

 

But... Akashi Seijuurou, the person he should fear, hate, despise the most, was the reason why he was starting to believe that even hem the biggest threat to Japan at the moment, could hope for a future where he could actually be happy... Where he didn't need to live in reclusion... Where he could trust others... Where he could connect and  _bond_ with others, even with "Users" and maybe the "Miracles" themselves.

 

 _What is it that's changing?,_ asked Kuroko in his head for the thousand time since his first direct interaction with the heterochromatic redhead. What was the thing or things inside of him that were changing? And... what was the cause of such changes?

 

_"Tetsuya..."_

 

Kuroko suddenly recalled the way Akashi had called him when they were in the bandstand on the small island in the middle of the lake. He recalled how warm his fingers where while he encircled his waist and teased his neck. He recalled how sweet the redhead's kisses tasted to him even when they were alone in the middle of that almost paradisiacal scenery. He recalled how his own body trembled and shivered at the high pleasure, which he had never experienced before with such intensity, that coursed through it.

 

Unconsciously, he moved his hand up and trailed with his fingertips his now warmed up lips. Somehow, it felt as if something was missing there.

 

 _What the hell am I doing!?,_ admonished the bluenette in his head, lunging his hand away from his lips to grab the bottle of shampoo to wash his messy strands of hair.  _Ever since I stepped inside this room again, I've been thinking of nothing but Akashi-kun!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "Can Do" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> So we do have some sort of progress going on. Kuroko recognizes that there's some things changing inside of him now! Though he has no idea of what it is, ahahaha. Or maybe he just doesn't want to see them.
> 
> I have to be honest with you guys, these next few chapters will maintain the level of angstyness, but I think we may all get a cuteness overload all of a sudden XD (But you'll have to wait until next week to experience that, hehehe~)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod


	45. My brain juices are working over their capacities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, minna-san. Had a good weekend? I had so much fun (and wasted so much money...)
> 
> Lately, I have the feeling that my addiction to KnB is starting to reach unhealthy degrees... Monetarily speaking, that is... I have to start controlling my impulses of buying immediately anything related to it or I'll go bankrupt before reaching 20.
> 
> Well, enjoy the AkaKuro injection I'm gonna give you this week :D

Akashi was opening the door with a tray with food on his hands when he heard a tumbling sound coming from the bathroom. Raising slightly one of his eyebrows, he motioned over to the table and put the tray near the box of daifuku, peering over to the door.

 

He couldn't hear the sound of the shower running nor of water splashing, so Kuroko was probably already done with his bath, or he did indeed fell asleep on the bathtub. Though if he had fallen asleep, the sound that came from inside the bathroom wouldn't have happened, so he crossed that option.

 

Motioning over to the wooden door, he softly knocked on its surface and lunged his hand down to open the door. "Tetsuya?"

 

"Ah, wait, don't open the door yet!" abruptly yelled the bluenette from the other side of the door.

 

Frowning slightly, Akashi ignored completely the other male and opened the door, entering inside the bathroom.

 

"..." When he looked down, he saw Kuroko sprawled on the floor, only on his underwear (which he should add that it must have been put on as quickly as the bluenette could, since it wasn't fully pulled up), a small towel around his shoulders and hair dripping water. Akashi felt a sudden squeeze inside his chest, preceding an unexpected quickening of his heart rate.

 

"D-Didn't I say to not come inside!?" admonished Kuroko while blushing madly, covering his half-naked body the best he could with his arms.

 

"Pfft..." Akashi suddenly lunged his hand up and covered slightly his mouth with it, trying to contain his laughter inside. But when Kuroko looked over at him, an invisible question mark floating around him as he tried to understand the situation they were in, Akashi couldn't help himself anymore and actually started laughing.

 

While Kuroko peered at him with a totally lost expression on his face, the redhead motioned over in his direction and grabbed a towel on the way. Reaching over to the bluenette, he crouched down in front of him and dropped the white towel on top of his drenched hair, tousling his blue strands even more as he towel-dried his hair.

 

"W-Wait, Akashi-kun! I can do this by myself," declared the smaller male, lifting one of his hands up to push Akashi's hands away from his head.

 

"You can't even stand on your own, how do you expect to have enough strength to dry your hair?" asked the redhead, continuing to tousle the other male's hair softly. "You have the notion that you looked like a newborn fawn while walking to the bathroom, right?"

 

"Well, excuse me if because of a certain someone I got extremely conf--" started deadpanning Kuroko, but he suddenly stopped midsentence, readily averting Akashi's heterochromatic eyes.

 

"..." The redhead stopped drying Kuroko's hair and took the towel off of his head, putting it on the floor beside him. He lunged his hand up and grabbed the t-shirt which Kuroko usually used to sleep from the top of the counter, opening it to help the other male put it on. "Are you saying that it was our fault again that you started losing control on your abil-- Ah."

 

Akashi peered down at his hand and saw the blood from his burned palm not only staining the small ligature he put on before arranging their food, but also the fabric of the clothes that Kuroko was supposed to wear.

 

"..." Kuroko put his arms down and then motioned his hand over to the small cabinet near where he was sitting down on the floor. He opened one of the drawers and rumbled through its contents, taking from inside of it a small first aid kit and putting it on top of his lap. "Have you cleaned it?"

 

"Of course. But I'll ask Shintarou to look at it in the morning, so don't mind it and get dressed before you catch a cold," answered the redhead, giving another t-shirt to Kuroko with his unhurt hand.

 

Rumbling inside the box, Kuroko took out a small tube of antibiotic ointment and grabbed the taller male's hand, starting to undress the ligature around it. Removing the piece of fabric softly from the inflamed and swollen palm, Kuroko peered at it and twisted his nose at the blood still flowing from the cut that the shadow had made, not from the burn itself. "You probably will need 2 or 3 stitches for the cut. Shouldn't you call Midorima-kun now?"

 

"Shintarou would probably furiously glare at me and get in a terrible mood for the rest of the week if I did that," answered the redhead.

 

"Well, it would only do you good to be in the receiving end from glares from time to time," deadpanned the bluenette, opening the tube and squeezing a bit of the ointment to Akashi's palm. He cautiously spread the medicament through the burnt flesh, avoiding putting much pressure on the small blisters that had already formed on his skin with the tips of his fingers. After that was completed, he rumbled once again through the box and grabbed some pieces of gauze and a new ligature to put around it. "For as smart as you seem to be, you are an idiot, Akashi-kun."

 

"Why do you say that, Tetsuya?" asked the redhead, lifting an eyebrow slightly at the half-admonishing, half-pained voice of the other male.

 

"You would be dead by now if earlier today you hadn't kissed me," honestly answered Kuroko, as he wrapped the ligature on top of a couple of sheets of gauze and around the hand of the taller male.

 

Once again, Akashi was forced to lift slightly an eyebrow at the bluenette's words. "You mean before you started losing your control on your ability, and not after? Why?"

 

"..." Kuroko finished wrapping the ligature and secured the end with one of his hands as the other rumbled through the inside of the box in search of the little roll of medical adhesive tape.

 

Akashi took the sudden silence as a statement that Kuroko would not give him any more information regarding that matter and simply let the bluenette finish to provide him with a quick (and better) fix for his burn.

 

"How did you know there was a first aid kit inside that drawer?" asked Akashi, trying to change the subject to lighten a bit the air around them.

 

"After I woke up and you left the room to go to the Student Council building, I may have looked around the room for over an hour to find its weak spots," deadpanned once again the bluenette, cutting the tape with his teeth since there was no scissor or another instrument he could use to cut it and put it on the end of the ligature, certifying himself that it was well put but not so tight that it would cut the blood circulation on the redhead's limb.

 

"Really, now?" Akashi softly chuckled at his answer, picturing in his head the smaller male peering every corner of the room in search for a source of escape. "That explains why you have the location of every book memorized and don't even need to look at the shelves when choosing one. But it doesn't explain how you know how to provide treatment to a burn by heart."

 

"You could say that after a while, I got used to take care of wounds and the like."

 

"On yourself or on others?" asked the redhead, moving his fingers to test the elasticity of the ligature and register which movements would be restricted for a while.

 

"..." Kuroko closed the first aid kit, after returning all the materials he had used to its inside, and put it back on its place inside the drawer. "Both."

 

"Do you have any more hidden skills that can be known beforehand and may be useful on the future?" asked innocently the taller male, but when he saw the bluenette glaring at him, he got the inkling that his words may have taken another connotation inside the other male's head. "It's just for reference; I do not wish to use it intentionally for any kind of purpose."

 

"...I learned self-defense techniques back in middle school," added Kuroko while finally putting the t-shirt on. The bathroom may still be warm due to the steam of the hot water of the shower he had taken, but being on only underwear wasn't nor the warmest nor the most comfortable situation to be in, especially with Akashi's presence.

 

"Really? I didn't picture you to be someone who would take an interest on such things," teased the redhead, while helping the other male to get up on his feet to finish dressing himself.

 

"It wasn't for interest that I learned it. It was for necessity."

 

 _Though, also for necessity, I may have learned a little bit more than those two things. Not that I'm going to say that out loud, of course,_ mumbled inwardly Kuroko.

 

"..." Akashi grabbed the pajama-like pants on top of the counter and gave them to the bluenette, who used his arms for support to maintain himself stable on his two feet while he put the clothes on. "You won't need to use them anymore if you stay with us."

 

Kuroko stopped his movements and looked up at Akashi, who was also staring at him. Once again, he felt extremely exposed to the redhead and he would have taken a few steps backwards to put some distance between them if he wasn't so dependent at the moment on him to stay steady while dressing.

 

"...We'll see..." mumbled softly the smaller male, getting back on the hard task of dressing himself (it was hard due to the limited mobility that his body could only provide him at the moment).

 

Akashi observed the jumbled movements of Kuroko, and softly smiled. "How long will it take for you to get back on form?"

 

"I just need to sleep it off. Some hours should be more than enough," answered unconsciously Kuroko.

 

When he understood he was starting to become too frank with Akashi, he inwardly clicked his tongue and averted his gaze. He couldn't fall under the spell of the kindness that the redhead was showing him, since it could very well only be a ploy to get information out of him, regardless of how unimportant it may seem at the moment to him.

 

"Can you walk by yourself to the room?" asked Akashi, looking over to the door that connected the bathroom to the room. "I already brought food over there, but it probably has grown lukewarm by now."

 

"I can walk my myself, thank you very much," sulked the bluenette, releasing the arms of the other male to move by himself. Though when he gave the first step in the door's direction and almost tumbled once again to the floor, he was forced to seek once again some support on him. He looked up at the amused expression on the redhead's face and glared at him. "Don't you dare say anything, Akashi-kun."

 

"That thought never crossed my mind," teased the taller male, as they slowly walked out of the bathroom.

 

Inside the room, they sat on the table on the center of the room, both on their usual seats, and Akashi provided him with a cup of lukewarm, just like he had mentioned back in the bathroom, milk tea and some also lukewarm toasts with butter.

 

They ate mostly in silence, just like all the other times they had shared a meal, with only some circumstantial conversation in between long and awkward silences. Well, the silence wasn't as tense as it was in the beginning, at least. And Kuroko felt more comfortable when he wasn't talking with the redhead, since their conversations always lef to some kind of dispute or teasing from the other male.

 

The bluenette indeed wasn't feeling all that hungry at the moment (one more of the usual side-effects of his ability), but he went out of his way to at least eat half of the food given to him. He may be in that room and with the "Miracles" only due to some unavoidable circumstances, but he didn't appreciate being rude to anyone (the "Miracles" included) when they prepared something for him because they were worried, or at least claimed to be, about him.

 

"If you don't mind, Akashi-kun, I'll be going to bed now," said Kuroko, half-sulking at the fact that he even had to report something like that to the redhead.

 

The barrier was around the room, and if he tried to escape, he had to nullify that same barrier, which would automatically be known by Murasakibara, who would, obviously, warn the other "Miracles" about it. So, up until now, he failed to understand for what reason Akashi insisted on staying there with him when everybody clearly knew that he wouldn't go anywhere. No, that he  _couldn't_ go anywhere.

 

"Of course, Tetsuya. I'll turn off the lights as soon as I finish reading Shuuzou's other reports," acknowledged Akashi, looking away from the documents on his good hand to peer at the bluenette.

 

Kuroko sighed as he got up from his seat and slowly walked with his rusty legs, in what the redhead has categorized as a "newborn fawn" style of moving, in his bed's direction. He climbed into it and laid down, covering his body with the cold blankets. To avoid the light coming from the lamp on the ceiling, he turned his body to the wall and covered slightly his face with the blanket, in an attempt to block the brightness.

 

However, for as tired as his body was at the moment, his read refused to stop working. His head was slowly turning inside out with the confusing thoughts that spiraled around, crashing against the walls that he had imposed between himself and the rest of the world. A world that had been forced on him, where he didn't have any right to refuse the path chosen by others or, maybe, fate itself.

 

And the solemn reason why they were continuously crashing was... the unsuspicious redhead leisurely reading documents while slurping his tea a couple of meters away from him.

 

The bluenette hastily closed his eyes and covered his ears, in an attempt to try to stop the sound of his own thoughts running a hundred miles an hour inside his mind. Of course he knew covering his ears wouldn't stop anything, but it was better than continuing to struggle with himself without taking any form of counter measure, for as useless as it may be.

 

After a while, he sensed the lights being turned off and released a soft sigh, already tired from mulling over everything happening around him.

 

However, he felt the blankets being slightly tugged and the mattress sinking slightly due to a weight that he didn't recognize. He peered over his shoulder slightly and immediately jumped back up at what he was seeing.

 

"W-W-Why are you coming to the bed too!?" gasped loudly Kuroko, as he observed with eyes wide open as Akashi sort of nestled in the other side of the bed beside him, pulling the covers up his body.

 

"I've been sleeping on that sofa for over three weeks," answered the redhead, pointing to the sofa parallel to the bed. "I think I also deserve to sleep in a bed from time to time, if you would be so kind."

 

"Then go to your own room!" started panicking the smaller male, his eyes jumping from place to place, averting constantly the gaze of the heterochromatic eyes on him. "And no matter how you look at it, this bed is small for two males to sleep on it!"

 

"If we were talking about Atsushi or Daiki sleeping on this bed together, I would think like that too. However, with our height, I don't see what the problem would be," added Akashi, adjusting slightly the pillow beneath his head.

 

"I see a whole lot of problems!! In the first place, I don't want to sleep with you. I can tolerate it to be in the same room, but the same bed is completely out of the question!" argued the bluenette, and he would have continued to enumerate the countless reasons why he didn't want to share the bed with Akashi if the other male hadn't suddenly pushed his body back to bed.

 

"Just sleep, Tetsuya. You're tired and I'm tired. Let's just pretend there's a wall between us, and each stays in their respective side without interfering with the other," interrupted the taller male, looking at the surprised teal eyes of Kuroko while pulling the blankets up to cover the other male's body once again. "Just pretend I'm not here."

 

"..."

 

"Besides, should I remind you that earlier you fell asleep while using my shoulder as a pillow?" teased the redhead, a smirk painted on his features.

 

Kuroko immediately glared at the other male and turned his back to him, facing once again the wall, sulking over the fact that Akashi was right on at least that small detail.

 

The redhead chuckled softly and slowly closed his eyes, relishing on the once again proximity with the smaller male. "Good night, Tetsuya."

 

 _Yes, good night to you too, you manipulative and tricky Student Council President-sama! Thanks to you, I won't be able to sleep a wink... again!_ , mumbled grudgingly Kuroko in his mind, while he tried to focus his mind on anything other than the close presence of the redhead.

 

However, contrary to the bluenette's expectations, half an hour after Akashi laid down next to him, he peacefully fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "Start it right away" by Hyadain.
> 
> Okay, so this was a quick tutorial on how to treat burns with our instructors Kuroko and Akashi :D (jk) I cringed so hard while writing the medical procedures. I don't flinch at gore, be it in anime, manga or movies, but me being the one describing medical procedures... Oh dear god, please save me!
> 
> Hehehe, our devilish angel and lovely bluenette will be sharing a bed for the first time!!! I wonder what will happen in the morning, fufufu~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	46. They light a fire in my heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's back~
> 
> Are you ready to squeal like crazy? Warn your neighbors or move on to a sound-proof room, because you'll need it XD
> 
> Well, enjoy~

Akashi had always thought that one of Kuroko's little quirks was cute. The bluenette, be it when he was sleeping at night or simply taking a short nap in the afternoon, would settle into a certain position and not move at all since then (which made the bird's nest in his hair with which he usually woke up with a total mystery).

 

What the redhead didn't know was that he was the type of person that, when sleeping, sought the warmest spot in the bed and literally grabbed into it.

 

When Akashi woke up from his brief rest, he found the bluenette glued to him: his arm was underneath the smaller male's head, his shirt was being gripped by one of his pale hands and their legs were tangled up. The redhead was surprised at waking up to see this unexpected scenario, but he was even more surprised at himself for not having woke up at Kuroko's unconscious ministrations on him, since he wasn't the heaviest of sleepers.

 

And by the way his arm placed underneath Kuroko's head was sort of numb, they must have been in that position for a while now.

 

Akashi peered over to the bluenette and couldn't help the smile that appeared on his features to the once again peaceful demeanor in the other male. It was gratifying to see that Kuroko had come to relax this much when he was with him (though he doubted he could pull this off if the other "Miracles" were present).

 

Maybe manipulation wasn't the most correct way to approach and deal with Kuroko. Maybe if they started to be honest with each other, if they started to truly know about each other and, maybe, emotionally connect, they could come to an understanding. Maybe that was the answer to maintain the bluenette under control in terms of his ability and, mostly, keep him by his side.

 

Akashi motioned his free hand up and touched the blue locks of the smaller male's hair, moving away a few strands from his face. He relished on the spaced movements of the other male's chest when breathing against his body and on the warmth that they were sharing, along with the slight prickling sensation.

 

"Tetsuya," called the redhead, poking softly his pale and round cheek.

 

"Nnnn..." softly breathed the sleeping male, moving briefly his hand to grip more tightly Akashi's shirt.

 

"Tetsuya, wake up," called once again Akashi, an amused expression starting to paint his features.

 

"...Don't wanna..." mumbled the bluenette, still very much half-asleep.

 

"You can continue sleeping if you want to, but I have to go. And I can't leave if you keep grabbing into me," added Akashi, poking the pale hand of the bluenette with his finger to signalize one of the things that were stopping him from getting up.

 

"...But it's warm, Akashi-kun..." mumbled once again Kuroko, moving his head and body closer to the other male in search for more warmth.

 

Akashi felt a brief spark of arousal in his core, his heart suddenly speeding up without any apparent reason to, and he let his head fall back to the pillow.  _I swear to god, Tetsuya, you are the most unpredictable person in the whole universe._

 

The redhead suddenly moved, rolling their bodies in the soft mattress of the bed, causing the other male to startle and open hastily his teal eyes. Looking from above, Akashi pinned down Kuroko and joined their lips, kissing him hungrily.

 

"Mnn!?" managed to interject the smaller male in between panicky attempts to both breath and break the kiss. "Wai-- Ngh...!!"

 

A little unstable on his arms, due to the numbness on one of them and the burnt piece of flesh on the other, Akashi continued to devour the other male's lips, switching between rubbing his tongue on the walls of the bluenette's mouth and softly nibble on his bottom lip.

 

As he started to feel the boy beneath him getting even more breathless, he released his lips and motioned down on him, licking slowly the length of his neck, sometimes stopping to nip tentatively on his skin.

 

"Ngh... Ahh-- S-S-S-Stop...!" stuttered the bluenette, between gasps and low moans. In search for an escape, Kuroko lunged one of his hands up and accidentally used Ignite Pass on the stomach of the redhead.

 

"Ugh..." Akashi motioned one of his hands up and clutched his stomach, sitting up on top of the bluenette's legs to stabilize himself. With his face painted with a slight tone of pain, he looked over at Kuroko, who was at the moment, for lack of better words, a panting mess. "Awake already?"

 

"T-There are better methods to wake up a person," deadpanned the bluenette, inching away from underneath the taller male.

 

"I simply thought that this would be the quickest way, since you enjoy kissing me so much," teased the redhead, the pain on his body due to the sudden punch (or what he thought it was a punch) starting to subside.

 

"Aren't you misunderstanding who enjoys it? I don't remember ever asking you to kiss me or initiating a kiss on my own," counterattacked Kuroko, starting to stabilize his quickened heartbeat and breathing.

 

"Though you don't exactly fight back either when I do," added Akashi, after feeling a slight pang on his chest at the bluenette's last words. Maybe he should not only consult Midorima on his burnt hand but have him check his body as well, for these small pangs and sudden squeezes inside his chest were starting to bother him. "Well, you sort of did, just now."

 

"What would you expect me to do when you suddenly jump on me and start... doing that to me?" admonished the bluenette, a pink blush covering his cheeks, not only from the breathlessness that overtook him earlier, but also the embarrassment of Akashi's ministrations on him and his own words when arguing with the other male about it.

 

"You're misunderstanding the source of the problem here, Tetsuya," started Akashi, chuckling slightly at the blushing expression of the other male. "You were the one who glued himself to me while I was sleeping. You are the one who seduced me."

 

"So you're saying that you would attack a sleeping person if they got close to you?" counterattacked once again the smaller male. "Besides, you are the one who is constantly trying to seduce or toy or whatever it is that you are trying to do with me."

 

"No, I would not 'attack', as you called it, if I was sleeping beside someone. I don't even enjoy sleeping with other people in the first place. I only did it because you made me."

 

"I was sleeping! What can a sleeping person do that makes another do something like that!?" admonished the bluenette, once again not understanding the way the other male's brain worked at all.

 

"'But it's warm, Akashi-kun', you said, while, I must add, you literally hugged me in search for body warmth," teased the redhead, a smirk on his face while he inched closer to Kuroko, who was once again blushing madly at his words. He most likely would never get tired of causing such reaction on the smaller male.

 

"I-I did not say such thing..." argued shyly Kuroko, averting the heterochromatic eyes' gaze on him. "And even if I did, I was only sleep-talking."

 

"I didn't know you were as linked to me that you would even say my name while you're sleeping," teased again the redhead, getting even closer to the other male by crawling in his direction, as slowly as he could to not scare the bluenette and make him punch him once again. "That's surely something that I can call progress."

 

"I-I am not linked to you or anything... You can't take something a half-asleep person said as an indication to anything," answered Kuroko, inching away from the redhead, but he had to come to a halt, for he had reached the end of the bed.

 

"So you are admitting that you said my name while you were still half-asleep," smirked Akashi, relishing on the fact that the smaller male readily averted his gaze and bit his lower lip at his words. "Besides, human beings have the inclination to be more honest after they wake up or are on the process of waking up, since their thoughts or actions aren't molded by intricate processes of judgment nor measurement of their words."

 

"So you're saying that right now my actions while I was sleeping are speaking louder than the words that I'm saying right now?" deadpanned the bluenette, turning his body in the wall's direction to try to make more space between him and the approaching redhead.

 

"Honesty  _is_ the best policy, in my opinion," added Akashi, already reaching near Kuroko's feet.

 

"It's all well to believe in such things, but they are meaningless if you don't apply them in your life. Have you ever been honest with me?" asked the smaller male, looking over his shoulder slightly when his back hit the wall, but he was forced to look back in front of him again as Akashi put his hands on each side of his upper legs on the bed and looked straight into his teal eyes.

 

"Have  _you_ ever been honest with me?" asked back Akashi, relishing on the once again closeness with the other male.

 

"Have I ever had any other choice than answering with the truth to your questions?" counterattacked Kuroko, not wanting to fall back in the redhead's game of mice and cats.

 

"If you call treading and feinting around the questions and never giving straight answers being honest, then yes, you have always answered with the truth," quickly answered the taller male. "But in the position where I stand, I cannot confirm if what you told me is the actual truth or not. For all I know, you could have been feeding me with only half-lies from the very beginning."

 

"Unlike you, my brain has not evolved to think in such a manipulative way," deadpanned Kuroko, averting the constant gaze of the redhead by turning his head away. "But you are free to believe which way you want. I'm not searching for something as meaningless as having your approval or confirmation on the things I say."

 

"Then what is it that you are searching for, Tetsuya?" asked the redhead, his golden eye flickering briefly. "Why did you give your approval to stay with us and move to the new building when you are clearly scared of us or, more precisely, of  _what_ we are?"

 

"..."

 

"Is that your way of protecting yourself from the Japanese government that is laying in wait for a chance to execute you? Your way of securing a safe haven from those who are chasing after you to use you in ways that only benefit them?" continued Akashi, closing their distance a little bit more. "Well, we, here in Teikou, belong, in a way, to the Japanese government, so we do have our own responsibilities with it. And, from what I know that you think you know, we also want to use you for our own benefit."

 

"..."

 

"So, Tetsuya..." Akashi lunged his hand forward and softly pulled Kuroko's face in his direction, locking teal eyes with red and golden ones. "What was your reason to attend Teikou since your first year in middle school and remain here even after the events of the 'Bloody Night'? And do not give me the same answer you did some weeks ago. I want the truth."

 

"..."

 

What was the answer that Akashi was seeking?

 

Did he want to hear him say that the reason why he stayed there was because he no longer had a home to return to, for he had completely erased himself from the memories of his family, of his past friends, of everyone that entered in contact with him since he was born? That the reason why he stayed there was because he needed to have an anchor where he could rest while he decided where to go to as he continuously struggled with his inner demons? That he was afraid that if he left and the 'Bloody Night' happened again due to whatever reasons it may be under, he would be too far away from someone who was strong enough to have a chance to stop him?

 

Or that he couldn't sever himself from all the memories that he was constantly reminded of while remaining in that academy, in that city, that were at the same time a refuge and the constant pain he felt? Which for someone like him, who lived under the two golden rules of not dreaming nor remembering, was the utmost masochism.

 

"I don't want to talk about that..." answered feebly Kuroko, pushing Akashi's hand out of his face and averting once again his gaze.

 

"So you're saying you will use your free pass to avoid answering a question for this one?" asked the redhead, lifting slightly an eyebrow. He was trying to read what was going on inside the smaller male's head, but for some reason he couldn't see anything, couldn't formulate any theories on what he was thinking.

 

"I simply believe that you and I don't have a relationship, if we even have any, close enough for me to answer that question," backed up the bluenette.

 

Akashi once again felt a sudden squeeze inside his chest, one strong enough to make him actually lightly wince about. He seriously needed to check this out with either Midorima or anyone else who was knowledgeable about "Users" and their sometimes slightly altered organisms. He had  _never_ felt something like this in his entire life and it bothered him that the bluenette's ability may be having some kind of effect on him, since he had been under direct contact with it more than once already.

 

"I don't believe that people under interrogation have any kind of relationship with their inquisitors either," added the redhead.

 

"So you are admitting that this is some sort of interrogation on your behalf?" counterattacked Kuroko, looking straight into the other male's heterochromatic eyes, as if challenging him to apply his own words and be honest about his current intentions.

 

"That was not what I meant, Tetsuya. Damn it, why do you always twist my words?" asked Akashi, slightly exasperated.

 

"Maybe because they are twisted from the very beginning, and it's just you that don't see it as such," answered the bluenette. "Sometimes you need another person to tell you the obvious for you to come to realize the truth."

 

 _Though in my case, it weren't words alone that made me realize the truth, but the actions and events that the words themselves lead to,_ muttered inwardly Kuroko, a pained expression flashing on his features momentarily.

 

The redhead peered intently at the smaller male in front of him. He could understand what Kuroko was trying to tell him, but he never thought of himself as someone who was lacking an understanding on his own persona. He knew that others sometimes perceived him as a "calculating evil bastard", as Aomine had once called him, and he knew better than anyone how twisted his actions could be, especially when his inner beast came loose in the world.

 

However, when it came to Kuroko, up until now he had only taken two stances: manipulating him through his words to make him talk and being honest with him, which could easily be seen as using the two sides of a coin to achieve a common goal. Not his most used strategy when dealing with others, but the most suited to apply on the bluenette.

 

Or so he thought until recently.

 

Kuroko, almost as if denying him on everything, completely broke through his plans in that aspect. He now knew he couldn't use manipulation on him, or, if he had to, he needed to do it in a way that the bluenette would not notice. And that could be sort of troublesome, since he was close to genius when it came to read between the lines of the words and actions of others.

 

Akashi sighed and motioned his hand up to cup the soft and warm cheek of the smaller male, who was practically curled up against the wall to create space between both of them.

 

"Tetsuya, I--" started the redhead, but suddenly someone knocked on the door. He clicked his tongue and peered sideways to the door, as if wishing that if he pretended that nobody was behind it, then the interruption would magically vanish.

 

Dropping his hand down, Akashi moved away from the smaller male and got out of the bed, walking over in the door's direction to open it. Behind it was Midorima, a slight frown on his face.

 

"I don't know if you noticed, but I've been trying to call you for over an hour now," admonished the green haired male, entering inside the room without even asking for permission. He gave a quick glance over at Kuroko, who was still on top of the bed, near the wall, and looked back at Akashi. "So, since a certain someone decided to shut his phone down, be it intentionally or not, I had to come all the way here from Shuutoku, after I passed by the Student Council building to find it empty."

 

"That's weird. The last time I checked my phone, it was turned on." The redhead motioned over to the desk, where his phone had been placed, and grabbed it, checking that it was indeed turned off. He tried to turn it on again, but the gadget refused to work. He looked over at Midorima and then at Kuroko, an eyebrow slightly raised. "It's broken."

 

"..." Kuroko moved his eyes between the redhead and the green haired male, as they stared intently at him. "Well, it happens sometimes. That's why I can't maintain electrical devices with me for a long period of time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "GLITTER DAYS" by Fo'xTails.
> 
> Kuroko, seriously, it's impossible to try to reason out with Akashi... Just give up and give yourself to him, already! You have hundreds of people asking for it to happen XD
> 
> No, let me correct you on something, Akashi. It wasn't your phone that was turned on, it was YOU!! Kyaaa!  
> But damn it, Midorima, you have the worst timing ever!!!! And Kuroko, you literally cockblocked yourself... *face palm* What am I going to do with these bunch of lovable fools?
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	47. Blink when you realize the miracle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with this weeks last update!
> 
> About this chapter, I only have one thing to say: god bless you, Reo-nee!
> 
> Well, enjoy! (Oh, I know you will XD)

"So you broke the phone?" asked Midorima, lifting slightly an eyebrow while he peered at the bluenette.

 

"I didn't do it on purpose," pouted Kuroko, not enjoying being accused of something that he couldn't help himself at. "Sometimes my ability interferes with the electromagnetic waves of some devices and they end up getting broken. That happens especially if I'm constantly close to them... such as in the same division."

 

 _You wouldn't believe how many times I've woken up to find the food in my fridge completely spoiled because the electric household suddenly broke down in the middle of the night,_ cringed inwardly Kuroko. In terms of spending money, electric households made it to the top 3 monthly expenses, since he pretty much had to buy new ones from two to two months... when his ability was minimally under control.

 

So it wasn't all that surprising for him to find out that Akashi's phone had broken down, since the redhead had been spending so much time together with him in that room and his ability wasn't in the most stable levels at the moment, either.

 

"Does that mean that you can't work with them?" asked Akashi, seating down on his favorite spot in the sofa, a seat that enabled him to look directly to the smaller male's usual sitting spot in the bed.

 

"...Well, I wouldn't call it as far as not being able to work with them. I just can't use them for a long period of time or when my ability is slightly unstable," mumbled shyly Kuroko. In the 21st century, not being able to work with technology was almost like building a wall between someone and the world, since it was a source of information and a mean of communication which people couldn't live without anymore. And the fact that he could never depend on it made him feel even more detached from other humans or 'Users'.

 

Akashi peered intently at the bluenette and lifted his hand slowly, touching with his fingers on his chin while he thought about the new piece of information regarding 'The Phantom' and his ability. "Hmm... That could be somehow troublesome, but it can easily be deflected as a full hindrance to the future."

 

"'Troublesome'?" repeated Midorima, looking at the redhead with a shocked face due to his lack of concern on that little fact that none of them knew about until now. "It's way more than 'somehow troublesome', Akashi! That means that he won't be able to carry cellphones with him or any other gadget which we can use to more easily pinpoint his location, if it came into need."

 

Hearing the green haired male's words, Kuroko glared at him, but, well, coming from the "Miracles", there was nothing they could say or do in front of him that would shock him. He knew the "Miracle's" methods and he had been a subject of similar ones by  _them_ , so whatever they would discuss in front of him could make him feel extremely uncomfortable or angered, but shock him? Highly unlikely to happen.

 

"But it can be easily solved, Shintarou," added Akashi, exploring the solution that his head formulated to this unexpected discovery almost instantly. "We just have to make sure that one of us is always around, keeping an eye on him while he's outside."

 

"I'm sorry, Akashi-kun, but I don't think I would like to walk around with a babysitter following me all the time," objected Kuroko, looking from Midorima to the redhead parallel to him. "You said you would grant me considerable freedom, so keep your word on the matter."

 

"Being accompanied by one of us can't be considered babysitting, Tetsuya," answered Akashi, but when he saw the deadpan look on the bluenette, he cleared his throat. "Fine, when you want to go outside, we'll discuss that subject again."

 

Midorima looked down to the clock in his wrist and then back to the redhead. "Akashi, if you want me to look at your wounds, you'll have to hurry. I need to be somewhere else in one and a half hour."

 

"Ah, yes, Shintarou. Just give me a couple of minutes, and I'll be ready to go." Akashi got up from the sofa and motioned over to the desk, where he started rumbling through some papers. "Tetsuya and I only woke up a  few minutes before you showed up."

 

"Yes, I can see th--" started Midorima while looking sideways to the bluenette, but he suddenly interrupted his words, turning his face to him to observe him more intently. He had failed to notice a particular little "new addition" to the smaller male's appearance until now.

 

When he saw Kuroko looking back at him with his head slightly tilted, a question mark floating around his head, the green haired male averted his gaze and adjusted his glasses. He looked back at Akashi, who was entering inside the bathroom, and frowned slightly.

 

 _Once again, I completely fail to understand what goes inside Akashi's head,_ muttered Midorima inwardly. Though some of the actions of the redhead no longer surprised him, Akashi always managed to find new and creative ways to do it.

 

And Kuroko right now was a clear example of that.

 

Stepping out of the bathroom, Akashi motioned over to the desk once again and picked up the documents and papers he would need for the day, putting them inside a folder he took out of one of the drawers.

 

While motioning to the door that lead to the corridor together with Midorima, Akashi came to a halt and peered over to the bluenette, who was still sitting on the bed. "Tetsuya, I'll be back later. After Midorima checks my hand and I deal with some Student Council related matters, I'll take you to your apartment back in Seirin Dorm for you to gather your things."

 

"..." Kuroko looked down, averting the redhead's gaze. He knew the day where he had to say goodbye to his apartment in Seirin was coming, and even though he was only there due to necessity, it had been his only refuge since his first year in middle school. He may have gone through rough moments while staying there, but he still felt somewhat connected to it.

 

"Oh, and..." started once again the redhead, a smirk painted on his features while he looked over to the bluenette with his hands on the frame of the door. "Don't get too shocked when you go to the bathroom and see your reflection in the mirror."

 

Kuroko looked back to Akashi and tilted his head slightly, wondering what that was about. Midorima adjusted his glasses once again and followed after the heterochromatic redhead when he stepped outside, closing the door after he exited the room.

 

The bluenette sighed once again at the silence of the room. He didn't feel that comfortable with Akashi's presence in it, though it was better than it was in the beginning, but somehow, it was only when he was there alone that he noticed how big the room really was. Big, mostly empty, except the countless books on the shelves, and, above anything else, cold.

 

He peered sideways to the door once again and wondered what Akashi meant by that last sentence. He got out of the bed and, with his mobility already back to its full, walked over to the wooden door that lead to the bathroom. He went inside and put himself in front of the mirror.

 

"Shit..."

 

Kuroko wasn't someone who usually cursed, but when he saw the countless small and reddish hickeys on his neck, the word sort of slipped out of his mouth, together with the massive blush that immediately covered his features.

 

_Please, I beckon to all existing gods to not let anyone, and I mean anyone, come to this room for the next few days... including Akashi-kun himself!_

 

-.-

 

"You sure look like you're having fun, lately," softly said the green haired male while he undressed the ligature on Akashi's hand. After it had come out, he observed the burnt palm and the gash on the skin. "Especially considering the repertory of wounds you've been getting these past few weeks. Though I have to say that the only thing that I need to take a look at is the cut. The burn has been already dressed to and is starting to heal."

 

"That's thanks to Tetsuya," answered Akashi, a soft smile on his features.

 

"Which one of those things?" asked Midorima, adjusting his glasses while he peered at the cirurgical instruments he had prepared for stitching the still bleeding gash. He picked up the syringe and injected the local anesthesia in the smaller male's hand.

 

"Both, actually," honestly answered once again the redhead as he observed the other male picking up the needle with the thread, while starting to feel his hand grow steadily numb.

 

"..." Midorima contemplated shortly the expression on Akashi's face and then looked down to the other male's hand, starting to put his medical skills forward on the job he had been asked to do.

 

The green haired male would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised by the subtle changes in the redhead's behavior. Since Akashi discovered that "The Phantom" was within their reach and started interacting with the bluenette, he had noticed two new behavioral patterns on him.

 

The first was that the inner beast inside Akashi was making more short appearances than usual, which, honestly, was horrible news to all humanity. It could be as insignificant as it being him momentarily losing control on it due to his... well, surfacing emotions that he clearly wasn't used to feel. However, in the worst case scenario, it could be that Akashi's interest on Kuroko not only had conquered him fully, but the beast itself too.

 

And that could be terrible news to every single person who entered in contact with Kuroko. Though the person who would be in more danger would be the bluenette himself, since compared to the evilness and sadism of the inner beast, Akashi looked like a small lion youngling in a slightly bad mood, even during the peak of his mind games and manipulations.

 

On the other hand, and this was the thing that was not only shocking him but everyone around them, Akashi was smiling. Midorima wouldn't call him as far as expressionless, especially compared to Kuroko, but the redhead was simply not a person you could see smiling frequently. In all the years he has known Akashi, he has never seen him laughing once. But since the first day he directly interacted with the smaller male, he has been caught smiling from time to time with a certain tenderness that seemed completely foreign on someone with the type of personality that he had.

 

 _I wonder how long it will take for Akashi to realize that he only smiles in the presence of Kuroko or when he's mentioned in any way,_ muttered the green haired male in his head, a part of him amused by this miscalculation on their behalf, but mostly on Akashi's behalf. Though with the lack of understanding that the redhead had on the subject of "human emotions", mainly due to his past, Midorima doubted that he could reach a conclusion on it by himself any time soon. And most certainly it wouldn't be him that will give him a pushing hand in that regard.  _It will be my little revenge for all the times I had to suffer due to his slave driving way of working others._

 

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of the room in the Student Council building they were currently occupying. The room was mostly used to store Midorima's medical books and instruments, so, except the green haired male himself, almost nobody came into that room. Akashi and Midorima looked over to the door as it was being open, to reveal a tall black haired male stepping inside in their direction.

 

"Long time no see, Sei-chan!" cheerfully greeted Mibuchi Reo, motioning over in their direction. Mibuchi was a second year student staying in Rakuzan Dorm, the same as Akashi, and its dorm leader on behalf of Akashi, since the redhead was already quite busy with his duties as Student Council President and Head of the 'Miracles'. He was also one of the five 'Uncrowned Kings', the one with the title of 'Yaksha' due to his affinity with nature, as well as his good-natured personality.

 

"Good morning, Reo," answered back Akashi, peering at him sideways, in order to maintain both Midorima, who was finishing treating his hand, and the newcomer on his field of view. "What brings you here?"

 

"Oh, I've been informed of some information regarding the dorms by Nijimura, who is as busy as ever, so I've come to deliver them for him," smiled the black haired male. Since he noticed that Akashi was waiting for him to say whatever it was that it brought him there, he proceeded. "A student from Seirin Donr was attacked last night. His name is Furihata Kouki, a first year in high school. He wasn't hurt that badly, only some light concussions on his body. There have been other reports of attempted attack on other dorms, but he was the first one to be fully attacked. There are no witnesses, and when he was questioned on the matter, his memories were all jumbled up."

 

"So it may have been another 'User' attacking him," mumbled Akashi, giving the matter a thought and registering all the info in his head to later analyze the subject deeper.

 

"That's what Nijimura also said. But there's no way to know if the 'User' belongs to Teikou or if is non-registered," added Mibuchi.

 

"I understand. I'll ask Satsuki to check the surveillance cameras of the surrounding areas to see if we can find any clues on the matter," answered the redhead, switching his gaze up to Midorima, who was giving the last knot on the thread. "Shintarou, could you also give a quick check on my body?"

 

"Why?" asked the green haired male, taking off the silicone gloves and throwing them to the trash can. "Did you get hurt in any other place?"

 

"Oh no, Sei-chan. You have to take better care of yourself!", admonished softly the black haired male. "I don't think the other 'Miracles' would appreciate any more workload on top of them. Right, Midorima?"

 

"I've been feeling strange sensations on my chest and stomach lately," continued Akashi, ignoring Mibuchi's remark.

 

"Were you doing some kind of strain or heavy task at the time?" interrogated Midorima, re-arranging his cirurgical instruments back in their places to be sterilized later on. "Under which circumstances do you usually feel it and when was the last time it happened?"

 

"Mainly? When I'm with Tetsuya," answered readily the redhead.

 

"..." Midorima and Mibuchi exchanged a quick look and then glanced over to the smaller male once again.

 

"Shintarou, is it possible that his ability is somehow affecting my b--" started Akashi, but his words were cut off by the sudden outburst of the black haired male.

 

"Oh my! My little Sei-chan is starting to grow more human-like!" smiled Mibuchi, covering delicately his mouth with his hand while he motioned closer to the other two 'Users'. "You have to tell me all about this Tetsuya you mentioned right now, Sei-chan! He's a lucky person to have you in love with him."

 

 _I don't think there's any luck in that,_ mumbled inwardly the green haired male as he busied himself with meaningless tasks, just so that he wouldn't be called forth to the incoming conversation between Akashi and the older male.

 

"'Love'?" repeated Akashi after the black haired male, lifting slightly an eyebrow. "I apologize, Reo, but I fail to understand the meaning of your words."

 

"..." Once again, Mibuchi and Midorima exchanged glances with one another, the older male sighing softly. "Sei-chan, for as smart as you seem to be, you are an idiot."

 

Akashi immediately chuckled at the words that perfectly mimicked the ones that Kuroko had told him last night, and a soft smile appeared in his features once again. "That's the second time I've been told so."

 

Mibuchi motioned over to the chair next to the other two males and sat down on it, putting his elbow on top of the table and resting his chin on his hand. "You said you've been feeling 'weird sensations' lately, right? Are they like little squeezes and sudden pangs on your chest? And does it feel like sometimes you have something flying around inside your stomach or it being clutched inside out?"

 

"Yes," acknowledged the redhead by nodding slightly his head.

 

"And that only happens when you are with this 'Tetsuya-chan'?"

 

Akashi gave it a thought, remembering every time he had felt it. "Yes, for as long as I seem to recall it."

 

"Then, think carefully about this following questions I'm going to make you, okay?" added Mibuchi, lifting a finger. "Do you think he's cute? Like his little quirks and actions."

 

"..." Akashi had indeed thought of him as cute and endearing for quite a few times now, and he enjoyed observing the little quirks that the bluenette didn't seem to do consciously, like the way his eyes shined when he ate vanilla flavored sweets and pastries and his blatant way of avoiding to look directly at others when he was at either a loss of words or of what to do.

 

Pausing briefly, the long haired male lifted another finger. "Do you feel your heart suddenly speeding up when he's near?"

 

"..." He had felt his heard suddenly speeding up that very same morning, when the bluenette got even closer to him when they were sleeping, or waking up, in his case. He could also recall that happening several other times when the smaller male was around, especially when he was observing the other male doing something.

 

After another pause, Mibuchi raised a third finger. "Do you feel happy when he calls your name or when you call his name?"

 

"..." The redhead recalled the first time he heard Kuroko call his name, how he felt a mysterious feeling inside of him when that happened, and what it lead him to do when he asked him to call him by his first name. Calling the bluenette by his first name also left him with a sugary flavor in his mouth, as if he was tasting the most exquisite of pastries.

 

Mibuchi lifted yet another finger when he saw that Akashi was really giving a thought at what he was asking him. "Do you have the constant urge to touch or being near him?"

 

"..." The redhead was a business-like person; he only touched others when it was strictly necessary. However, he took great relish when he felt that prickling sensation and the warmth coming from the bluenette. It was a type of warmth that made him want to keep feeling it forever, and he wanted to share his own warmth with him when his body was as cold as it was last night, after his semi-loss of control.

 

Finally, the older male opened his hand completely, showing to the smaller male his five fingers fully spread. "Do you want to keep him all to yourself and don't like it when others are around him or touch him?"

 

"..." Akashi did have the intention from the very beginning of making 'The Phantom' his since the 'Bloody Night' ended, but his attachment to that notion was only due to the utility that that particular 'User' could provide him and Teikou. So, after he discovered the complete lack of control that the bluenette had on his ability and his completely shattered self, he should have been put off by that (or at least lower his expectations on him). However, unlike what he initially would have thought, that very same reasons made the attachment become stronger to the degree that he could no longer tolerate others touching or getting near of what was to become his. Every time someone tried to do so, he felt an uncontrollable urge to destroy that thing that was violating what was his and no one else's (though he wasn't sure if that particular urge came from himself in specific or if it was a remnant of his inner beast).

 

Akashi suddenly opened his eyes more than it was usual of him to do, and readily averted the curious stare of the black haired male and the peering gaze of the green haired male.

 

Perking up at the unconscious retracting action of the smaller male, Mibuchi got up from his seat and motioned his hand up to cover his mouth once again. "Oh my! You do! Sei-chan, those 'weird sensations' you have been feeling lately are basically your body telling your head that you're in love with Tetsuya-chan."

 

"..."

 

 _There's no turning back now, Akashi,_ warned Midorima in his head as he saw for the first time a completely lost expression in the face of the Head of the "Miracles" and currently strongest "User", Akashi Seijuurou.  _Once you realize your feelings for someone, you can never go back to now you used to be nor the eyes with which you see that person._

 

_Even if that person may turn out to be your happiest reason to live or the perpetual pain you feel when you slowly start losing them._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> I'm going to personify Lambdadelta, the witch of certainty, from "Umineko" and say the following: Kuroko, your request to the gods will certainly not happen XD
> 
> So.... YAY! Akashi FINALLY realized what those pangs and squeezes are and luckily he's not sick! Well, just with the initial stages of lovesickness, but whatever. Hehehehe, I wonder how their relationship will evolve from now on, since one of them already fully (well, maybe not fully but...) understands his feelings for the other ^^
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	48. It's because I like something that I do more than necessary, although there are days when I hate it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with a new chapter :D
> 
> Happy Halloween!!! I hope you enjoy it ^^  
> I was thinking of creating something special for Halloween, but since I don't have a lot of time on my hands at the moment and this chapter is pretty... well, "creepy" and "scary" on its own, I decided to use my time to continue writing my already ongoing works.
> 
> (On a side note, you have no idea how many new prompts/stories I've created for AkaKuro - they are so many that I don't think I'll be able to finish all of them in a lifetime. I create a new one almost every week, damn it. For you guys to have an inkling to how many KnB prompts/stories/scenarios I've created, I have two notebooks of 80 pages each full of notes, scripts and ideas - and that means I will have to get a third one soon enough XD)
> 
> Well, enjoy the creepiness XD

Kuroko was leisurely, considering the circumstances going around in his life, reading the second book of that morning. He had finished reading the boring book that he had started the day before in the bandstand, though he had to admit that it was the most complicated reading of his life, since he was constantly reminded of the events that occurred throughout that day. To enable his brain to forget about it, even if momentarily, he picked another book, this time a completely different one in terms of genre: he choose a mystery book from a very famous English writer that he read from time to time and still hadn't found time to pick up.

 

While he was reaching the beginning of the climax of the novel, someone knocked on the door. He prompted one of his eyes in the door's direction, wondering who it could be, since it wasn't the usual time for Akashi to return when he went to deal with Student Council matters.

 

A few seconds later, the door opened and from the corridor appeared the tanned male, Aomine Daiki, together with the bluenette's friend, Kagami Taiga. Seeing Kagami after being locked down in that room for weeks, interacting solemnly with Akashi and occasionally with the other "Miracles", Kuroko couldn't help the soft smile that surfaced in his features.

 

"Kagami-kun, why are you here?" asked the bluenette, putting his book down on the bed.

 

"Hearing you say that makes me think that my visit isn't welcomed," teased the redhead, feigning a sulking expression.

 

"That was not what I meant. I'm actually quite happy for seeing you," added Kuroko, motioning over to the edge of the bed to sit in another position.

 

"Yeah? Then when you see this, you'll be even more hyped up!" grinned Kagami, rumbling through a paper bag that he had in his hand as he walked over to the smaller male. From inside of it, he took out a plastic cup with Maji Burger's logo drawn on it. "I've brought you a little treat."

 

"Ah..." Grabbing the plastic cup from the taller male's hand, he immediately recognized it as the vanilla milkshakes that they sold in the fast food joint and that he used to binge-drink all the time. "Thank you very much, Kagami-kun..."

 

Seeing the shine in the teal of the bluenette's eyes, Kagami happily grinned once again. "It's no skin off my back to at least keep my promises with my friends, right?"

 

"Eh?" Kuroko looked away from the cup to stare at the redhead that had sat down next to him in the bed. "Then, you mean that you..."

 

"Yeah, well, the plastic cup may be from Maji Burger, but I made the milkshake myself," shyly answered the taller male, scratching softly his cheek in embarrassment.

 

"This guy literally made me follow him to the supermarket to buy the ingredients after he spent the entire night and morning bugging me to take him here," finally spoke up Aomine, as he made himself comfortable in the spot on the sofa that he previously had sat down on.

 

Kuroko looked to Aomine and then back to Kagami, an eyebrow slightly perked up. "I didn't know you two were close enough to go shopping together... or that you even knew each other."

 

"'Close enough', huh... Well, I did make him go down on his knees yesterday at night," teased the tanned male, a smirk painted on his features as he peered over at Kagami.

 

"Put it in context, you idiot!" blushed madly the redhead. "We just went on a one-on-one basketball game at night... which kinda went on until day break. But before that, I never really talked with this stubborn dirty old man."

 

"Who are you calling 'stubborn'? You were the one who kept nagging me to play against you one more time each time I defeated you," counterattacked Aomine, covering a yawn with his hand. "Thanks to that, I didn't sleep a wink!"

 

 _So you deny the 'stubborn' part, but not the 'dirty old man' one,_ thought both Kagami and Kuroko at the same time.

 

"Anyways, start drinking the milkshake already, Kuroko. Or it will get lukewarm," advised Kagami, switching between looking at the bluenette and certifying himself that Aomine wouldn't say any more misleading things.

 

"Right. Itadakimasu..." Kuroko finally took the straw on his mouth, and readily slurped on the vanilla milkshake. When the sweet and fragrant drink downed through his throat to his stomach, he couldn't help the happy face that came forth, one that appeared each time he got to drink vanilla milkshakes. And the thought that this particular one had been made especially for him to drink only made him the happier.

 

"What happened to your neck?" asked innocently the redhead, peering intently at the smaller male beside him.

 

"Ugh--!" Kuroko suddenly chocked on his drink, coughing a few times to clear his respiratory tract from the bits of milkshake that went down to the wrong place inadvertently. Switching his gaze between the two taller males, who peered at him with an eyebrow slightly raised due to the strange reaction that the bluenette manifested, he lunged his hand up and pulled his shirt slightly up to cover the hickeys that Akashi had left on him, even if just a bit. "Please, don't ask..."

 

"Wait, don't tell me..." started Kagami, beginning to connect all the dots of the situation in display in front of him. "Was it Akashi who did that!?"

 

"..." The bluenette readily averted the redhead's shocked expression and gaze on him.

 

"You sure have gotten 'friendly' with him, considering you were almost at each other's throats yesterday," teased Aomine whili picking on his ear.  _Though I still can't figure out what's going on inside Akashi's head..._

 

"Aw, man... Not only does he keep you here under house arrest, almost as if keeping a rare bird in a golden cage, but he even does that kind of things to you!?" started grumbling loudly Kagami, completely exasperated at the situation that only got worse, at least in his eyes. "You have to put up a fight, Kuroko!"

 

"I never said I didn't, Kagami-kun," deadpanned the bluenette, still avoiding the gaze from both the redhead and the tanned male.

 

"Oh, for god's sake, what the hell is wrong with that bastard!?" started Kagami.

 

"Here we go again..." muttered Aomine, rolling his eyes at what he got the feeling it would be a reenactment of the grumbling of last night.

 

"I mean, it's all well for him to want to keep the 'Bloody Night' from happening. Nobody wants to see something like that ever again. But as far as I know, keeping your ability under control doesn't involve leaving your neck covered with hickeys!!!" continued the redhead, totally missing the growing blush on the smaller male's face due to his words. He suddenly turned to face Kuroko and grabbed him by the upper arms. "Kuroko, did he do anything else to you?"

 

"...No, he didn't..." mumbled Kuroko, averting his gaze from Kagami once again.  _Yes, he totally did,_ cringed inwardly the bluenette at the same time he answered Kagami's question (though he obviously wouldn't say it out loud, since just by the redhead's reaction at the moment, he would most likely freak out... or get even more freaked out).

 

"Ah, but he kissed you, didn't he?" suddenly added Aomine. Kuroko and Kagami readily looked in the tanned male's direction: Kuroko with a shocked face, since he had no idea how Aomine could know about that, taking into account that Murasakibara was the only person present when Akashi kissed him in front of others and the purple haired giant had said that he would not tell anyone, and Kagami completely flabbergasted at that information. "I mean, when you lost control of your ability that morning, Akashi kissed you right before the whole shadowy thing exploded, right?"

 

"..." Akashi had indeed kissed him at that time, though he doesn't fully remember how it went. But he had been so sure that nobody had seen it at the time that he didn't really feel bothered that Akashi had done it in broad daylight in front of all the other 'Miracles' and his redhead friend, Kagami.

 

Now he realized how mistaken he had been.

 

"Kuroko! You can't let him do whatever he wants with you!" admonished the redhead, gripping more tightly Kuroko's arms. "Just because he says that you belong to him, that doesn't make you his to toy with!"

 

"...Aomine-kun already heard me saying this in the Student Council building yesterday, but I have no plans of becoming anyone's property," added Kuroko, trying to soothe down the worried semblance of the redhead. "Though I may be currently stuck here, I will not help them with whatever vile goals it is they want to achieve by using me."

 

"I don't know what kind of things you've been feeding your brain with..." interrupted suddenly Aomine, looking straight into the teal of Kuroko's eyes. "But you know absolutely nothing about us to define our plans with the blatant label of 'vile'. Because if we take our past actions into account, the only one who would be categorized as such would be you, Kuroko."

 

"...!" Kuroko looked shocked due to Aomine's words, though it was only but for a fraction of a second, as his surprise readily morphed into pain.

 

He could more or less take it if anybody else had told him he was "vile" or "evil" or whatever other words carried the same meaning... but hearing Aomine say that directly to his face was akin to have a large needle suddenly piercing his heart.

 

"Aomine, you asshole! How can you say something like that!?" yelled Kagami in response to the pained expression his friend was showing.

 

"Were you there to see it? Were you in Tokyo during the 'Bloody Night'?" asked the tanned male, his voice a little bit more rough that what he would intend it to be. "If you weren't there during those 7 hours straight from Hell, where mutilated bodies and blood painted the entirety of some streets, where the buildings surrounding us crumbled on top of us while we were trying to reach the place where Kuroko was, which we had no idea where the exact location was, where you couldn't do anything as you saw others literally being gutted right in front of you... Then how can you say that I'm not right in what I'm saying?"

 

"..." Kagami looked over to Kuroko and frowned slightly, seeing his pain become even more evident on his features.

 

"But that's not what I'm trying to get at," continued the tanned male, trying to subtly change the subject, since he knew well enough that he would be the one getting gutted by Akashi if Kuroko got in a similar state to what he was the last time he was with the bluenette in that room. "Try to get to know us first. Try to listen to what we have to say, be it about what happened in the past, or what we plan to do in the future."

 

"That's right, Kuroko." Kagami lunged his hand forward and jumbled the blue locks of hair of the smaller male. "Whatever it is that happened in the past, people change. Though I doubt that crazy bastard Akashi will change anytime soon..."

 

"What's this about me?" asked suddenly a voice. All of those inside the room looked over in the door's direction and saw Akashi standing there, his back leaned against the frame of the doorway. "May I ask what you're doing here again, Kagami Taiga?"

 

 _Oh shit! He was quicker than I thought!,_ thought Aomine in his head, panicking at the 'smile' in Akashi's face. That 'smile' in particular was a plain warning that the redhead was raging mad inside.

 

"Ah, well, you see..." In a single jump, the tanned male got up from the sofa and motioned over to Akashi, putting himself between the two redheads. When the heterochromatic redhead started walking in their direction, the 'smile' still painted in his features... it was then that Aomine started to  _really_ freak out internally. "Kagami had something to do with me and... umm... since I had to grab something I forgot here the last time I'd been in your building, we decided to... quickly... drop by..."

 

Akashi walked forward, passing by Aomine without even sparing him a glance. The tanned male gulped down hard at the tense silence that surrounded the entire room, but mostly at the fact that the heterochromatic redhead was also so quiet.

 

Reaching near Kuroko and Kagami, Akashi lunged his hand forward and grabbed the taller redhead's hand that was still on top of Kuroko's head, aggressively wrist-locking it.

 

"Argh...!" Feeling the abrupt pain on his joint, Kagami recoiled slightly, but he wasn't quick enough compared to the smaller redhead, and was once again thrown on his knees to the floor, unable to move a single muscle.

 

"Kagami-k--"

 

"i thought I told you that if you put a finger on Tetsuya, I would make you regret the day you were born," threatened Akashi, his golden eye shining an intense golden light. "And since you dared to disobey my order, I suppose you are ready to abide your punishment."

 

"Akashi-kun, stop!" yelled Kuroko, lunging forward to pull Akashi's hand away from the taller redhead's wrist when he saw him starting to bend it backwards. The moment the bluenette's hand touched Akashi's he lunged his free hand forward and pulled Kuroko close to him, grabbing the smaller male by the waist. "A-Akashi-kun?"

 

"Stay out of this, Tetsuya," answered the heterochromatic redhead, bending even more Kagami's wrist. "I absolutely condemn those who don't listen nor obey my words."

 

"Ah-- Ugh--" Feeling his joint slowly being bent in the opposite direction of its normal functioning motion without being able to do anything about it, Kagami could only helplessly glare at Akashi while trying to control his pained cries.

 

Not knowing what to do, and with his movements restricted by Akashi's hold on him, Kuroko shifted his eyes back and forth between the two redheads. What was he supposed to do in this kind of situation? He couldn't let Akashi bend Kagami's wrist to breaking point. Kagami loved to play basketball, after all. Such injury could be...

 

Aomine just stood there, motionless. He absolutely had to find a way to stop Akashi from punishing Kagami by breaking his joint, but Akashi's face at the moment could only be described with one word; sadistic. Akashi, or the beast inside of him, was enjoying every moment, every reaction that the taller redhead was giving him. He was enjoying the pain he was inflicting on the completely powerless guy laid down on his knees on the floor.

 

_He's doing that fucking creepy smile he does when the beast pays us a momentarily visit..._

 

This was an irrefutable proof to the theory Midorima had told them a couple of days ago, when all of them (except Akashi) reunited. There was a slight possibility that Akashi's inner beast may make a full awakening once again if the right conditions were set up. And the major condition was interacting everyday with the heterochromatic redhead: "The Phantom", Kuroko Tetsuya.

 

"A-Akashi-kun, stop...!" tried once again Kuroko, grabbing the redhead's shirt to catchi his attention while he watched Kagami's wrist starting to bend in a non-natural way. "Akashi-kun, please just stop!"

 

"Agh--!" cried once again Kagami, feeling his joint slowly coming out from its place.

 

"Seijuurou, stop immediately!"

 

Akashi felt a sudden shudder run down his entire body, from head to toes. He could have sworn he could even feel it in the end of his red locks of hair. He looked down at the unexpected source of his first name's calling and saw the bluenette glaring at him, a deep frown on his features. He slowly released the taller male's wrist and took several steps backwards, lead in the opposite direction by Kuroko.

 

Breaking away from the initial shock that Akashi actually stopped because someone ordered him to do so, Aomine took that opportunity and, in a single jump, lunged forward in the redhead's direction, crouching down on the floor to look at his hand. "Kagami, are you okay!?"

 

"Ngh... Yeah..." answered Kagami, his face painted in an obvious display of pain while he clutched his wrist.

 

Kuroko peered over at Kagami sideways, certifying himself that his hand and joint were still in its due place. His wrist was slightly swollen and the bluenette knew that it was because of the pressure that had been applied to that small and fragile area, but nevertheless he was worried about it.

 

The moment he took a step forward over in the two taller males' direction, the member grabbing him by the waist tightened its grip and pulled him closer. He looked once again to the redhead on the floor and then peered at Akashi, who stopped glaring at Kagami to also look to the smaller male on his arms.

 

"Stay here, Tetsuya," ordered Akashi, putting his other hand around the bluenette's back and pulling him even closer to his body.

 

"L-Let go, Akashi-kun. I have to go to--" started Kuroko, but he was interrupted when the redhead lowered his head completely and supported his forehead on his shoulder.

 

"Just stay where you are, Tetsuya," whispered softly the redhead, holding into the smaller male even more tightly. "Let me feel you and your warmth at least for a little while."

 

With the worry he was feeling about Kagami's possibly hurt hand, he hadn't realized until then how the "User" that was holding into him was trembling like a leaf while clutching at his clothes. Slowly, he lifted his hands, but before he could do anything with them, he came to a halt.

 

Once again, the bluenette wondered what was he supposed to do in this type of situation and why had his hands moved in Akashi's direction by instinct.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "Kimi ga Hikari de Aru Tame ni" by Ono Kenshou (our lovely bluenette).
> 
> Damn, things are starting to go on another direction, aren't they? Now it's Kuroko's turn to comfort our devilish angel. And maybe have Aomine apply medical treatment to Kagami while continuing to throw misleading lines, hehehe~ *winks* And Kagami... you sounded like a mother admonishing her daughter about her bad boyfriend - which was totally cute XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	49. You finally acknowledged the catal rhythm, right

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> It's coming a little bit earlier due to one reason - I'm tired as hell and I want to go to bed earlier because I have two fucking presentations tomorrow and I know shit about them since I spent the entire day fangirling about AkaKuro, MidoTaka, KiKasa, AoKaga, IwaOi, the list goes on and on XD
> 
> Well, enjoy ;D (I know you will, hehehe~)

"I'll be taking Kagami with me to see Midorima," warned Aomine as he helped Kagami get up on his feet. The taller redhead had been insisting that it wouldn't be needed to apply any treatment on his wrist, but as the pain and the swelling continued to grow, he was forced to succumb to the tanned male's insistence. "Kuroko, will you be..."

 

Kuroko nodded softly, peering sideways to Aomine and Kagami. He would have helped them out (well, at least until the door of the room), but since more than twenty minutes ago, when the heterochromatic redhead had released the other redhead's wrist, Akashi hadn't lessened his hold on the bluenette, who just stood up there near the desk together with him in a awkward embrace.

 

Observing in a masked manner, he watched the two taller males exiting the room, Kagami with a pained expression on his face, but with a mix of worry in it: not due to his wrist, but Kuroko who would be left alone in that room with Akashi. To soothe down Kagami's worries, he faintly smiled at him, nodding slightly with his head in acknowledgment.

 

After a brief pause, the tanned male and the taller redhead exited the room and closed the door behind them, Aomine giving the two males inside a last glance before doing so.

 

Silence was instilled in the room once again. Kuroko remembered how silent the room was after Akashi had left to go treat his gash on the hand with Midorima and before Aomine and Kagami had showed up for a visit. It wasn't as lonely as it was before, but the heaviness of the atmosphere was enough for him to want it to go back to the loneliness.

 

"Akashi-kun?" called softly Kuroko, peering over to the redhead's face, or what he could see of it as he was still resting his forehead on his shoulder. He had been in that position, hugging him tightly, without saying anything ever since he released Kagami's joint. His body had only stopped shivering five minutes previous the other two males had exited the room.

 

"..." The only answer the bluenette got out of the taller male was a slight tightening on the grip of his clothes. If Akashi put only a little bit more of strength into it, he would most likely tear his clothes up. And he couldn't call the tightness of the arms around him very comfortable either, as it was a little bit too strong for him to actually breathe at a regular pace.

 

"Akashi-kun, you're squeezing me too tigh--"

 

"Tetsuya..." suddenly called Akashi, interrupting the soft admonishment coming from the smaller male. He lightly rubbed his forehead on the other male's shoulder, breathing deep to take in all that Kuroko could offer him at the moment: warmth, comfort, security, a  _sense of self_. "Tetsuya... Tetsuya..."

 

"A-Akashi-kun?" called tentatively Kuroko as the redhead continued chanting his name over and over again. It was almost as if he was certifying himself that he was still there with him. That he was still safe.

 

Akashi suddenly jolted his head up and looked at the teal of the smaller male's eyes, peering at them with an intensity that he had never used before. Kuroko couldn't help but recoil at the stare and, for the hundredth time, feel extremely exposed to the redhead. It was almost like those heterochromatic eyes were trying to dive into his core, into his soul, and try to take a hold of some part of him.

 

He wanted to take a step back and create space between them, but the arms surrounding him wouldn't allow that to happen and probably would only tighten in defense.

 

He wanted to avert his eyes from that penetrative gaze but his teal orbs were stuck to the sight in front of him, as if something inside of his core was struggling for freedom while welcoming the shackles that chained it.

 

"Ak-Akashi-kun?" stuttered the bluenette, trying to call the redhead out of his fixed gaze on him. "Can you let go of--"

 

Even before he managed to finish his sentence, Akashi lessened his hold on his waist and looked in the desk's direction, eyeing the drawers by its base. He fully released his hold on the bluenette's waist and motioned over to the other side of the desk, where the drawers were placed.

 

Half-relieved, Kuroko sighed softly and continued observing the redhead as he lowered his hand to the last drawer, which, from what he could remember of when he made a tight inspection through the room, had been locked all that time.

 

Akashi paused his hand near the little handle of the drawer and let his golden eye flicker briefly, opening his mouth to speak. "Open," commanded the taller male, waiting for half a second for something to happen. When he motioned his hand forward once again and gripped the handle, the drawer softly opened, as if it had never been locked in the first place.

 

 _Akashi-kun's ability sure can be convenient... though it's only for him, and not to those around him,_ mumbled internally Kuroko, continuing to observe what was it that Akashi was magically going to take off of his hat (which was, in this case, a simple drawer).

 

When he saw a metallic glint coming outside of the drawer in the redhead's hand, he couldn't help the cold sweat that covered his skin and the immediate recoil that his body twitched at. What Akashi took out of the locked up drawer was a pair of scissors.

 

Turning around to look at Kuroko again, Akashi started motioning over in his direction, an unreadable expression on his face. It wasn't unreadable per se, but with the panic that the bluenette was internally feeling at the moment, he was under no condition to determine what he was going to do with those scissors. All he could tell was that Akashi was completely dead set on what he was about to do.

 

However, Akashi simply passed by him to the bathroom's direction. After a few seconds, he came out of it with a small towel in his hands and then motioned over to the table, pulling one of the chairs. Kuroko observed attentively all of those back and forward trips, trying to make something out of it while he calmed down his thundering heart.

 

He only hoped that Akashi would not go outside the room and chase after Kagami with those scissors wide open to cut any piece of his body. If his intentions were to do something to him, then he would deal with it the best way he could. Kuroko was sure that he could somehow reason out with Akashi if he really put his mind to it.

 

After finishing adjusting several things, Akashi motioned once again over to Kuroko and, this time, grabbed his hand, tow hauling him in the table's direction.

 

"Akashi-kun? What are you doing?" asked the bluenette, trying to conceal the tremor in his voice and body the best he could. "Akash--"

 

The redhead motioned his hands up and pushed Kuroko down to a sitting position in the chair he had pulled out. Tilting his head slightly while he tried to connect the dots, when he saw the taller male putting the small towel around his shoulders, he finally understood what Akashi's plan was.

 

"W-What do you think you're doing!?" asked Kuroko, completely flabbergasted when he saw Akashi picking up the scissors once again and motioning them into his hair. He immediately lunged his hand up and grabbed the redhead's wrist before he closed the pair of scissors and cut his blue strands of hair.

 

"Don't move around, Tetsuya, or it will come out wrong," warned Akashi, softly pulling the pale hand out of his wrist and putting it back down.

 

"You're not really thinking of-- Ah, wait!" Before he could motion his hand up once again, he heard the  _snip_ of the scissors closing and when he looked down, he saw a few strands of his blue hair fallen on top of the towel around him. "Akashi-kun!"

 

"As I said, don't move or it will-- Ah, I cut too much," suddenly interrupted himself the redhead, while pausing his hand.

 

"Eh...? No way!" gasped the bluenette. It was simply his hair that was being cut and it would grow back, and although he could simply erase his presence while he was with other people, he sure wouldn't like to walk around with whatever it was that Akashi was going to make his hair become.

 

"Of course there's no way. Who do you think is cutting your hair?" answered back the taller male, a smirk painting his features.

 

 _I see that Akashi-kun is fully back to his mischievous self again,_ sulked the bluenette, turning his head back to the position Akashi had put it. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared outside one of the windows, trying to think about anything other than what Akashi was going to do to his hair. Kuroko wasn't even going to try to argue against him right now, for the look on the redhead's face said that he wouldn't back down on his decision.

 

However, for as much as he tried, his thoughts always came back to the same question: why did Akashi suddenly decided to cut his hair? Well, he had other questions flying around in his head, like why the redhead had suddenly done such a thing to Kagami and what was that uncomfortable and gut-turning sensation he felt when he was in Akashi's arms as he was plainly trying to break his friend's wrist as some sort of punishment. However, since he concluded that those were too much for him to focus on at the moment, he turned to the most simple of all of them (though it was still as complex as one of those politics books lying around in the shelves of that room).

 

First of all, his hair was already short enough and it didn't cause him any trouble throughout his daily life at the length it was. Actually, he felt quite comfortable with the way his hair was at the moment. Also, Akashi had never given any indication that he thought otherwise about the length it had. The redhead had never once mentioned anything about his hair in all the conversations they had up until them.

 

Kuroko tried to peer sideways to the redhead, who continued to snip his hair, but since he was placed behind him, he couldn't see him all that clearly. When he tried to move his head again to look in his direction, Akashi's hands came forth and grabbed his head in place.

 

"Tetsuya, stop moving or it really will get badly done," softly admonished Akashi, brushing slightly the tips of his fingers on the bluenette's temples. He released his head and got back to cutting the soft, blue strands of hair.

 

The smaller male sighed and put his head back in place. However, when a thought suddenly popped up in his head, he lunged his face up and peered intently in the redhead's direction from below.

 

"Akashi-kun, are you cutting my hair because Kagami-kun touched my head earlier?" asked right away Kuroko, his teal eyes staring straight to the red and golden ones of the taller male.

 

"..." Akashi lowered the hand holding the pair of scissors and gave what Kuroko had asked him a thought. Was he cutting the smaller male's hair simply because Kagami had touched it? "Yes, I am."

 

"Why?" asked once again Kuroko, tilting his head slightly while he continued to look at Akashi from below.

 

"I simply don't like the fact that he touched you again when I warned him clearly last time that he would regret it if he did." The redhead lifted his empty hand and used the back of his finger to take a small strand of hair out of the pale and petite nose of the bluenette.

 

"Pfffffft..." Kuroko immediately motioned his hand up and covered his mouth, trying to suppress the laughter that was starting to well up inside of him. "That's your reason? Do you really dislike Kagami-kun that much?"

 

"I do," answered immediately Akashi, without a drop of hesitation. He moved the hand that was holding the scissors up and with the other grabbed a few strands near Kuroko's forehead, softly snipping the ends.

 

"Why? He's never done anything to you, right?" asked again the bluenette, peering intently into the heterochromatic eyes.

 

"Do I need a reason to dislike someone?" asked back the taller male, giving the final touches to the new haircut of the bluenette.

 

"Usually you do, Akashi-kun," deadpanned Kuroko, softly shaking his head to take the fallen strands of hair that were tickling his skin out of his face. The redhead motioned his hand up and lightly brushed the other male's forehead to help him take the fallen bits off of it.

 

"I dislike him because he's trying to steal something that belongs to me," added Akashi in a matter-of-factly way, almost as if what he was saying was the most obvious thing ever.

 

Kuroko moved his head down and turned around in the chair to look to the taller male directly. "First of all, Akashi-kun, I do not belong to you or anyone else. Secondly, Kagami-kun is my friend and I have the right to choose my friends by myself, independently of what your opinion of them is."

 

Akashi lifted slightly an eyebrow as he looked over to the bluenette sat down on the chair, a sort of amused expression painted on his features. "Are you scolding me?"

 

"That's right," answered Kuroko, trying to imitate the same matter-of-factly way of speaking that the redhead had used earlier. "So, don't do what you did to Kagami-kun ever again. Not to him, nor to anyone else."

 

"You sound like a kindergarten teacher scolding a little kid," chuckled softly Akashi, putting the pair of scissors on top of the table and motioning his hands to take the towel off of the bluenette's shoulders.

 

"So you do have the notion that your behavior was akin to be compared to a mischievous little kid who picks on his classmates, one completely aware that what he's doing is wrong," added Kuroko, continuing his admonishment on the redhead.

 

"There are some words that get better across when done through actions," answered the taller male while wiping a few bits of hair from the bluenette's clothes. He slowly motioned his hand up and touched lightly the smaller male's neck, putting the tip of his finger on tip of one of the countless hickeys left there that morning by him. "Like these, for example."

 

"...!" Kuroko immediately blushed and jumped backwards, forgetting completely that he was seating on top of a chair at the moment. Losing his balance, he slipped from the base of the chair and motioned down to the floor, bumping with his rear on the floor. "Ouch!"

 

"You must really enjoy going down to the floor. It's the second time you've fallen in 24 hours," teased Akashi, crouching down to peer directly into his eyes.

 

"And who's the one responsible for those two falls?" deadpanned the smaller male, rubbing lightly the place on his back that took most of the impact of the fall.

 

"Well, indirectly speaking, that would be me," smirked Akashi, giving him his hand to help the bluenette get back on his feet. Though he saw it was made reluctantly, Kuroko grabbed his hand almost immediately. They both motioned up, Kuroko still rubbing lightly the sore spot on his back with his other hand.

 

"Akashi-kun?" called the bluenette, peering at both the taller male's eyes and the hand that was gripping his. "You can let go now."

 

Akashi once again felt an extreme reluctance to release the pale and warm hand, from where pulsated that prickling sensation that he had come to enjoy so much. He stared intently at the small limb, lightly trailing with the tip of his fingers the joint, and concluded that if he had done the same thing he did to Kagami to Kuroko, his wrist would have snapped the moment he put the smallest of strength in it. A shudder immediately went down his spine at the thought that he could hurt the smaller male in such way.

 

He lifted his gaze and stared at the teal of the other male's eyes, which were looking back at him with a questioning expression. Was he really in love with Kuroko, like Mibuchi had pointed out?

 

He had always thought of himself as someone who had become completely detached from some of the most basic human emotions when he awoke as a "Miracles", and that became even more noteworthy when he lost the only person who still viewed him as an equal and truly cared about him, even with his split self. Feelings like joy, compassion, love, fear, and so many others that made human beings, well, human had become completely foreign to him that day, six years ago, when he awoke as a "Miracle", as one of the first humans to gain the title of "User".

 

However, though he never got to experience those emotions frequently when he was still a normal human, he could still recall what they felt like. And he could recall them even better now, since, slowly, Kuroko was bringing about some sort of change within him that mixed some of those emotions in it.

 

Since the day he discovered Kuroko was "The Phantom" and was within his grasp, he had felt so many things that his two hands weren't enough to count them all. After he pondered about what Mibuchi had told him while he was working in the Student Council building, he came to the conclusion that he had felt excitement, happiness, fear, possessiveness, surprise, aggravation, fondness, he had even felt tinges of guilt and arousal. And all of those emotions surfaced when he was dealing with Kuroko in any way.

 

No other being, either human or "User", had ever managed to do that to him.

 

So, if Mibuchi wasn't correct in what he said about him and his true feelings for the bluenette, then what exactly was that thing he felt? Logically speaking, the most and only plausible answer was that.

 

Akashi Seijuurou, the most powerful "User" of Japan, was in love with Kuroko Tetsuya, the "User" who had gained the title of "Phantom" after having caused the "Bloody Night" one year ago.

 

"Truly a little box of surprises..." muttered under his breath the redhead, a soft smile painted on his features as he released Kuroko's hand and lunged his hand up to take a small strand of hair that was still stuck on the bluenette's forehead.

 

"Eh?" asked Kuroko, not having been able to catch completely what the taller male had said.

 

"No, it's nothing. Go to the bathroom to see your new haircut in the mirror," said Akashi while motioning over to the table to clean and put all the things back in order. "I didn't cut all that much since your hair wasn't that big to begin with so there's not much of a difference from what it was before."

 

Kuroko remained in the same place, an eyebrow slightly raised while he observed the redhead putting the chair back in place. He peered sideways to the bathroom and motioned over there while thinking that he probably was reading too much into the slight pause that Akashi had made between grabbing and releasing his hand.

 

Entering inside the bathroom, he put himself in front of the mirror and once again lifted slightly an eyebrow. Just like Akashi had said, he didn't cut all that much hair. It was sort of similar to the way his hair was when he entered Teikou back in middle school in terms of length, but it was less spiky. It could be a good thing, since less hair meant he had to spend less time trying to control his wild bedhair in the mornings. Nevertheless, it would take a while to get used to see himself with this new appearance.

 

Kuroko grabbed the ends of a few strands of hair and felt the prickly sensation that could only be felt after the hair is freshly cut. Sensing movement around him, he peered sideways to the door and saw Akashi there, looking at him while resting his back on the frame of the door, arms crossed over his chest.

 

"I've called Atsushi and told him to lay down the barrier. Grab your coat, since it may be cold by the time we get back, and let's go to Seirin Dorm to get your things," nonchalantly said the redhead.

 

Those who saw him a few minutes ago, be it when he was trying to break Kagami's wrist, be it when he was trembling while clutching at Kuroko's clothes, would never say they were the same person. Kuroko already knew that Akashi was a person of some slight extremes: when he was angry, he could kill someone with his stare alone, and when he was concerned about something, he would take care of it until there was nothing to worry about.

 

However, the Akashi that the bluenette saw when he was "punishing" Kagami had something about him that made him look somehow off. Well, as if the "punishment" that Akashi choose wasn't already off enough. Somehow, to Kuroko, it almost seemed as if Akashi wasn't momentarily the same person he had been interacting with for weeks now anymore.

 

Feeling that the bluenette was once again studying him with his eyes, he motioned over to him and stopped beside him. "Is it to your liking?"

 

"Well, I'll eventually get used to it. Though you could have asked first if I even wanted to have my hair cut," deadpanned Kuroko, a slight tone of admonishment in it.

 

"Yes, yes, I'll ask for your permission first next time," answered Akashi, chuckling softly. He moved his face closer and chastely kissed the bluenette's forehead, motioning over to the door with a smirk afterwards. "The barrier should be down by now. Let's make the moving before it gets dark. If it's completed by them, I don't see any reason why you cannot sleep in your new quarters tonight."

 

When Akashi exited the bathroom, Kuroko lunged his hand up and clutched the place where the redhead had kissed him, a completely flabbergasted expression in his face.

 

Once again, he was at a total loss on trying to understand the redhead's moves and motives... and the sudden increase of his heartbeat at Akashi's out-of-the-blue kiss only baffled him even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "CATALRHYTHM" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> IT'S HAPPENING!!!! IT'S FUCKING HAPPENING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our devilish angel finally admitted (to himself) and confirmed (to a certain degree) that he's in love with our lovely bluenette XD We have to celebrate this little miracle, don't we?
> 
> And I just love the way that Akashi always manages to make Kuroko sulk/pout, feel embarrassed, blush madly or make his heart speed up all of a sudden XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	50. Maybe right now, there's no positive proof that can be held

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, minna-san! Mafy's here with another (early!!!) update!
> 
> We have to celebrate, guys! "Shattered Miracles" reached its 50th chapter!!!! That's a milestone for me for sure :D Thank you very much for all the support you guys have been giving me throughout this past few months. I owe you all the comments and kudos you've been sending me. Every single one of you always makes my day brighter through them XD I hope to continue working hard on this and other fics. Please continue taking care of me in the future *bows down*
> 
> As a celebration, I'm accepting any types of questions (be it about me or my fics) on either Twitter and Tumblr! So, be wise about what you want to know *winks*
> 
> [Side note: I've decided to put the same type of title for the MidoTaka intermission. Go check it out if you're curious about them ;D]
> 
> Well, enjoy, my darlings!!

"Got it. I'll drop by Shuutoku Dorm in half an hour with him, then," confirmed Aomine, peering over at Kagami, who was putting the last ice cube inside the plastic bag and awkwardly trying to tie the opening with a knot using one hand and his teeth.

 

 _"Geez... Akashi is always bringing us more and more work to do,"_ sighed Midorima from the other side of the phone call.  _"You left him together with Kuroko, right?"_

 

"Worried?" teased the tanned male.

 

 _"Actually, no. After the conversation he had with Mibuchi-san, I doubt he will knowingly hurt Kuroko. But..."_ continued Midorima, completely ignoring the teasing tone the other male had used with him.

 

"But the other one might not think the same way, right?" Still looking over to the redhead, he released a soft sigh when he saw the other male dropping the bag on the counter and spilling all the ice cubes out of the bag. "Anyway, Midorima, we'll be there in a few minutes. I have the feeling that if I don't help this guy right now, we will only get there when pigs fly."

 

 _"Right. I also have things to finish on my end-- Hey, Takao, don't you dare to sneak out while I'm talking on the phone! Get back to bed!"_ Aomine could faintly hear from the other side of the phone the voice of the raiven haired male arguing back to Midorima and he couldn't help the thought that despite all the disputes between those two, they still got along as well as he and Momoi did (though the nature of the two relationships were completely different).  _"Anyway, Aomine. Just make sure he puts ice on it while you're coming here. It will help to decrease the swelling and it will make it easier on me to see if there's anything wrong with it. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go tie someone to the bed."_

 

"Go easy on him or he won't be able to stand up tomorrow," teased Aomine once again.

 

_"I think that would be a blessing rather than a bad things - though I'm not saying that in the same sense that you are, okay!? Goodbye."_

 

"See ya," answered the tanned male before ending the call. He motioned over to the redhead, who was busy picking up the ice cubes and putting them back on the plastic bag. "If you had waited for me to finish the call, I would have given the knot to the bag."

 

"Well, excuse me if I want to put as much distance from that psychotic bastard as I can as soon as possible! The thought that he's right above my head right now is sending the chills down my spine," cringed Kagami while giving the bag to Aomine.

 

They were using the kitchen in the first floor of Akashi's building and, luckily or not, the kitchen was directly below Kuroko's "prison cell". Aomine had called Midorima as soon as they got outside the room and while he was explaining the situation to him, he said that they should apply ice to Kagami's wrist as soon as possible or it would get even more swollen and painful. Therefore, they had no other option than make use of the kitchen they were passing by at the time.

 

Aomine finished putting the fallen ice cubes inside of it and tied the opening of the bag, giving it to Kagami who was continuously peering either to the door or to the ceiling of the room.

 

"Are you scared that Akashi will come chasing after you with a knife on his hand to murder you?" teased the tanned male, a smirk painted on his features. He may have only said that as a joke, but knowing Akashi, he may really do that or worse one of these days if Kagami continued to rub him the wrong way, be it unknowingly or not.

 

"Yeah, right!" Kagami snatched the bag and put it on top of his swollen wrist, wincing slightly at the cold pressure that was impressing upon his wound. "Damn it!! We probably shouldn't have left Kuroko there alone with Akashi."

 

"Relax. He'll be fine," answered Aomine, leaning his back on the counter while crossing his arms over his chest. "Akashi may have done that to you, but I doubt he would ever do anything to hurt Kuroko."

 

 _Well, if he remains as himself, that is,_ mumbled inwardly the tanned male. Akashi was already unpredictable on his actions as it was, but if they added his inner beast to the equation, then the numbers of the lottery would be easier to guess that what the heterochromatic redhead's next move would be.

 

Insanity, unpredictability, sadism - those were the key words from which the beast functioned under. Adding another unpredictability to that, by the name of "Kuroko Tetsuya", may as well be considered an explosive mixture; two bombs ticking together and the magnitude of that explosion would be as big as dropping a ton of cesium into the ocean.

 

[Writer's Note: Cesium is an alkali metal and just like all alkali metals, it basically explodes when in contact with water. Just for you to have an example, one small stone of cesium (smaller than the size of the tip of a newborn's finger) can blow up with a glass container when dropped in water. In this comparison, Akashi is represented as the cesium, while Kuroko is the water. Also, Cesium is considered by the scientists the emperor of alkali metals. If you want to see a video of the reaction, go search for it on Youtube - I guarantee you that you will be shocked with it.]

 

All in all, Kuroko and Akashi together were the perfect recipe for disaster, if things went on a wrong direction.

 

"Even so, I'm still worried! I can't leave Kuroko with that madman! He's such a frail person and if Akashi manages to scare the shit out of a big guy like me, then--" started rumbling Kagami once more, exasperated at the situation that the bluenette had fallen under.

 

"For a big guy, you sure complain a lot," mumbled Aomine, picking on his ear.

 

"Shut it. You say that, but I know that you're worried about him too. And you're a freaking 'Miracles'! You should be able to do something, or at least have a say in the matter, right?" continued the redhead.

 

"I can't," answered Aomine right away, shrugging his shoulders.

 

"Why not!?"

 

Aomine sighed and lunged his hand up, scratching his head. "You know, there's something you need to understand about Akashi. Actually, several things. Akashi is the sun of Teikou."

 

"The 'sun'?" repeated Kagami, raising slightly an eyebrow at what the tanned male was saying. "A freaky guy like him?"

 

"Yes. He's an indispensable person for Teikou and for all 'Users' in Japan. Maybe even more than what people usually give him credit for. Maybe even more than what they need us for, the rest of the 'Miracles'. I mean, Teikou Academy probably wouldn't even exist if it wasn't for him!" continued explaining Aomine. "And yes, he may be completely insane at times, illogical throughout the entire day, and manipulative to the core, but the shelter that Teikou can be compared to would fall the moment he's gone. He's akin to be considered the quoin of Teikou."

 

"Okay, I can understand that. He's the most powerful 'User' and all that, but that doesn't have anything to do with Kuroko," added Kagami.

 

"Actually, it does. And a whole lot. I think that, right now, the one person Kuroko needs the most in his life, if he wants to have any decent future, is probably Akashi. And I'm not the only one who shares that opinion."

 

 _Though I have the feeling that the other way around is also quite possible, given what happened some moments ago,_ mumbled internally Aomine. He still couldn't believe that Akashi, in mid transition to his inner beast, actually stopped because someone told him to. If it had been any other person asking him to stop, he most likely would have broken Kagami's wrist and killed the person who tried to order him around in the most creative way he could think of at the moment (which equaled to a plain torture session to the victim).

 

Kuroko had managed to get a hold of some part of the heterochromatic redhead that nobody else had access to. However, whether that was a blessing or the demise of the whole earthly population... That was yet to be revealed.

 

"You must be kidding, right?" asked the incredulous redhead. If Kuroko needed something in his life, it was a stability that would guarantee him control on his ability. And Akashi was plainly everything but that on him, as the momentarily loss of control that he underwent in that morning almost one month ago proved.

 

"No, I'm not," confirmed Aomine. Well, he could see why Kagami was so reluctant to believe in his words, since, hell, even he couldn't fully believe what this all implied. "All us four 'Miracles' know that. I mean, more like  _feel_ it. Though I think that most of their interactions may be a double-edged sword that can strike at any moment, they are probably starting to need each other to be able to maintain control on themselves."

 

"Okay, now you're bullshitting me," half-laughed the redhead. "Kuroko lost control on his ability that morning  _because_ of Akashi. How can you say that when it's more than obvious that he's causing nothing but instability on him?"

 

"Didn't you see what happened back there in the room?" asked the tanned male.

 

"Huh?" interjected Kagami. Of course he hadn't noticed whatever it was that Aomine was referring to. He was too busy dealing with the pain and the fact that he could go home with a broken wrist to notice anything around him.

 

"You only came out of that room so lightly wounded because Kuroko ordered Akashi to stop. And so he stopped. That's point one," explained Aomine while playing with a spoon that he had found on top of the counter. "Point two: when yesterday Kuroko started losing control on his ability again--"

 

"Because of Akashi, I bet," mumbled Kagami under his breath, deeply frowning at the new piece of information he was only hearing about now.

 

"--it was Akashi that stopped him again," continued the tanned male, completely ignoring the interruption of the redhead. "As you heard me say back in the room, Akashi kissed Kuroko that morning. That was most likely the key to stop him at the time. And Akashi probably did the same yesterday to stop him again."

 

"So, okay. Akashi stops when Kuroko says for him to do so. But in Kuroko's case, isn't it only necessary to have someone kissing him for that to happen?"

 

"You know him better than me. Is he the type of person to stop his out-of-control ability just because someone kissed him?" asked back Aomine, spinning the spoon on his fingers and almost dropping it to the floor.

 

"...Well, probably not," mumbled Kagami, ashamed that he even considered such a thing about the bluenette.

 

"See?" confirmed the other male, pointing the spoon in the redhead's direction. "And I don't think any of us will risk proving this theory wrong. If the only thing you did was touch Kuroko and you almost had your joint broken, I fear for what Akashi would do to us if we kissed him."

 

Aomine and Kagami momentarily got silent, pondering over the matter. They shuddered at the thought of Akashi "punishing" them in worse ways than what he had done to Kagami some moments ago.

 

"Aomine, I think I really want to get away from this building the sooner we can," pointed out Kagami, a cold sweat suddenly covering his skin.

 

"Yup, me too. Let's get going," acknowledged Aomine, feeling the exact same cold sweat that the redhead was feeling.

 

The two males lunged forward in the door of the kitchen's direction, in a slightly more hasty steps than what they had taken when exiting the room above their heads. Crossing the corridor until the front door almost running, Aomine had to make an emergency stop when he saw two familiar characters already outside the building, walking side by side.

 

"What a shitty timing," grunted Aomine, pulling Kagami by his clothes to the wall beside the door they were supposed to cross to exit the building.

 

"Is that Akashi and Kuroko over there?" asked the redhead, looking over to the tanned male. "What are they doing outside the room? Isn't Kuroko supposed to be closed there?"

 

"Akashi's probably taking him back to Seirin Dorm for him to gather his stuff to move out to the new building," answered Aomine, cursing their bad luck inwardly.

 

The exchanged glances and peeked over through the open door to the redhead and bluenette crossing the path that lead to outside of the private-owned buildings. Akashi and Kuroko were walking side by side, the redhead weirdly close to the smaller male. The two taller males noted that there was something different about the bluenette, but they only noticed that it was his hair when Akashi moved his hand up and softly ruffled his blue locks with it. They watched as Kuroko moved his hand up to push Akashi's hand away from his head, appearing to be admonishing him for either having ruffled his hair or for whatever they were talking about. In Akashi's features was painted a soft smile as he looked over to Kuroko and lightly pinched his cheek.

 

But the thing that shocked the most both Aomine and Kagami was when Akashi suddenly moved his hand sideways and grabbed the small hand of the other male, and that the only reaction that he got out of it was Kuroko complaining to him about it, but not making any attempts to pull his hand away.

 

"I probably should go to the ophthalmologist to get my eyes checked..." mumbled Aomine at the incredulous scene he was being a witness to.

 

"Either that or when we got outside the kitchen, we accidentally stepped into an alternative reality where Akashi is flirting with Kuroko," added Kagami, also flabbergasted. "Does that mean that you're seeing the exact same thing that I am?"

 

"Holy shit, I am!" incredulously answered Aomine, lunging his hand up to face palm himself while he put his head back inside the building. "How could we have been so blind? Fuck, that explains everything!"

 

"What the heck are you talking about? Are you having an epiphany or something?" half-teased Kagami, also putting his head inside the building to peer at the male beside him.

 

"That explains why Akashi is almost 24/7 in that room together with Kuroko, why he doesn't have any reluctance in kissing him, why he left hickeys in such an obvious place, and why he's so damn possessive towards him," continued Akashi, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor.

 

"What? What is it?" questioned the redhead, anxious to know what it was that was putting Aomine in such clear shock.

 

The tanned male suddenly looked up at Kagami, surprise painting his features. "Akashi's in love with Kuroko."

 

"Huh?"

 

"Akashi's clearly in love with Kuroko and the reason why he's so fucking defensive about you is because he thinks you're also in love with him," added Aomine, connecting all the dots in his mind while he talked out loud to the other male.

 

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "FANTASTIC TUNE" by Ono Kenshou (our - I mean, Akashi's - delicious bluenette).
> 
> I think this current arc is quite similar to an earthquake. There's a huge tremor and then everything stays calm for a while. Then another tremor comes and devastates everything, followed by another tranquil period. And so on and so forth. Well, if you knew what I was talking about, you would probably consider this a spoiler, but since you don't know anything yet, I can say it freely :P (Don't pay me any heed, my comparisons are always ridiculous, be it in real life or on my writing - the other day I compared a garden to a mall. Don't ask me why...)
> 
> Ahahaha, I put Aomine and Kagami trembling with fear at the thought of Akashi punishing them XD And the MidoTaka cameo was just plainly adorable! *squeals* But, you only got AoKaga side of Akashi's flirting... Wait until you read the AkaKuro side of it! It's hilarious XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	51. It's hard to try to put it into words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter <3
> 
> Did you have a good weekend? I got sick... I probably shouldn't have worn short yesterday and walked around all day in the street with them. So that's why I'm updating early once again. I have to be on top shape for my classes, after all!
> 
> So, shall we find out what our AkaKuro couple was talking about when our AoKaga couple was "spying" on them?
> 
> Enjoy :D

Crossing the door that led to outside the building, Akashi and Kuroko walked side by side, the bluenette still playing absentmindedly with his freshly cut strands of hair.

 

“Worried that the haircut looks bad on you?” teased the redhead, getting slightly closer to Kuroko as they continued walking through the cement path.

 

“No, my head just feels slightly lighter. It’s weird,” answered the smaller male, ignoring the teasing tone on the other male’s words. Just like he was getting used to the constant presence of Akashi, he was also getting used to the teasing that seemed to come out of his mouth from time to time and learning how to get back at him in the same way. He released his blue strands and peered sideways to the redhead. “But if we take weirdness into account, your unexpected moves win by a landslide.”

 

“Weird, me?” asked Akashi, tilting slightly his head as he looked over to the bluenette. He lunged his hand up and ruffled his hair softly. “I think that the way you wake up with your hair in a total bird’s nest is weird on its own. Since you pretty much don’t move at all while sleeping.”

 

“That doesn’t have anything to do with weirdness. It’s the way my hair works,” defended himself the smaller male, pouting slightly at Akashi’s words. He also motioned his hand up and pushed the other male’s hand out of his head. “And since I have less hair now, it probably won’t be as much of a ‘bird’s nest’ as it was before.”

 

“I’m not complaining about it. I think that it’s quite cute,” added Akashi while continuing to look over to the bluenette with a warm smile on his features. He moved his hand down and softly pinched the round and warm cheek of the other male. “Actually, pretty much everything you do is cute.”

 

“How can you call another man ‘cute’? That’s why I say that you’re weird sometimes,” admonished Kuroko under his breath, a light pink blush painting his face.

 

Akashi chuckled softly and peered sideways to the front door of the building that they had exited a few moments ago. A smirk immediately formed on his lips and he looked in front once again. Slowly motioning his hand in the bluenette’s direction, he first brushed his little finger on the other male’s hand and then grabbed it.

 

“W-What are you doing?” asked Kuroko, surprised at the once again sudden move of the redhead.

 

“I’m weird, right?” asked Akashi, the smirk still painted on his features. “Just think of this as my ‘weird’ way of certifying myself that you don’t try to run away.”

 

“I had a lot of opportunities to run away yesterday,” added the bluenette. “Beside, where would I run to? Teikou pretty much controls this entire area. You would only need to warn the police and the transportation companies and close the exits of the town for me to not be able to move around freely.”

 

“You could go hide in your family’s house. I don’t think your own blood would throw you out if you were running away from ‘bad guys’,” pointed out Akashi. He felt a sudden twitch on the hand he was holding and peered at the bluenette, whose expression was painted with a slight frown.

 

“That would be my last resort, since I can’t call my own family, ‘family’ anymore,” answered Kuroko in a small voice.

 

“…” Akashi looked in front of him once again and gripped the small and pale hand a little bit more strongly. “What a coincidence. I can’t either. Though our circumstance are probably different on why we can’t do it.”

 

“…Yes, probably…” mumbled the bluenette. Whatever the circumstance that Akashi was under, it wasn’t probably his fault that he couldn’t be with his family, whereas in his case it was solemnly his fault that his family no longer recognized him nor considered him as someone with their blood. After all, it had been his own choice to completely erase their memories of him. It had been for everyone’s safety, to certify himself that they could all have a future – be it his family or all the others that had to be a victim of the little ‘spell’ he opted to ‘cast’.

 

“A family isn’t necessarily people who have the same blood as us. If we so wish for it, even a simple object or pet can become our family,” added Akashi after a slight moment of silence. “Of course, if we also wish for it, even people we meet throughout our life can become our family.”

 

“That’s true…” Kuroko smiled softly, remembering briefly the other 'member' of his family that didn’t have a single blood tie with him and that helped and meant more for him than maybe his real family did.

 

“I—“ started the redhead, but he thought better on what words were about to exit his mouth and decided to interrupt the conversation there, only reciting them in his mind instead: _I want to become someone you can trust as much as you usually would with family._

 

As he didn’t voiced out his own thoughts, he shifted his grip on the bluenette’s hand in lieu of it, intertwining their fingers and gripping tightly that small and fragile member, relishing on the warmth that the connection evoked inside of him.

 

“Akashi-kun,” called suddenly the smaller male.

 

“Hm?” Akashi looked over in the other male’s direction and saw him covering his face, which was painted with a myriad of shades of red, with the back of his free hand.

 

“The way you’re holding my hand is making me feel extremely uncomfortable,” honestly answered Kuroko, looking the opposite way from which the redhead was. “I promise I won’t run away, so can you let go?”

 

“I won’t. As I said yesterday, deal with it,” added Akashi, chuckling at the smaller male’s reaction. He was starting to slightly believe the other male’s words about his ‘weirdness’: how could he think that another male was adorable? But it was an undeniable truth that he thought so – Kuroko was extremely cute, in his opinion. If other people saw him acting like this in front of them, they would most likely think that way too. Not that he will ever let him do so while others are present, of course. The bluenette’s cuteness was something meant solemnly for his eyes.

 

“And as I said yesterday, I already have a lot that I must deal with so don’t add more to the list,” counterattacked Kuroko, trying to control his irregularly quick heartbeat and massive blush that was igniting his face on fire.

 

“I’m only holding your hand as a preventive measure, Tetsuya. If you want to, I can exchange that for handcuffs, but it would look even weirder to walk in the street like that than like this, wouldn’t it?” teased the taller male, a smirk erupting on his features. “I’ll give you the opportunity of choosing one of those two options. Which will it be?”

 

“You know that none of the options is appealing to me, right?” deadpanned the bluenette. He could use his ability and nullify his presence, like he would usually do while walking on the street, but if he was going to be holding Akashi’s hand he couldn’t do it. Using his ability while in direct contact with another person never led to a good result and it wasn’t going to be now that he would experiment on that field, since he knew well enough what it would bring nothing but a painful trip to the hospital or to an early grave for Akashi. “But for lack of better choice, the one that I can _painfully_ accept is—“

 

Suddenly, out of the bushes they were passing by, appeared a running and almost breathless male student that stopped right in front of Akashi and Kuroko, interrupting the latter and halting both of their steps.

 

Breathing heavily, the short brunette, only slightly taller than Kuroko, focused his stare on the bluenette and took a step closer to the two surprised males. “I-I’m sorry… I d-didn’t mean to s-scare you… But I-I have to d-do this…”

 

Akashi and Kuroko observed the stuttering male slowly coming closer. Akashi could faintly remember having seen him recently somewhere, but it was only when he saw his bandaged hand that he recalled that he was the student that had been attacked, Furihata Kouki.

 

“I-I’m sorry… It’s not me, it’s h-h-h-him!” Furihata suddenly started running in Kuroko’s direction, moving his hand to his back and taking from the waist of his pants a pocket knife.

 

Akashi immediately lunged his hand forward to protect the bluenette, but… it turned out to not be necessary at all.

 

“Owowowow!” screamed Furihata. “L-Let go of me, damn it!”

 

“…” Akashi looked down and saw the brunette pinned down on the floor, the hand that was holding the knife being locked down behind his back by a firm grip that made the struggling male release his hold on the sharp object. Kuroko was capably holding with his hand the slightly taller male’s arm while pressing his knee on his back to keep him the most motionless it was possible.

 

Peering up to look at Akashi, Kuroko tilted his head slightly, wondering why Akashi was so surprised of watching him defending himself. “What? I never considered myself a damsel in distress.”

 

The redhead moved his hand up to cover his mouth and keep the laughter that was, despite the complicated situation they suddenly found themselves in, welling up inside of him. “Yes, you really aren’t, Tetsuya.”

 

“Akashi-kun, put the knife further away from him and call the security,” directed the bluenette. As he saw Akashi raising slightly an eyebrow at his words, he added, “I would say ‘please’, but I don’t think we have any time for that. Just hurry up and call the security since I can’t do it myself, for reasons that you should be aware of.”

 

Akashi chuckled and took from his pants’ pocket a new phone, as his previous one truly hadn’t any way of being brought back to life. He immediately dialed the number to the security office and then called Nijimura to alert him of the occurrence. After talking for a few minutes to both places, he put his phone back on his pocket and walked back to near Kuroko, crouching down by his side.

 

“The guards are on their way and Shuuzou, an important member from the Department of Abilities and ‘Users’, is also coming to check on the situation.” Akashi grabbed the knife that was down on the ground and put it behind him, out of reach from Furihata as long as he remained in that spot. “Tetsuya, do you want me to help you?”

 

“Take either my necktie or yours so that we can immobilize his hands. It’s safer that way than having him continuing to struggle to break free from my hold on him,” answered Kuroko, using one of his hands to pull the other hand of the squirming around male and put them both together to be tied up.

 

“Right.” The redhead took his necktie and gave it to the bluenette, paying close attention to him to certify himself that he wasn’t hurt anywhere. As he couldn’t see any up front wound on him, he sighed softly with relief.

 

Kuroko finished tying the brunette’s hands and motioned him to a sitting position, and then shifted his body to a more comfortable position himself. He observed the brunette shivering with fright, tears running down his face as he looked down to the floor. “Why did you attack me?” asked softly the smaller male.

 

“I-I didn’t w-want to… I s-swear!” sobbed Furihata, his trembling worsening. “B-But h-h-he made me…! If I didn’t do as h-h-h-he said, the p-p-pain would… It hurt so much!! The p-p-pain that comes from h-h-h-him is horrible! The pain is…! The pain!!”

 

Akashi and Kuroko exchanged glances and then looked back to the sobbing male. “Who was it that made you attack Tetsuya? Is it the same person who attacked you a few days ago?”

 

“Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! I can’t…!” screamed suddenly the brunette. “I can’t say anything, or the pain will…! He’ll kill me with the pain! That pain will drive me insane and then kill me!! So I c-can’t! I can’t! I’m sorry… I’m sorry…! I’m so sorry!!”

 

Furihata continued apologizing countless times, repeating the same incoherent story about pain that a certain ‘he’ would bring to him if he told them anything else until the guards got there. Some minutes later, Nijimura also arrived to the spot.

 

“Do you have the hobby of bringing more work to others or is that only a trait of your terrible personality?” asked the older male as soon as he stopped beside Akashi.

 

“It probably would bring you more trouble if I only reported this occurrence to you when you didn’t have work to do, seeing as you have your schedule completely planned out until the end of this year,” added the redhead, crossing his arms over his chest while he looked over to Furihata being taken by the guards.

 

“And the responsible for 75% of that work is you,” counterattacked Nijimura.

 

“Don’t blame me for your workaholic lifestyle. Though I’m not exactly the best person to talk about that, either,” pointed out Akashi. He lunged his hand down to the floor and grabbed the knife that was still near his feet. “Here’s the knife he used to attack Tetsuya. Have it analyzed to see if there’s any fingerprints that don’t belong to neither of us, the people who touched the knife to take it off of him, nor to Furihata Kouki.”

 

“I know how to do my work, Akashi.” Nijimura sighed and grabbed the knife to put it on the inner pocket of his jacket. He looked around and saw behind the redhead a character that he had never seen before. Adding one to two, he concluded that the bluenette must be the famous new-found “Phantom”, Kuroko Tetsuya. Pointing disguisedly to the smaller male, the older male got closer to Akashi and put his arm around his neck. “Is he the little rare breed you’ve been keeping close to you?”

 

“Tetsuya is not a rare breed. Do not refer to him as you would a dog,” warned the redhead, slapping away the older male’s arm.

 

“The way you keep him closed in that room makes others think otherwise,” continued Nijimura. “And the fact that you built the new quarters for the ‘Miracles’ as quickly as it was humanly possible, just to keep him in both safety and cloistered during the times when he isn’t under direct surveillance from any of you five… Yes, I would risk saying that you are trying to keep a small gemstone locked up in a crystal safe-house.”

 

Akashi peered over sideways to the bluenette, who continued observing the conversation he was having with Nijimura from the distance. “I’m only taking the best of measures to stop the ‘Bloody Night’ from happening once again.”

 

“Is it only that?” asked the taller male, a smirk painted on his lips. “From what I’ve been told, when that little fellow is concerned, you start mixing what is in _here_ with what _here_ is telling you.” Nijimura pointed his finger first to Akashi’s chest and then to his head while talking, fully exemplifying what he meant with the conversation.

 

Akashi readily clicked his tongue and averted the older male’s gaze. He had Nijimura in high regard, as he had proven time and time again to be worthy of such, and his ability and intellect was fundamental to keep the Department of Abilities and “Users” working at 100%. However, this busybody streak he had in him and the habit of striking where it hurt was sometimes the things that made Akashi want to strangle the guy using his own intestines (though such graphic image could be only the inner beast’s own feelings about his senior).

 

“I see that you use your ‘little birds’ not only to spy on your enemies, but also your allies, Shuuzou,” added Akashi, glaring at the taller male. “Is the definition of ‘privacy’ not present in your dictionary?”

 

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles,” answered Nijimura, taking a step away from the redhead. For as fun as teasing Akashi was, he knew better than overstepping the boundaries of what was safe and what was entering into a lion’s den.

 

“Sun Tzu, right? We may have used ‘The Art of War’ back in Imperial Japan, but the times are completely different now,” pointed out the redhead, turning his back to Nijimura to walk in the bluenette’s direction. He peered over his shoulder and focused his red and golden eyes on the taller male. “There are ‘Users’ now, after all. And I'm their leader.”

 

Nijimura sighed and lunged his hand up to scratch his head as he watched the heterochromatic redhead motion to the small bluenette. “I really can’t win again him, can I? Even when I have the cheese and the knife on my hands, he still manages to get the bigger slice.”

 

He remained in the same place, watching the two smaller males interacting with each other. Then, with a smile painted on his features, he turned on his heels and motioned over the same direction he had come from.

 

_Be careful, Akashi. Even though the mind and the heart are two separate entities, if they start synchronizing when you have to make tough decisions, you may start making mistakes – and that’s something you don’t know how to deal with since you never experienced it before in first person._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "MEMORIES" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> I swear, Akashi can be a sly little bastard sometimes, can't he? But I like him that way XD
> 
> And Nijimura, you're trying to bite more than you can handle. Continue teasing Akashi in this way and we might get the news one of this day that you have been strangled to death with your own intestines. Consider this an warning (not only to you but anyone who tries to tease our devilish redhead).
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	52. The signpost is easiest to understand when it's unreasonable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, minna-san! Mafy's here with yet another chapter :D
> 
> Luckily, I managed to survive my fever, but today I almost died while crashing against a pole because I was fantasizing with our lovely AkaKuro. That was the first time I had a nosebleed due to something other than yaoi -.-' I'm a walking disaster... I'm probably more dangerous to myself and others than a running around tiger in a city!
> 
> Well, enjoy this half fluffy, half informative chapter ^^

Wincing slightly due to the shock the movement of his body caused on his limb, Kagami continued to climb the stairs a few steps behind Aomine. He peered down to his wrist, where a reddish coloring painted his skin due to both the swelling and the cold temperature of the ice. Lightly moving his joint to test its flexibility, he immediately felt a sharp pain infiltrating inside of the swollen ligaments. The redhead quickly gave up on the idea of continuing to determinate if his wrist was indeed broken or if it was only heavily hurt due to the wrist-locking that Akashi had done on him, and looked around the building where he was.

 

“You never been in Shuutoku?” asked Aomine, catching the redhead looking everywhere.

 

“Well, I’ve been in Seirin since the first day I’ve been here in Teikou and I never had any other reasons to go to other dorms, so no,” answered Kagami. There were students who used to visit their friends’ apartments, even if they were in other dorms, but the people who he usually interacted with were all from Seirin, and as such, he never got to enter the other five dorms.

 

“I see.” They continued walking through a corridor that interlinked the apartments on that particular section of Shuutoku and came to an halt when they saw a door which had the name ‘Midorima’ inscribed on the small white tag near the door bell. “This is Midorima’s apartment. He’s probably here already waiting for us.”

 

Aomine readily rang on the door bell and the two males waited for the green haired student to open the door. They waited for a few minutes, but silence and a closed door in front of them was all they got.

 

“That’s weird. He’s usually punctual as hell.” The tanned male lunged his hand forward once again and rang on the door bell one more time, and then another. But, just like with the first tentative, nobody came to open the door.

 

Kagami raised an eyebrow and looked over to the taller male. “Maybe he’s still busy with whatever he was doing when you called him.”

 

“Ah… That’s possible.” Aomine moved his hand up and touched his chin with his fingers, in a thinking motion. Then he started walking back towards the same place they had come from. “Come.”

 

“Where to?” asked Kagami, trying to catch up with the tanned male.

 

“To Midorima’s number one patient’s place,” answered Aomine while looking backwards to Kagami, a smirk twisting his lips.

 

“Huh?”

 

After crossing the corridor once again, they climbed two more laces of stairs and crossed another corridor. Aomine stopped in front of every door, to read the naming tag, until he came to a halt and pointed to an apartment in which tag was written “Takao”.

 

The tanned male was about to ring on the door bell when the door was suddenly opened, forcing them to take a few steps backwards to not get hit by it.

 

“You’re an idiot, Shin-chan! I’m so not going to put that thing up in his ass!” yelled a raiven haired male while looking back to the inside of the apartment. He was still in his pajamas, his shirt completely open to show his pale chest and his pants barely put on their correct place. As he turned around to step outside the apartment, he readily bumped into Aomine’s chest, who stopped him from bouncing backwards by grabbing his shoulders.

 

“Don’t you dare to try to run away again, Takao! This is just to make your fever go down more quickly!” Midorima appeared from inside the apartment running after the raiven haired male, but he halted when he saw both the tanned male and the redhead there. “Aomine... Is it that time already?”

 

“What kind of doctor plays are you forcing him to do this time, Midorima?” asked Aomine, a smirk painted on his features. He released the shoulders of the smaller male and leaned his side on the frame of the door.

 

“I am _not_ doing any ‘play’, I’m medicating him to lower his fever,” counterattacked the green haired male, a light shade of pink painting his cheeks.

 

“Yeah… Recently we’ve only been doing normal stuff,” sighed Takao, crossing his arms over his chest. He peered over to Midorima and a smirk appeared on his lips. “Though I’m quite excited to see what we will be doing in the next kink day~”

 

“Shut up, Takao! We’ll be doing nothing of the sort!” admonished Midorima, a red shade coloring his earlobes. He adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat, turning his back to the other males to walk back inside the apartment. “Anyway, come in, you two. And Takao, cover your body already.”

 

“You were the one undressing me a few minutes ago…” mumbled Takao under his breath, walking back to the interior of his apartment while buttoning his pajamas’ shirt.

 

“I see that you’re as much of a complicated patient as always, Takao,” teased the tanned male, also stepping inside of the apartment, followed by Kagami.

 

“I’m not being complicated. It’s just that the only things that I want to be put inside of my ass belong to Shin-chan. No other person or things are allowed access there~” grinned the smaller male, talking as low as a whisper to Aomine since he knew that Midorima would yell at him once again for saying those sort of things out loud.

 

“Ah…” replied Aomine, a sort of cringing feeling creeping up inside of him. He liked to talk with Takao, mostly because of the teasing that he imposed on everyone (and one that never failed to make Midorima blush madly at times), but the way his true feelings slipped out of his mouth unintentionally made those who were participating in some conversations feel extremely embarrassed. The only one who didn’t seem to be affected by it was the raiven haired male himself.

 

“Kagami, sit over there. I’m only going to get some stuff over there and I’ll examine you afterwards.” Midorima motioned over to the bedroom and left the three males to sit in the sofas in the living room.

 

After a few minutes, Midorima came out of the room with a blanket on his hand and a first aid kit on the other. As he passed by Takao, sitting on one of the individual sofas, he wrapped the blanket around his shoulders, covering his torso fully.

 

“Thanks, Shin-chan~” grinned the smaller male, snuggling himself of the warm piece of fabric.

 

“Let me see your wrist.” Midorima stopped beside Kagami and sat down next to him. Carefully grabbing his arm, he observed the wrist from different angles, softly bending his hand to see if there was any type of movement that had been impaired due to Akashi’s forceful wrist-locking.

 

Wincing every once in a while, Kagami did his best to contain the pained cries that some of Midorima’s ministrations while attending his hurt limb erupted in him. He patiently waited for the final verdict.

 

“Well, you almost got your hand bent backwards, that’s for sure, but it’s not broken,” said Midorima, adjusting his glasses with one hand as the other opened the first aid kit and took a bandage roll. He quickly started circling the redhead’s wrist with the ligature, giving enough room for the joint to move freely while accommodating the perfect tightness to cushion the swollen ligaments. “Refrain from using this hand for 2-3 weeks and apply a cooling pad or ice three times per day during that time, even after the swelling goes away. If you feel a lot of pain, you can take some pain killers, but do it only after your meals and with moderation.”

 

“Woah… Are you a doctor or something?” asked Kagami, surprised at the professionalism that the green haired male was showing him. Though they hadn’t interacted all that much, they weren’t exactly in the most friendly of relationships with each other, after all.

 

“No, I just research a lot of medical stuff due to… some reasons.” Peering over to the raiven haired male, Midorima adjusted his glasses and looked right back to Kagami. “And I’ve known Akashi for close to 6 years already. I can absolutely guarantee you that you weren’t the first one to be ‘punished’ in any way. And you won’t be the last, either, most likely.”

 

There was a short silence, as Midorima and Aomine cringed inwardly at the “punishments” they had already gone through, done by the heterochromatic redhead, especially in the initial stages of the construction of Teikou Academy, where his inner beast still could run as freely as it wished.

 

“Speaking of Akashi…” suddenly spoke up the tanned male, looking over at Midorima from the place in the wall where he had leaned his back on while waiting for the ‘medical appointment’ to be over. “Midorima, since you are the closest one to him out of all of us, did you knew that Akashi’s in love with Kuroko?”

 

The green haired male adjusted his glasses and averted slightly the tanned male’s gaze. “Well, you could say so…”

 

“Eh!? Akashi-san is in love with Kuroko, the ‘shadow’ guy? Isn’t that… sort of impossible? I mean, we’re talking about the ‘Emperor Eye’ here!” incredulously started rumbling Takao. He wasn’t all that close to the heterochromatic redhead and most of the things he knew about him were the bits of information that Midorima had sporadically disclosed to him. And although his eyes enabled him to see Akashi by his true form, he still remained as much of a mystery as the unknown way that the Egyptians used to build the pyramids over five thousand years ago.

 

“When did you notice?” asked once again Aomine, a serious demeanor on his features.

 

Midorima sighed and crossed his arms over his chest, thinking momentarily about the question that had been made. “The day Akashi made Kuroko pass out with hyperventilation. We talked a little bit about him and the blatant possessiveness and monopolization he showed was a clear sign of it, now that I think about it. But I only confirmed it when he admitted that he had kissed Kuroko.”

 

Aomine lifted slightly an eyebrow. He had never pictured Akashi to be a person that talked about his romantic ploys so openly, even if done with someone he was sort of close with. _Unless it was done to state his claim on Kuroko,_ muttered inwardly the tanned male.

 

“Was it to stop Kuroko the morning he started running out of control?” asked Aomine.

 

“No, before that,” answered Midorima, also raising slightly an eyebrow when he heard the tanned male’s question. Did that meant that the key to stop the bluenette was by somehow entering in direct contact with him and kiss him? He doubted that any of them could prove that small and important theory correct or wrong, as Akashi would probably decapitate anyone who even thought of approaching Kuroko with such intentions. “When did you notice?”

 

“Well…” started Aomine, lunging his hand up to scratch his head. “If we ignore the fact that he almost broke Kagami’s wrist because he touched Kuroko, it was when I saw Akashi and Kuroko walk side by side to go to Seirin today, while Akashi just shamelessly flirted with him.”

 

“Pfffft! Akashi-san? Flirting? Woah, I really wish I could have seen that~” laughed off Takao, lunging his hand forward to cover his mouth to stop himself from actually giggling at the image he had in his head of the heterochromatic redhead’s interpretation of what flirting was.

 

“He’s not kidding,” backed up Kagami. “He really was flirting with Kuroko, touching him non-stop and holding his hand as if it was a daily occurrence for him.”

 

“Heh! Just like it may become a daily occurrence Akashi trying to kill you, Kagami,” snickered the tanned male.

 

“Shut up!” yelled the redhead, sort of flustered about it. “You can only laugh it off because it’s my life that’s in risk and not yours!”

 

“Huh? What’s that about?” asked Midorima, a question mark floating around his head. “Did you do something even worse to anger Akashi, Kagami?”

 

“He did… in an unconscious level,” smirked Aomine, walking over in their direction and positioning himself on a sitting position on the arm of the sofa where Kagami and Midorima were sitting at. “Akashi thinks that Kagami is competing with him in terms of seeking Kuroko’s affection.”

 

“Ah…” Midorima readily adjusted his glasses and averted their gaze. “I probably should apologize for that.”

 

“Huh? Why?” asked the redhead, peering over to the green haired male.

 

“The way I told Akashi about when you took Kuroko to the infirmary may have led him to think about you like that,” answered Midorima, internally admonishing himself for having phrased the relationship between Kagami and Kuroko in that way back then when he was playing shogi with Akashi.

 

“Shin-chan, you just signed Kagami to an early grave,” snickered the raiven haired male, lunging his hand out of the rolled up blanket around him to grab the bottle of water on top of the small table between all of them.

 

“Be quiet, Takao,” admonished the taller male. He adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat. “And it will probably get even more dangerous for all of us from now on.”

 

“What do you mean?” asked readily the tanned male, perking up at the serious tone in Midorima’s voice.

 

“After the conversation Akashi had today with Mibuchi-san, he has now the inkling that he’s in love with Kuroko. Though I have no idea of how he plans to prove it correct or when he will do it.”

 

“So, that means…” mumbled Aomine, motioning his hand up to his chin in a thinking motion. He looked immediately to Midorima, shock painting his features. “Fuck! Then the other will probably…!”

 

“I’m afraid so…” cringed inwardly the green haired male, a deep frown wrinkling his forehead.

 

Another silence dominated the apartment, one that was heavy due to the matter they were implying. Kagami switched his gaze between Midorima and Aomine, not understanding the direction the conversation was going to.

 

Catching the lost stance of the redhead, Takao closed the bottle of water with its cap and put it back on top of the small table. “Shin-chan, you should probably tell Kagami about it.”

 

“…” Midorima looked away from Takao to stare at Kagami, catching from the corner of his eye Aomine, who was sitting behind of the redhead, nodding in agreement.

 

“It’s not like we are trying to keep it a secret, and in the position where Kagami stands at the moment, he probably should know about it,” confirmed the tanned male with words too, since it appeared to him that the green haired male was still hesitant about it.

 

Midorima sighed, adjusting his glasses. “That’s true, I guess… It seems that we have to tell the truth to Kagami. The truth about Akashi.”

 

“What are you talking about?” asked the redhead, lifting slightly an eyebrow, a deep frown covering his face. Whatever this truth about Akashi was, the serious demeanor that all of the ‘Users’ in front of him took was proof enough that it wasn’t going to be good news.

 

“I don’t really know how to put it, but…” started Midorima, adjusting his glasses. “There’s two Akashis.”

 

“What?” interjected Kagami, not knowing exactly how to interpret those words.

 

“There’s the original Akashi, which is the one that is usually out. And then… there’s the one that we normally refer to as ‘inner beast’,” explained Midorima, seeking Takao’s gaze to give him enough strength and fearlessness to continue forward with it. “The second Akashi was created six years ago when he awoke as a ‘User’. Or it may have existed from the very beginning and never made an appearance until then. We don’t really know since Akashi doesn’t talk about it with anyone.”

 

“Wait,” interrupted Kagami, lunging his hand forward in a stopping motion while he connected all the dots in his head. “So you’re telling me that it wasn’t Akashi per se that attacked me, but the ‘inner beast’?”

 

“Exactly,” confirmed Midorima.

 

Kagami looked over to Aomine, who was also nodding in acknowledgment. A sudden feeling of dread overcame him from deep within his core, a sickening motion rumbling inside of his stomach. “Then we have to get Kuroko away from him immediately!”

 

“That’s not needed. Like I said before, Kuroko will be fine. Akashi will not hurt him like he did to you,” interrupted the tanned male, picking on his ear.

 

“How can you be so sure!?” panicked the redhead, looking over to Aomine.

 

“Because the inner beast is as fascinated with Kuroko as Akashi is in love with him. Though I can’t speak for the inner beast, but Akashi would never hurt someone he deems precious to him,” added the green haired male. “Besides, breaking them apart could be worse than keeping them together.”

 

 _After all, nobody likes it when someone takes their favorite toy away from them… Especially Akashi’s inner beast,_ cringed inwardly Midorima, adjusting his glasses while he peered over at Kagami and Aomine as they continued arguing back and forth about the bluenette and the heterochromatic redhead’s relationship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Future Line" by Ono Kenshou (our lovely bluenette).
> 
> So I decided to be merciful and actually answered some questions. I'm such a nice person, right? ;D But we have yet to see if these said "answers" given to the characters will help them out in any way. We shall see~
> 
> I wanted to ask you guys something. Have you seen the latest KnB goodies? Every time that a new one comes out, I'm like "You are putting Akashi and Kuroko together again? This is the universe telling me that they are canon!!! They can only be canon, right? I mean, look at this image! And the picture they put on this goodies! And every time that Akashi appears, he's beside my beautiful bluenette! 90% of the cases he is! How can it not be canon!?!? XD" I literally die and go to AkaKuro heaven because of this!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com


	53. Set a fire there and here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with a surprise release!!
> 
> The reason: happy birthday to me! Now, I can freely drink (I don't drink, but well), smoke (I also don't smoke, but well) and write porn in (almost) all countries of the world!!! In Japan, people no longer can look at me and say, "You're too young to do this." But yeah... I feel kinda old :P
> 
> So I will be releasing this delicious chapter earlier (I don't know if tomorrow I can though), and send you all to AkaKuro heaven! I wonder how many casualties there will be with this one...
> 
> Well, enjoy XD

“Akashi-kun, didn’t I promise that I wouldn’t run away?” asked Kuroko, a soft, but quite noticeable, pink blush on his cheeks.

 

“Yes, you did,” confirmed Akashi.

 

“Then why do you continue to stubbornly hold my hand?” asked once again the bluenette, peering slightly down to the ground.

 

After the guards that made them questions about the sudden attack of Furihata Kouki on him left with the culprit and with the student that had an important position in the Department of ‘Users’ and Abilities, Nijimura Shuuzou, they resumed their walk to Seirin. And as soon as they crossed the boundaries of the main gate of Teikou Academy, Akashi had promptly grabbed his hand once again and entwined their fingers.

 

In the middle of the street that connected Teikou Academy with Seirin Dorm, the bluenette’s embarrassment on the situation was reaching levels of such proportion that the only reason why he hadn’t snatched his hand out of the redhead’s hold already had been the soothing and comforting sensation that, even with the extreme embarrassment, that little action brought inside of him. But everything had a limit. And his bashfulness was starting to win.

 

“If I’m this close to you, it’s easier to protect you if someone tries to attack you again,” stated nonchalantly Akashi, pulling slightly the smaller male closer to his side.

 

 _So you just shift your reasons conveniently as the circumstances change,_ mumbled Kuroko in his head. Before he was attacked, the reason had been to prevent him from trying to escape, and now it was to supposedly protect him. He had to wonder if the way the redhead’s mind worked was developed enough to even manipulate all the events around them in his favor or if it was simply his “weirdness” showing up again.

 

“I think I’ve proved to you that I’m more than capable of protecting myself, if needed,” pouted slightly the bluenette, not enjoying the feeling that he was being underestimated, especially since his own ability of self-preservation was on the line. The circumstances were much calmer now, but there had been a time when he basically only survived because he learn every single self-defense technique that had been invented at the time, together, of course, with the small ‘tricks’ he learned to do with the few bits of his ability that he could use without feeling any repercussion.

 

Chuckling at the slight pout that Kuroko was showing on his almost always expressionless face, Akashi came to a halt in front of the main entrance of Seirin, peering over to the smaller male. “Yes, I can see that now. But even if I trust you on your abilities, I do not want to see you getting hurt. So just let me protect you from now on.”

 

Resuming once again with their steps, Akashi motioned inside the dorm, dragging Kuroko with him inside, whose blush became even more noteworthy. They followed to the stairs and started climbing until the second floor, where the bluenette’s apartment was located.

 

“…I told you before that I’m not a damsel in distress…” muttered softly Kuroko, picking up his pace to not just plainly be tow hauled by the redhead.

 

“Even if you aren’t, I still want to,” added Akashi, peering sideways to the smaller male. “You belong to me and, as such, it’s my duty to protect you.”

 

“I don’t bel—“ started Kuroko, but he interrupted himself and exasperatedly sighed. They came to a halt in front of his apartment and he used this opportunity to look directly to the heterochromatic eyes of the taller male. “I have absolutely no idea where you got such thing in your head, but I won’t belong to you just because you so claim that I do. A person is _not_ an object.”

 

“I don’t see you as an object,” contradicted the redhead, frowning at the thought that Kuroko even considered that he did such thing. He may be somewhat manipulative at times, but he never went as down as look at a person as if they were nothing more than a thing he could use for any objective he had. Every person had its uses, yes, but they weren’t things one could use once and then throw away when they got tired of it.

 

And even if he had ever thought of someone as such, Kuroko would never be one that he would view in that way.

 

“No, you don’t,” acknowledged Kuroko. “You see me as a mean to an end.”

 

“I may have,” confirmed the redhead, taking a step closer to the bluenette while motioning his hand up in his direction. “Yes, I may have thought like that before, Tetsuya. But I don’t anymore. I—“

 

“Akashi-kun?” called suddenly a friendly and spirited voice. “What are you doing here in Seirin? If you are searching for Hyuuga, his apartment is on the first floor.”

 

Akashi clicked his tongue and looked in the direction of the voice disturbing them, dropping his hand to the side of his body. In the end of the corridor they were in, near the stairs, was a tall brunette munching on some brown sugar candies. “Kiyoshi Teppei, the ‘Iron Heart’.”

 

“Ah… Don’t call me by that name, please. I get embarrassed when someone does so,” laughed awkwardly Kiyoshi, motioning his hand up to scratch his head, a strained smile painted on his features. “Anyway, it’s rare for you to come here. We’re not the most troublesome of dorms, after all.”

 

“Yes, you are not,” acknowledged Akashi, eyeing warily the taller male as he suddenly focused his eyes on the bluenette. He immediately moved closer to Kuroko, putting himself between them as a measure of protection, in case Kiyoshi also intended on attacking him for whatever reason it might be.

 

“You are… Kuroko-kun, right?” asked Kiyoshi, taking a step forward in the two smaller male’s direction. “I met you when Kagami brought you to his apartment in his arms, though you were sleeping at the time so you probably don’t remember me.”

 

The lamp right above their heads started flickering on and off in quick succession and suddenly burst inside the protective glass case that surrounded it. Kuroko looked up at it and then back to Akashi, who furiously glared at Kiyoshi, his eyes as sharp as a knife that was ready to be thrown at the taller male (or, honestly, at anyone who appeared before them right now). When the bluenette saw the redhead taking a step towards the taller male’s direction, he immediately lunged his hand forward and pulled his jacket back to him, halting his movements.

 

“…” Akashi peered over at Kuroko and walked backwards to position himself in the same place he was in before. He slowly took a deep breath and shifted his gaze once again to Kiyoshi, still frowning slightly.

 

“I’m a second year in high school, Kiyoshi Teppei,” smiled the brunette, completely ignorant that he almost got fulminated by the death glare that Akashi had sent him at his words. He continued walking in the two smaller males’ direction and lunged his hand forward to hand shake Kuroko’s. “Nice to meet you… or see you again, in a way.”

 

“Ah… Yes, nice to meet you, Kiyoshi-senpai,” greeted back Kuroko, bowing slightly his head while switching his gaze between the two taller males. He would have hand shook Kiyoshi’s hand, but it probably would be too risky to do it in Akashi’s presence (not for him, but for their senior).

 

“Do you need anything from us?” asked the slightly moody redhead, who continued to stand between the other two males. “If there’s nothing you wish to add, Tetsuya and I are busy at the time doing house moving, so I would appreciate it if you could leave.”

 

“Are you going to move Kuroko-kun out of Seirin to the new building that had been constructed in Teikou Academy’s restricted area?” asked Kiyoshi, putting his hand inside the plastic bag to take another brown sugar candy. He threw the candy up in the air and caught it in his mouth, crunching on it with his teeth immediately. “So the information I gave to Kagami was indeed correct. Kuroko-kun is ‘The Phantom’.”

 

Kuroko lunged his hand forward one more time and gripped the jacket of the redhead, seeing as he was once again glaring furiously at the taller male. Akashi turned his head back to face the bluenette and pulled his hand out of his jacket, grabbing it tightly. He opened the door of Kuroko’s apartment and pushed the smaller male inside.

 

“Just continue doing your duties as an ‘Uncrowned King’ and don’t stick your nose in ours, the ‘Miracles’, business, ‘Iron Heart’,” declared aggressively the redhead before also stepping inside the apartment and closing the door behind him.

 

“Well, someone is in a bad mood today,” sighed Kiyoshi, peering over to the glass dome that protected the lamp in the ceiling, a large crack in its surface due the pressure of the redhead’s ability.

 

The brunette took another brown sugar candy from the bag and threw it to the air once again, catching it in his mouth while he turned around to go back to his own apartment, on the first floor, right beside the dorm leader’s, Hyuuga Junpei, apartment.

 

Inside the apartment, Akashi turned around to look at its interior and saw the bluenette staring at him, his arms crossed over his chest. He lifted slightly an eyebrow at the blank expression on his face.

 

“Akashi-kun, your mood swings are worse than a tornado, be in its unpredictability and the damages it causes,” admonished Kuroko, dropping his arms as he turned around to turn the light of the living room and kitchenette’s area on.

 

“I don’t understand what you mean, Tetsuya,” answered the redhead, following after him. “I acted like I always do.”

 

“And that’s where the problem lies,” continued the bluenette on his admonishment. “You behave like a polite and well-behaved little pup in front of some, while with others, like with Kagami-kun and just now with Kiyoshi-senpai, you literally make lamps shatter with your ability.”

 

“Ah… I guess I did,” thought back Akashi, remembering that he did hear something breaking above his head when they were talking with Kiyoshi. “But, better than anyone, you should know that controlling your ability can be hard at times.”

 

“It’s hard to believe that when it’s you who says it,” added Kuroko, going over to the kitchenette area to peek inside the fridge. There was only a box of eggs inside of it, exactly what he remembered seeing the day before the morning where he lost momentarily his control on his ability. “Seeing as you are categorized as ‘perfect’ with your every action and plans.”

 

“You are mistaken on that, Tetsuya,” corrected Akashi, leaning over on the counter to observe the bluenette as he continued to check the things in the kitchen to determinate if there was anything worthy of taking with him. “I may be absolute, but I’m far from being perfect. I’m only human, after all.”

 

“I’m starting to understand that the label of ‘over-confident’ also applies to you,” deadpanned the smaller male as he walked out of the kitchenette to the living room.

 

“’Over-confident’ is a bit harsh,” corrected once again the redhead, shifting his body around to continuously keep the bluenette under his gaze. “But if you consider the fact that I am absolute, then I think I have my reasons why I’m so sure that things will go the way I want them to. That is, until you showed up, Tetsuya.”

 

“So I’m an unpredictability that was suddenly shoved into your life and breaks your absoluteness?” asked the bluenette, grabbing the blanket lying on top of the sofa (that he usually used to catnap during the coldest weekends) and motioned afterwards to his bedroom. Before he opened the door, he looked behind to Akashi and slightly smirked. “That sounds as a better title than ‘Phantom’ does, in my opinion.”

 

“…” Akashi felt his heartbeat quicken slightly and gripped tightly the side of the counter where his bandaged hand rested. Releasing the cold surface, he motioned forward and entered the bluenette’s bedroom after the owner of the apartment did. “Does it now? I think that the title ‘Phantom’ suits you quite a lot.”

 

“If you consider some of the characteristics of my ability, yes, it does,” confirmed Kuroko, dropping the blanket on top of his bed. “But the slandering connotation that had been given to it makes me dislike it.”

 

“Then I apologize for all the times I’ve addressed you as such,” honestly answered the redhead, leaning his back on the wall, next to the bed.

 

“You don’t have to apologize for it. It’s only seen as such due to my own actions, so I have solemnly myself to blame if people see me as something close to a monster,” continued the bluenette as he took a large suitcase out of the bottom of his wardrobe.

 

 _Even I consider myself as such,_ thought Kuroko in the back of his mind, pausing momentarily to peer sideways to the basketball lying in the corner of the room. When he noticed that Akashi was intently observing him as he peered over to the ball, he resumed his actions.

 

“You don’t have to keep your surveillance on me all the time, Akashi-kun,” commented the bluenette, dragging the suitcase over to near the set of drawers in his wardrobe where he kept the almost entirety of his clothes. “I won’t try to leave. And even if I did, I would have to pass by you on my way out.”

 

“I know that you won’t,” confirmed Akashi, departing from his spot on the wall and casually walking towards the smaller male. He crouched down on the floor and started opening the zipper of the suitcase. “I just enjoy observing you doing things.”

 

“I have no idea if I should feel creeped out by that little remark or just ignore it,” deadpanned Kuroko, putting his hands inside the first drawer to take his clothes out of it. He was about to crouch down to put them inside of the suitcase but Akashi lunged his hands up first, prompting the smaller male to give him the clothes so that he could help him packing his things. Kuroko softly sighed and gave him the clothes.

 

“I don’t mean anything weird by it, if that’s what you’re insinuating,” continued Akashi, packing the clothes neatly on the bottom of the suitcase. “I just find your little gestures and actions interesting.”

 

“You’re making me feel like I’m a rare animal on display in a zoo, Akashi-kun,” half-admonished the bluenette, opening the following drawer and also taking his clothes out of it to give them to Akashi.

 

The redhead chuckled and continued to put the smaller male’s clothes on the suitcase. “Well, you do look like a small panda when sleeping, the way you were grabbing into me this morning.”

 

“Can you please stop commenting on my sleeping habits?” pouted the bluenette, shyly reprimanding the taller male while a soft blush bloomed in his cheeks. “First you comment on my bedhair and now it’s my sleeping positions? Well, I’m sorry if I’m not used to sleep in the same bed with other people.”

 

“I don’t really see the downside of that. And it’s cute,” added Akashi, smirking at the little piece of information that brought an enormous wave of relief to his chest. Knowing that Kuroko wasn’t that well versed with close contact with others was a welcomed news to him, but he did had that suspicion already, since the smaller male behaved quite awkwardly when he touched him in any way.

 

“There you go again with that conversation,” sighed Kuroko, rolling slightly his eyes. He crouched down beside the taller male to take the clothes out of the last drawer on the wardrobe and gave them to him. “Just exactly what part of me can be considered ‘cute’?”

 

“Everything,” answered Akashi without a drop of hesitation. “Do you want me to enumerate them?” He put the clothes inside the suitcase and started counting using his fingers. “The way your eyes dance around your surroundings when you are at a loss of words is cute. Your stubbornness and dislike for losing is cute. The way you rebuke my words is cute. And the way your eyes shine when you eat vanilla flavored things is just plainly adorable. Oh, the way you nestle in the bed when you start reading a book is quite cute too. Also, if we take your almost expressionless face into account, those short moments when you pout or blush can be as adorable and endearing as hearing a baby panda sneezing. And— Mmph!”

 

“Okay, I get it!” yelped loudly the bluenette as he lunged his two hands to cover Akashi’s mouth to shut him on his ‘enumeration of cute aspects of Kuroko Tetsuya’, his face flushed with a bright red coloring. How closely exactly had the other male been observing him these past few weeks? “Just… stop talking about it already…”

 

Akashi stared with his red and golden eyes to the blushing expression of the smaller male, a smirk erupting on his lips hidden behind the small and pale hands of the other male. He slowly motioned his hands up and grabbed the frail wrists of Kuroko with them, pushing them slightly away from his face. Then he just casually gave a short lick to his palm and nipped the same place with his teeth, relishing on the slight twitch that the action brought out of the bluenette.

 

“Wha…” managed to articulate Kuroko in his baffled stance, his mouth gaping wide open at one more of the redhead’s out of the blue actions. He softly pulled his hands back to him and Akashi readily released them, but with the surprise of his ministrations, he fully sat down on the floor and put his hands down on the floor to support his body straight.

 

Crawling closer to the smaller male, Akashi put his hands on top of Kuroko’s and stared intently at his teal eyes. Once again, the bluenette felt the same sensation that he had felt back on the room in the redhead’s building: even if his brain was begging him to push Akashi away or to at least avert his almost hypnotic red and golden gaze, his body refused to obey those simple requests and, in a way, fully submitted to the unexpected agitation inside of his body that such actions caused in him.

 

Almost as if sensing the gears inside Kuroko’s head turning and rotating at a hundred miles per hour, the taller male released one of his pale hands and motioned his bandaged hand up to cup his warm and pinkish cheek.

 

“Tetsuya…” softly called Akashi, caressing lightly the smooth skin of the bluenette with his thumb as he slowly got closer to him.

 

Kuroko suddenly felt his skin crawl when he heard the redhead call his name. _Crawl?_ No, it wasn’t disgust or fear he was feeling. And it wasn’t unpleasant either. Far from it. It had been as if a sudden bolt of heat struck him, coursing through his bloodstream and inflaming his body with a giddy feeling. He opened his mouth to call out to the redhead but no sound came out of his vocal cords, almost as if the words had been swallowed instead of spewed out. His heartbeat quickened almost instantly and his breathing got suddenly harder to do evenly.

 

Out of all this _things_ his body was doing on its own, he could make sense of none.

 

Akashi continued to stare deeply into his teal eyes and Kuroko stared back at him, not being able to break the ‘spell’ he had been cast under as the redhead’s face came closer to his, inch by inch.

 

“Akas—“ finally managed to call the bluenette, but the rest of the word was swallowed this time by the recipient of the name himself as he finally lunged forward and kissed him. Gradually, the prickling sensation he had been feeling since the moment he closed Akashi’s mouth with his hands started to grow even more noticeable and the moment the taller male inserted his tongue in his hot mouth, it readily shifted to stronger electric discharges that jumped around every inch of his skin. “Mmhn…”

 

The redhead released the other hand of the smaller male and put his arm around his waist, clutching the other male’s side to bring him closer as he also motioned his own body towards him.

 

Hands trembling slightly, Kuroko hesitantly grabbed the hem of Akashi’s school jacket and, surprising even himself, he tugged it to bring the taller male even closer to him, gripping more strongly the white fabric as he did so.

 

Feeling his clothes being pulled, Akashi momentarily broke the kiss but quickly returned to it, as his body immediately started complaining about the lack of sweetness that kissing the bluenette provided him. He pushed his body forward, pulling in reverse Kuroko’s body up to more easily savor the inside of his mouth.

 

With both his mind and body screaming in unison at him about the unfulfilling feeling of kissing so one-sidedly, Kuroko abruptly released one of the hands holding the taller male’s jacket and put it on top of the bandaged hand cupping his cheek, gripping tightly into it as he clumsily started returning the kiss.

 

And, of course, that only inflamed even more the hunger and want the redhead was feeling at the moment for the smaller male.

 

Akashi once again broke the kiss and lowered his face, approaching the bluenette’s neck with a starved and panting mouth. He immediately sunk his teeth on the sensitive flesh of the other male, hard enough to erupt a loud moan from him but not with strength enough to break the skin.

 

“Ahh—! Akashi-kun— Nghaah—!” When he felt the redhead strongly sucking on his skin, Kuroko arched his back, dropping his head backwards to allow him an easier access to the most sensitive zone of his body as he relished on the pleasurable waves of heat that dispersed through and evaded the core of every nerve, every cell, every atom of his body.

 

Releasing that piece of flesh, an even redder mark painted on the pale skin next of the other pinkish ones, Akashi licked his lips as he observed the panting mess that the bluenette had become. No, the panting mess that _he_ had made Kuroko become. “Tetsuya…!”

 

The redhead lunged forward once again, biting one more time into his neck and pushing him backwards with such intensity that the bluenette was forced to put his hands back on the floor so that he wouldn’t fall down.

 

“Ah— Akashi-kun…!” Feeling the hot sensation of the other male’s breath on his feverish skin, the sharp pain of being bitten mixing with the ticklish pleasure of the sucking was making the bluenette’s head spin. And the desire and need those up until then foreign sensations were kindling inside of him were literally driving him insane. It almost made him want to beg for more, so his next following words sort of unconsciously slipped out of his mouth. “Akashi-k—! M-More…! I want—!”

 

Once again releasing the sensitive piece of flesh after having left yet another red mark on it, Akashi smirked at the smaller male, peering at his watery-from-the-pleasure teal eyes with lustful heterochromatic ones. “I’ll give you more. I’ll give you so much you won’t be able to think about anything else except me, Tetsuya!”

 

Akashi lunged his body once more against Kuroko’s, this time with a certain affliction that actually made him tackle the smaller male down to the floor at the same time he kissed him with more passion, their quickened breathes and saliva mingling together in such a way that they no longer could tell which belonged to who.

 

“Ahh— Mmhn…” As the redhead motioned down to his neck once again, Kuroko lunged his hands up to muss the red locks of the other male when he felt him craving his teeth on top of his Adam’s apple. However, instead of sucking into that part of his neck, Akashi switched between nibbling and licking that place, enabling him to feel both the soft and sweet pain of the nibbles and the ticklish and moist sensation of the licks. “Ngh… Akashi-kun…!”

 

Shivering at the honeyed purr of his name, the redhead once again sunk his teeth on the smaller male’s neck and moved his head slightly backwards, pulling lightly the soft human tissue with it to release it afterwards. “Call me by my name, Tetsuya.”

 

“I… am…!” panted Kuroko, both his irregular breathing and the rush of pleasure coursing  through his body making it difficult for him to form coherent words.

 

“I mean my first name,” almost whispered the redhead as he moved his head slightly sideways to bite on the small earlobe of the male underneath him.

 

“Haa…! Seijuurou…” sweetly moaned Kuroko.

 

“Ngh…!” A humongous shiver suddenly struck his body, from head to toes, making Akashi momentarily lose his strength for a fraction of a second. He had serious doubts that anything could make him feel more aroused than he was at the moment, but Kuroko’s call of his first name, in the delirious form of a moan, made him reach new highs in terms of sexual excitement. “Tetsuya…!”

 

The taller male once again motioned forward for a kiss, inching his lower half slightly down to apply a light pressure on the bluenette’s. He took great relish on the fact that it wasn’t only him that had long passed the half mast stage. Thrusting his body slowly back and forth, Akashi rubbed their crotches together, swallowing both his own low groan and the whimpering of the bluenette with his kiss.

 

“Haa—! Seijuur—“ gasped Kuroko in between heavy pants after he broke the kiss. His hands motioned out of the red locks of hair of the taller male to clutch at his jacket’s back. “Stop— I—!”

 

“Stop? I don’t think you really mean it when you say that,” counterattacked Akashi, giving a slightly stronger trust on his hips that made the bluenette moan loudly in that honey-dripping voice of his to get his point across.

 

“Ahh—! No…! I’m—“ continued the smaller male, his body shuddering at the increasing build up on his crotch that was screaming to be released in the form of an orgasm. He gripped the clothes of the redhead for dear life, trying to control his pitched breathing. “Seijuurou… Ngh! Ahh—“

 

 _Shit, it’s way too sweet!,_ thought Akashi inwardly as he licked the length of the bluenette’s neck, rolling his tongue from near the collarbone up to the end of his chin. Kuroko was pure aphrodisiac and he would surely get addicted to him if he didn’t manage to reign himself in.

 

“Seijuurou…! I-I can’t—!” panicked Kuroko, his body reaching the limit of how long he could postpone his incoming climax.

 

“Just release it, Tetsuya,” answered the redhead, lunging his face forward with his mouth open to once again bite on the pale skin of the smaller male’s neck.

 

“Ahhh— Sei— juurou!” moaned the bluenette, pulling the clothing he was gripping onto as his body fervently shook and his mind was invaded by a white haze that the pleasurable released made him go through.

 

Kuroko dropped his hands down to the floor, his body completely stripped of strength after the tremendous flux of lust that slowly was starting to dissipate as he panted his tiredness away.

 

Using his arms to slightly prompt himself up, Akashi lovingly stared at the male beneath him, also panting heavily. He softly moved his face closer and chastely kissed Kuroko. The redhead concluded that if they went further than this, or even continued, the smaller male would immediately pass out due to the overdose of pleasure.

 

 _I guess that being overly sensitive has its downsides, after all,_ sulked the taller male inwardly as he motioned his body backwards to a sitting position. He lunged his hand towards Kuroko and grabbed his arm, also softly pulling his inert body to a sitting position.

 

“…” Still panting, the smaller male switched disguisedly his gaze between the heterochromatic eyes that sweetly stared at him and his lower half, his underwear uncomfortably sticking to his crotch due to his climax.

 

“I got another new information about you to my constantly growing database on you,” spoke suddenly Akashi, cupping the two sides of the bluenette’s face with his hands.

 

“Eh…?” softly interjected Kuroko, his head still not being able to process anything that was being spoke to him at the moment.

 

“I now know that your expression is a mixture of cuteness and eroticism when you cum,” teased the taller male, lunging forward to lovingly plant a kiss on the other male’s sweaty forehead.

 

“…!” The bluenette immediately moved his hands up to cover his face as the haziness in his mind was slowly disappearing, causing the realization of what they had done to finally come down to him.

 

Chuckling softly at the adorable reaction of the smaller male, Akashi once again chastely kissed the top of his head and then got up on his feet, motioning over to the bathroom. He stopped under the door and supported his hand on the frame, peering to Kuroko with a smirk on his face. “Change your underwear while I’m in the bathroom taking care of myself. You can shower after you reach the new building.”

 

Kuroko watched from between his fingers as the redhead entered inside the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

 

 _Aaaaaaaaaargh, can I just die!?,_ admonished the bluenette in his mind, dropping his completely spent body back to the floor while he continued to cover his massive blush with his palms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Can Do" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> I swear that this chapter being released today is a total coincidence. I don't plan what I write in each chapter ahead of time, I just write by order of events. I'm completely innocent!! (well, not that innocent since this chapter was smuttier than the MidoTaka sex scene, in my opinion *winks*)
> 
> And I literally wrote this chapter in five different places: first Burger King, then in my languages school, then in a bowling center, then in my room, and I only completed it in my college's library... So yeah, I didn't rest until this chapter was done. And it only took me that long because I was constantly being interrupted, as the constant changes in location can tell -.-'
> 
> But the trouble was totally worth it XD Akashi's sexiness just oozed out of him, seducing his sensitive bluenette in such ways! >///< But please continue doing it, Akashi! I'm not complaining. Actually, I doubt anyone will *winks*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	54. How can I let yesterday, tomorrow, and today all be the same?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, minna-san! Mafy's here with this week's last updates!
> 
> This chapter is what I consider a double-edged sword: it gives answers and questions. Though, honestly, the questions are stronger (which is probably my sadistic writer making an appearance once again :P)
> 
> So, shall we go find out about the aftermath of the smut in the last chapter? *winks* Enjoy~

“Have you gathered all your things on the suitcase and on the sports bag?” asked Akashi, grabbing the handle of the suitcase and pulling it up to drag the black bag through its wheels to outside the bedroom.

 

“Yes, I don’t think I’m forgetting anything,” confirmed Kuroko, ‘looking’ over to the redhead after he closed the zipper of the sports bag. After the things they had done that afternoon, he still hadn’t managed to gather enough courage to look Akashi directly in the eyes. And he knew that the other male had noticed that, though he hadn’t commented on it yet. The bluenette strongly wished that it remained that way.

 

“Then let’s go. We got slightly sidetracked on our mission here so let’s hurry up and return to Teikou so that I can make the tour guide through the new building to you,” added Akashi, walking over to the door. He paused under the frame of the exit of the bedroom and looked over to the bluenette, waiting for him to come after him. He lifted slightly an eyebrow as he saw Kuroko looking fixedly to the basketball once again. “Tetsuya?”

 

“Can you give me a moment alone, Akashi-kun?” asked the smaller male, never dropping his gaze out of the ball on top of the bed, near the sports bag.

 

“Is something the matt—“

 

“Just do me this little favor,” beckoned Kuroko, a strained look on his face as he peered sideways to the redhead. “Please.”

 

“…” Akashi continued to stare at the bluenette and then looked in front of him to outside of the bedroom. “I’ll give you ten minutes. Just come out of the room when you’re done.”

 

The redhead remained in the same spot for a few more seconds and then motioned forward, exiting the room as he pulled the suitcase. Kuroko observed him leaving through a sideway glance and stayed in the same position for one more minute.

 

Kuroko dropped the strap of the bag and peered directly to the door, almost cutting his own breathing rhythm to listen closely to what was going on outside the bedroom and certify himself that Akashi had truly given him a few minutes to be 100% alone.

 

He immediately looked to the nightstand beside his bed and lunged forward in its direction. He grabbed the wooden furniture and softly pushed it sideways, departing it from the wall at the same time he activated his ability momentarily to nullify any sound that the moving object could cause and be detected by the redhead.

 

Kuroko once again peered to the door and then got back to what he was doing. He crouched down on the floor and softly knocked with his hand on the wall, pushing the trapdoor that had been placed directly on it behind the nightstand by him the exact same day he was taken to Teikou. From the hole in the wall he took a brown box, lightly shaking off the dust that had gathered on the lid with his other hand.

 

Peering over to the door one last time, the bluenette opened the box and rumbled through its insides. He quickly counted the things that were there to certify himself that he would leave nothing behind: the numerous letters, the countless credit cards and bankbooks, each one under a different name that he knew by heart and holding a different exorbitant amount of money, some in foreign currencies, and, of course, the pair of black wristbands. Kuroko softly caressed one of the wristbands and closed the lid after confirming that all of his precious memories and only line of survival (and escape from Teikou Academy) were all gathered there.

 

Kuroko got up and moved to the bed, opening the zipper of the sports bag and putting the box inside of it, covering it disguisedly with the clothes and other things already placed there. Motioning over to the nightstand once again, he put both the trapdoor and the wooden furniture back on its correct places and looked around to see if he had left any clue that they had been moved in the first place.

 

Then, he finally deactivated his ability, sighing with relief that Akashi hadn’t noticed him using it in the first place. He had said in front of all of the “Miracles” that he would not use his ability under any circumstance for them, and he considered that using it in their presence, even if not to help them directly, was going back on his own words.

 

Sighing once again, the bluenette grabbed the strap of the sports bag and motioned it up to adjust it on his shoulder. He gave a last look around to his former bedroom and peered to the basketball. As he touched its rough surface, he tapped it, making it bounce slightly on the bed, grabbing it right away when it lifted from the mattress and put it under his arm, near his hip.

 

 _Goodbye,_ thought Kuroko inwardly, closing his eyes tightly with a strained expression on his face as he motioned to the door. When he reached near the exit, he opened his eyes again and returned his facial expression to its usual demeanor.

 

Akashi was leaning his back on the armrest of the sofa, peering at the window with his arms crossed over his chest. When he sensed movement around him, he looked over to the door of the bedroom and saw Kuroko coming out of it. “Are you ready to go?”

 

The smaller male averted his gaze at first, but he thought better on it and looked straight to the heterochromatic eyes of the redhead. “Yes.”

 

The two males departed from their places and motioned to the door, Kuroko turning off the lights as he stepped through the entrance to exit his apartment. Well, former apartment. As the bluenette closed the door, Akashi saw the lingering of his hand on the doorknob and, though his face was as expressionless as it usually was, he could read a certain sadness in his eyes.

 

“If you want, I can keep the room vacant for a while,” suddenly said the redhead, looking intently to the teal of the smaller male’s eyes. Seeing the surprised look on his face, Akashi chuckled softly and continued walking side by side with Kuroko. “You can come back here from time to time, if you want to. But you’ll have to come with one of us, as we can’t obviously let you walk outside of Teikou Academy’s walls by yourself. And by that I mean you will have to come with me.”

 

“Why do I have to come with you?” asked Kuroko, tilting his head slightly. “If I need to be with one of you to go outside of Teikou, can’t I just ask the one that’s closest to me at the moment?”

 

“If you want to go to the town, sure, you can do that. But I don’t want you to come to your apartment with anyone except me,” answered the taller male right away. “Though I’m also not that happy at the prospect of you going someplace I don’t know with any of them.”

 

“I don’t get what you mean with that, Akashi-kun,” pointed out Kuroko, lifting slightly an eyebrow. “Why would it bother you the thought of me walking with Murasakibara-kun or Aomine-kun? If it bothers someone, it’s me. I’m literally being stripped of my right of freedom and of free choices. Besides, I don’t want to involve myself with any of you more than necessary.”

 

 _I don’t want to involve myself with anyone more than necessary,_ corrected the bluenette in the back of his mind. He didn’t want to fall in the same mistake of bonding with someone only to end up having to break that relationship by the means of his ability or, worse yet, losing them like it had happen with Ogiwara.

 

Ignoring the sharp pain that the bluenette’s words caused on his chest, Akashi peered sideways to the other male and then looked back in front of him. “As long as you’re in Teikou, you will continue to interact with all of us, whether you like it or not. You should start to get used to it, since for as long as you can’t control your ability and the Japanese government doesn’t drop the charges and the ‘eminent danger’ label on you, you will have to remain with us.”

 

Kuroko halted his steps and looked straight to the red and golden eyes of the taller male when he turned around to look at him, a serious demeanor on his face. “Does that mean that if I learn to fully control my ability I’m free to go wherever I want once I graduate from Teikou Academy?”

 

 _No, I’ll bound you to me in such a way you won’t be able to survive without me anymore,_ thought Akashi in the back of his mind, but the words he voiced out where the complete opposite of what his heart was saying. “Yes, you can go to wherever you want as long as you fulfill those requisites.”

 

“I see…” Kuroko resumed his steps and caught up with Akashi, who was waiting for him. He clutched the basketball near his hip with enough strength for the rough and prickly surface of the ball to be imprinted on his pale skin.

 

“Do you want me to help you carry those two things?” offered the redhead, seeing as the smaller male was walking slightly slower than before. It could be that he was simply still exhausted from the intensity of the events that happened some hours ago, and he didn’t exactly mind that they would take more time to reach Teikou again, since it meant he could have Kuroko all to himself for a little bit more of time (well, the other ‘Miracles’ were only scheduled to fully move in to the new building tomorrow so he had until then to monopolize the bluenette).

 

“Ah, no, it’s not needed,” answered Kuroko, eyeing slightly the sports bag that contained things that he definitely wouldn’t like anybody to know about. Yes, the money he had in his possession would be frowned upon if someone knew of its existence, but the thing that worried him the most and that he wanted to keep hidden for all eternity where the letters and its contents, as they contained information that would surely make the Japanese government rescind on its decision to keep him under surveillance and execute him immediately.

 

 _I have to find a new safe place to keep the box as soon as I can,_ mumbled inwardly the bluenette. If Akashi had warned him before that he would allow him to go back to his apartment from time to time, he would have kept it there while the apartment was still vacant, but he couldn’t exactly ask the redhead to go back there one more time to just put the box in the trapdoor once again. It would lift too many suspicions.

 

“Do you play basketball?” asked Akashi, peering at the ball in Kuroko’s arms. He had noticed that the smaller male would stare intently at it from time to time with a certain nostalgic look on his eyes. It seemed that that object in particular held a very deep meaning for him. “Daiki also spends most of his free and non-free time playing it.”

 

“I—“ _I know,_ internally answered the bluenette, feeling a tight squeeze on his chest. “I used to play, but I no longer do.”

 

“Any particular reason you stopped playing? The way you look at the ball and the fact that you still keep it with you is a clear sign that you like basketball,” continued the taller male, focusing his sideway glance on Kuroko’s face to register the tinniest bit of change in his expression.

 

“…I lost my right to play basketball…” muttered softly Kuroko, giving a quick glance in the ball’s direction.

 

“Does it have anything to do with the fact that you can't call ‘family’ to your family anymore?” questioned the redhead one more time.

 

“…” Kuroko already knew that Akashi was one of the smartest people he had ever encountered, but he sure had to congratulate him inwardly for hitting the nail in the head with this question he had made. He remained silent, since he knew that Akashi would understand right away that he would not answer anything regarding that for as long as he could keep it that way.

 

“Well, I’m sure you have your reasons. If you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t press you,” added Akashi, inching slightly closer to the bluenette. When he was walking with him, if he wasn’t at a certain distance from the other male, it almost seemed that something was missing and he had this uncontrollable urge to touch him. But, right now, he had to restrain himself from doing so and that’s why he simply got slightly closer to Kuroko, as if trying to fill that urge with a quick fix.

 

“You say that but you’ve been forcing me to answer your questions every day,” deadpanned Kuroko, peering sideways to the redhead with a blank face.

 

“’Forcing you’? It was an agreement that we made for the time being,” contradicted Akashi, lifting slightly an eyebrow.

 

“An agreement that you choose to do on your own and that I had to agree for lack of option on the matter,” continued deadpanning the bluenette. He disliked immensely being questioned on his past and he knew that Akashi knew that. But well, he could see why the redhead did it. As the Head of the ‘Miracles’ and the person responsible on the matters regarding the ‘Bloody Night’ and ‘The Phantom’, Akashi didn’t really have any other choice than forcing him to do that. But that didn’t meant that he would follow it nor like it.

 

“Would you tell me things on your own accord if I hadn’t done that?” asked the taller male, looking at the teal of the other male’s eyes. When he saw the reticence on his face, he immediately got his answer to that question. He sighed disguisedly and looked in front of him once again. “You wouldn’t. Not to me nor to any other ‘Miracle’. Because you don’t trust us and you’re not even trying to do so. Is the past really that important to you?”

 

They stopped on their tracks in front of the main gate of Teikou Academy, Akashi staring intently at the smaller male’s eyes while he made failed attempts to avert his gaze. The redhead released the handle of the suitcase and stepped closer to Kuroko, who was visibly at a loss of what to do.

 

“Tell me, Tetsuya. Which one of these should be truly meaningful to someone: past, present or future?” asked Akashi, a serious demeanor on his face. He lifted his hand and with a finger touched the surface of the basketball. “The past is something that you can’t go back to nor change. However, you can learn from it and apply that learning to the present in order to create a better future. And one of the things you learn with the past is how to not repeat mistakes, or, at least, how to more quickly fix the mistakes that you inadvertently repeat. A person can’t live forever stuck to the past because it would stop them from living the present and from reaching the future.”

 

“How can you say that to my face when you are one of the reasons why I’m stuck on the past?” asked Kuroko, his face painted with a glare mixed with pain.

 

“I’m not speaking about you in particular. I’m just saying out loud my own life experiences. Because if I thought differently in the matter, I would probably still be standing exactly on the same place that you are at the moment,” answered the redhead, dropping his hand down and grabbing the pale hand of the smaller male. He turned around and pulled him, grabbing the suitcase on the way inside the school grounds. “And I must tell you that one of the main reasons why I would still be there is you, Tetsuya.”

 

“What sort of thing could I have done to you for you have stood in this place, stuck on a past that you can’t move on from?” asked Kuroko, trying to not to think about the warm hand grabbing his.

 

“I could tell you, but I don’t think it would be fair. Since you don’t tell me anything about you, I won’t tell you anything about me, either,” added the redhead. He had told himself that he would do his best to be honest with Kuroko, so that he wouldn’t lose control on his ability a third time. But he was feeling half irked, half extremely frustrated that he still hadn’t managed to put the smaller male in the same page as him in terms of trust.

 

They may have kissed several times already and gone slightly further than that that afternoon, but their relationship was still the same. In other words, they still didn’t have any type of relationship at all, seeing as relationships started to be built on the emergence of a feeling that they mutually shared.

 

They probably had hated each other in the past. Each one of them robbed the other of far too many things in the “Bloody Night” and that was an undeniable roadblock in the creation of any relationship between two individuals. However, somehow, that hate in the space of less than a month had morphed into love for him, whereas to Kuroko the hate probably wasn’t felt with the same intensity as before but was still deep-rooted in his heart.

 

So, what exactly was Akashi supposed to do so that Kuroko would let go of that hate, let go of his past and accept him as someone who was essential to his life… as someone who he could come to love too?

 

For the first time in his life, Akashi Seijuurou had no idea on how he should proceed about another human being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Start it right away" by Hyadain.
> 
> I think that the song "Obsession" by Innerpartysystem represents quite well Akashi's inner thoughts and emotions in this chapter. Try to listen to it - it's a good song, I promise ;D
> 
> So, what do you think of the "questions" given in this chapter? Hehehe~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	55. Face front and aim for what's in front of you with an emotion that can be seen by the eye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, minna-san! Had a good weekend?
> 
> Regarding this chapter, when I proofread it I thought that it could lift some doubts about several things, so I decided to create a timeline with the events that were already revealed or were pointed out by the characters. Just go to my tumblr (use the link in the end notes) and if you have any doubts about it, just ask! I'll try to answer without giving any spoilers ^^
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

After they had stepped inside of Teikou Academy once again, Akashi and Kuroko dropped by the redhead’s personal building and then by the Student Council building, since Akashi had to collect some papers that he had been depositing inside the drawers of the desk of the room that Kuroko had used for almost a month and the few reports already done on the attack that occurred yesterday to Furihata Kouki and that had lead to the brunette attacking Kuroko that afternoon which were waiting for him in the main room of the Student Council.

 

When they were done, they proceeded to the restricted area of Teikou Academy. Kuroko had never been in that place as, like the name indicated, it was restricted to everybody except a few that had a special authorization approved directly by the Japanese government and the Prime-Minister. Those who could step inside that heavily guarded and monitored area were the five “Miracles” and four out of five “Uncrowned Kings”, as well as some members of the Department of Abilities and “Users”, like Nijimura Shuuzou and Momoi Satsuki – had explained the taller male on their way there. And now Kuroko had been included in that almost VIP list.

 

Kuroko had always wondered what lied behind the walls that surrounded that small area within the large diameter that made the inside territory of Teikou Academy. He had heard from his classmates that they made experiments there and kept the failed ones closed in a facility, and that “The Phantom” was being kept cloistered there, supervised by a specialized team made of the best soldiers of Japan, while awaiting a trial and incoming execution by the government.

 

 _Well, it appears that some rumors can become true after they had been spread, after all,_ mumbled inwardly the bluenette. He wouldn’t be exactly kept under lock and key in the restricted area, since Akashi had told him that he could attend classes normally and even step outside of Teikou if he did so with one of the “Miracles”, but he was indeed dependent on the incoming decision of the Japanese Prime-Minister and the rest of the government heads on what was to be his future.

 

So, as long as he managed to “behave” while with the “Miracles” and kept his “dirty secrets” completely locked up inside of him and of the box he was disguisedly carrying inside the sports bag, he probably would manage to survive enough time to graduate from Teikou and leave once and for all.

 

 _If I manage to break the chains that keep me here, that is,_ cringed inwardly Kuroko while he peered slightly down to the basketball on his hands.

 

Akashi had been totally right on what he said. Being permanently stuck in the past would preclude anyone from living the present and reach the future. Of course he knew that. But what could he do? Everything that happened to him since 6 years ago… no, since even before that… How was he supposed to throw all those tragic and plainly traumatizing events behind his back and lung forward to a future where there was absolutely no guarantee that everything wouldn’t repeat itself once again?

 

He was almost at his wits ends while trying to deal with his past… He obviously wasn’t strong enough to also deal with the incoming train wreck that his future would most likely be. So, truth to be told, Kuroko preferred to stay chained to the past since he wouldn’t have to suffer even more than he already did with it.

 

 _If things remain the way they are, of course,_ muttered the bluenette in the back of his mind as he peered over to Akashi, who was still holding his hand (though he was only holding it and not intertwining their fingers like before).

 

Every minute he spent with Akashi, something inside of him quivered and changed. It changed in such a way that Kuroko didn’t have any idea how he was supposed to put it back in the same condition it was before. Since the very first moment he felt the prickling sensation coming from the redhead’s touch back when he crashed with him in the opening ceremony of the high school division of Teikou Academy, a glass started to be filled, drop by drop, slowly but surely, and with these past few weeks filled with interactions with him, it was already half full with that unknown liquid dripping from somewhere within him.

 

What would happen when the glass was full? What would happen to him if the liquid overflowed? What exactly was he becoming?

 

Questions – all that Akashi was bringing to his life was question after question. And it almost seemed that when he managed to answer one of those questions, three more popped up out of nowhere. It was an endless cycle that was starting to spiralate out of proportions because of the continuous sudden advances of the redhead and the constant confusion that said advances caused in his head.

 

Akashi’s growing closeness with him was puzzling for him, sometimes even extremely vexing, but when he was away, there was a certain emptiness that appeared in his chest that felt even worse. Time passed in a bitterly manner when he was away while it was sugary sweet when it was spent with him, even if all they were doing was reading in silence, each one in a different spot in the room.

 

He had come to admit to himself that he sort of enjoyed his conversations with him when the topic was not his past. The teasing of the taller male on him was escalating more from day to day, but the discomfort it sometimes caused him wasn’t as accentuated as it was in the beginning. Also, he was getting used to Akashi’s touch. He couldn’t say it was a constant presence, but it was frequent enough for the redhead’s warmth to linger in his skin until the next touch. He didn’t felt disgusted of his touch, even with that prickling sensation that he hated so much because of what it truly meant. Actually, he enjoyed it. He _liked_ it.

 

“Tetsuya?” called suddenly Akashi, looking over to the bluenette.

 

“Eh? Ah, yes?” answered awkwardly Kuroko as he got out of his internal introspection. It was only then that he noticed that he had stopped walking and the redhead was questioning him about that sudden halt.

 

“The building is right over there. Are you sure you don’t want me to carry that bag?” asked Akashi, peering intently at the bluenette. He had paused so suddenly and without any warning that the taller male had almost tugged him with too much strength, and his face housed an expression that he had never seen in the smaller male, one that puzzled him immensely.

 

“No, it’s not needed. You’re already carrying a lot of stuff,” protested softly Kuroko, moving his shoulder slightly to prevent the strap of the bag from slipping away. “And I’m not as weak as I appear to be, Akashi-kun.”

 

“Yes, I know. You seem an extremely frail person, someone who would break if I put too much pressure in your body, but you sure can pack a hefty punch,” chuckled the redhead, remembering the ‘punch’ that Kuroko had send him that morning when he kissed him awake.

 

“I am _not_ frail,” pouted Kuroko. “If I wanted, I could probably throw you to the ground and keep you there completely motionless for as long as I wished.”

 

“That ‘probably’ completely ruined your attempt to threaten me,” teased Akashi, getting slightly amused by the direction the conversation was going and by the yet again cute reactions of the smaller male at his words. “But I really would like to see you trying to do that, Tetsuya. You pinning me down on the ground.”

 

“Really? Then I take it that you won’t complain if I do so the next time you try one of your sneaky attacks on me,” deadpanned the bluenette, peering sideways to Akashi.

 

“You call it ‘sneaky attacks’ but I gave you more than enough time for you to push me away if you so wished it,” counterattacked Akashi, a smirk erupting on his features. “You were the one who surrendered himself to me. Hmm… Does that mean that you now belong to me?”

 

“Wha—!?” gasped the bluenette, completely flabbergasted at the words of the other male, a deep red blush painting his cheeks. “I did not surrender to you! And I don’t belong to you either! Back then, it was just—“

 

“It was just, what?” asked right away Akashi, the smirk still painted in his features. He didn’t know why, but teasing Kuroko was becoming way too much enjoyable for him, mainly because the smaller male showed expressions in his face that he under normal circumstances didn’t. And the fact that it was him causing such reactions on the other male caused him great delight. “Instict? You are far from being a person who would be dominated by such. Lust? More plausible than the previous one, but it only shows that I’m a person capable of bringing such thing out of you.”

 

“Says the person who threw me down to the floor, bit my whole neck and then had to go ‘take care’ of himself in my apartment’s bathroom,” counterattacked Kuroko, a forced blank expression on his face as he mentally admonished himself for the fact that he was actually encouraging Akashi to continue his teasing on him. He could already guess what his next words would be.

 

“Says the person who begged for more and then had to change his underwear afterwards,” counterattacked back the redhead, peering sideways to the other male.

 

 _Told you so,_ cringed inwardly Kuroko. The only reason why he still hadn’t face palmed himself was because one of his hands was securing the basketball near his hip and the other was being held by Akashi. He could just throw the ball in the redhead’s direction, but he was afraid that the impact would kill him since he hasn’t really played with a ball since two years ago and his measurement on the strength he put into it could not be the most danger-free one. _Not that a little bruise would do him any harm, anyway._

 

Akashi felt the bluenette inwardly admonishing himself as they approached their final destination, a two-storied building. Since he needed to explain quite a lot of things about the building and how it worked, he decided to drop the conversation there. “This is the building where we will all be living from now on. We decided to call it ‘Fuyu’.”

 

“You called a building ‘Winter’?” asked the smaller male, lifting slightly an eyebrow.

 

“Yes, for two quite simple reasons. It’s a reminder of what happened one year ago during the ‘Bloody Night’, that occurred during winter,” explained Akashi, peering sideways to the frown that immediately surfaced in Kuroko’s features at his words. He turned around and looked directly at him. “But also because winter is the season when nature takes its rest so that it can beautifully bloom and grow in the spring. It represents the end of a cycle that enables another one, hopefully better, to start.”

 

“…You shouldn’t give me such high expectations, Akashi-kun. I don’t believe strongly enough in my future to even think of it as a beginning to something minimally good,” declared Kuroko, a pained expression on his face.

 

“It’s not that you don’t believe in the future, you just don’t believe in yourself,” pointed out Akashi, giving a slight tighten to the grip on the smaller male’s hand. “It’s not the future that will shape us; it’s us that shape the future. We can make whatever we want with it, if so we wish it.”

 

“Does that mean that if my wish for the future was to destroy all of Tokyo once again and maybe even further than that, I would be allowed to do it?” asked Kuroko, the frown on his forehead more notable. “Wishes aren’t such a trivial thing. They don’t affect only the person who made it. They affect everyone around the recipient, sometimes causing irreversible damages.”

 

“Yes, but I do not believe that you would wish for something like that,” added the redhead.

 

“What makes you think like that?” inquired Kuroko, an eyebrow slightly perked up. “You don’t know me well enough to ground such statement.”

 

“I don’t need to know you with such proximity to know it. It’s more than obvious that you regret what happened one year ago, and during the two times that you lost control on your ability, it was clear that you didn’t want it to repeat itself once again.” Akashi released the pale hand of the other male and motioned his hand up, softly ruffling the blue strands of hair. “You’re not the villain you make yourself believe.”

 

“Once again, what exactly do you know about me to believe that…?” softly whispered the bluenette, gripping tightly the strap of the sports bag with his now free hand while featuring a pained expression in his face as he peered down to the bag.

 

“Anyway, there’s some things you need to know about the building,” continued explaining the redhead, completely ignorant of Kuroko’s last words. “There’s a barrier permanently positioned around the house. You can enter and exit the building whenever you want, but Atsushi will always know when you do and which division of the house you are in at all times.”

 

“That’s a tremendous invasion—“

 

“Of privacy, I know,” interrupted Akashi, completing the sentence before the other male could. “But it’s something that we can’t avoid. The barrier that was around the room you used for the last month was the same. The only difference is that you are allowed to go through it whenever you want. Just think of it as a 24/7 supervised cell where you have the key at your disposal.”

 

“That doesn’t make it all that much better,” muttered the smaller male under his breath. For someone who had, during a certain period of time, been restricted in worse ways and then finally acquired his freedom, even if he still had to be dependent on Teikou Academy, Kuroko highly frowned upon having to undergo another period of almost constant surveillance. It was as if he could go to wherever he wanted while having a leash attached to him.

 

“Also, you can’t use your ability while inside the building,” added Akashi. “If you use it while inside the barrier, it would automatically nullify it. The barrier may be extremely resistant, but it’s very delicate in terms of construction. Atsushi complained a lot about it while creating it. So make sure to be careful.”

 

“I don’t really have any plans on using it while I’m with any of you. But I’ll keep it in mind,” acknowledged the bluenette.

 

“…” The taller male stood momentarily completely motionless while he peered intently to Kuroko, but he decided to proceed with the ‘tour’. He probably was thinking too much about it. “Then let’s get inside.”

 

Akashi motioned forward to the door and opened it, giving space for the bluenette to step inside in front of him. Kuroko stared to the interior of the house that he could see from the front door and clenched his fist around the strap of the sports bag.

 

Whatever it was that this open door would bring him, he would not back down from it. For the decision he took before exiting the “dream realm”, he would move forward and try to achieve the goal he had set for himself.

 

This time… he would not give up without fighting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Future Line" by Ono Kenshou (our lovely bluenette).
> 
> I think Akashi won this round of bickering, don't you think? ;D  
> But then again... Akashi, when Kuroko is doing his introspection about YOU, don't INTERRUPT him, for god's sake!!! You literally cockblocked yourself with that interruption. Kuroko probably would have realized his feelings you if you hadn't!!! ARGH!!! YOU TWO ARE KILLING ME!!! (but please continue to do so XD)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	56. Possibilities that are born unknowingly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san!
> 
> I know, I know, I'm quite early today. But I'm tired as hell after today's field trip - I walked around, visiting different places from 8h15 until 18h -.-' So all I want to do right now is go to bed and sleep like a dead person until tomorrow.
> 
> On a side note, I won't be able to publish any chapters between December 8th and 12th because I'm going to be traveling. It will be my last chance to travel before I start working in my internship and curiously the biggest comics/anime/manga convention in my country is going to happen during those days so I'll be going there for those days and use the chance to be a tourist in my own country by visiting a city where I've never been.
> 
> Well, I know you are going to enjoy this chapter but anyway... Enjoy :D

As he finished towel-drying his wet blue locks of hair, Kuroko continuously peered around the bathroom, taking in all the information he could about it to distract himself from the wariness he was feeling due to the barrier. The fact that Murasakibara could know exactly where he was at all times while inside his new “home” was plainly disturbing to the bluenette. He would eventually get used to it, yes, but not in the next few weeks or months, he was sure.

 

The bathroom that his bedroom included was sort of similar to the one in the room he had been using in Akashi’s building. It had all the same things, however, in a slightly smaller scale. His room was also smaller compared to the one he had spent the last month in, but it was still bigger than his bedroom back in Seirin Dorm. And, luckily, he would _not_ be forced to share his room with anyone. That was a major relief to him.

 

He had gotten used to the constant presence of the redhead during those weeks back in his building, but it was still annoying to be always stared at and analyzed to the tiniest detail. And the previous enumeration of his traits that Akashi considered “cute” was a proof that he had taken notice on a lot of things about him, some that not even Kuroko himself had been aware of until then.

 

Kuroko looked in front of him and saw his reflection on the mirror. The mirror that the bathroom housed managed to catch his presence in almost all corners of the division and that was slightly troublesome for him. He didn’t have a very good experience with mirrors, after all. Mainly because of what the object itself represented and what it could do when synchronized with his ability.

 

Looking away from the mirror, the bluenette continued to dry his hair, sighing deeply. Around 3 years of being continuously “spied” on while sleeping, reading, walking around in the building, doing literally _everything_ as he was forced to live under the same roof as the five people in this world that he distrusted the most and, honestly, felt extremely uncomfortable with… this surely couldn’t be called anything but a trial.

 

Besides, if he already had a lot of trouble trying to deal with Akashi and all the other “baggage” that his presence and touch caused in him while he was in that closed room, he feared for what their next interactions would be like, since they would be forced to interact every single day from then on for an uncertain amount of time. Especially after the quite awkward situation they ended up in when they were in his apartment.

 

 _Ahh… What exactly am I doing?,_ inwardly admonished himself the bluenette, lowering his hands to support himself in the washbasin.  Yesterday they went on full throttle in their little kissing session and today a reenactment of the same event happened… only three times more heavily and embarrassingly. And the thing that bothered him the most was that it felt one hundred times _better_ than the previous day – in all senses of the word.

 

Akashi, somehow, was managing to twist him around his little finger. He didn’t like that thought but it was obviously what was happening. If not, for what other reason would he only fight back against the redhead’s advances at times while the other occasions he would allow him to do whatever he wanted to his body and actually joined the deed?

 

Kuroko had a feeling that Akashi would be a perpetual disturbance to his peace of mind from now on.

 

He took the towel out of his shoulders and put it on the laundry basket as he motioned to the door that led to his bedroom. When he opened it and stepped outside, he immediately paused his movements when he saw an all too familiar character casually reading a book while sitting on his bed.

 

“Akashi-kun, what are you doing here?” asked the bluenette, lifting slightly an eyebrow. He hadn’t heard anyone enter inside the room while he was inside the bathroom, but then again, he had been too busy thinking about his own circumstances to probably take notice of the occurrence.

 

“I’ve come to help you unpack your things,” answered Akashi, closing the book that he was holding in his bandaged hand.

 

“Ah… You don’t have to, I can take care of it myself,” objected Kuroko, eyeing quickly the sports bag near the taller male’s feet. “It’s better if I’m the one arranging my things, since that way I can more easily know where to find them. Besides, you have your own things to unpack.”

 

“They will only arrive tomorrow. The official day of the moving to this building is only this Sunday after all,” added the redhead, prompting his body up from the bed. “But yes, I do agree with you. Things are easier to find if you are the one who left it in a particular place. If you later think you’ll need my help, you can ask though.”

 

“Yes, thank you.” Though his expression remained the same, his chest was filled with relief. But Akashi really had the worst of timings. Kuroko had planned on exploring his room from wall to wall, in order to find a place where he could hide the box. He wouldn’t be able to construct another trapdoor, since he suspected that Murasakibara would know if he messed with the walls of his room, so he needed to find another solution to this life-threatening problem.

 

“Are you hungry?” asked suddenly Akashi, breaking the bluenette out of whatever it was that he was contemplating on his head. “Atsushi is not here, so you won’t be able to eat anything vanilla flavored, but I do know how to cook.”

 

“Eh? Then… it was Murasakibara-kun that cooked all of those pastries?” questioned the surprised smaller male, tilting slightly his head. Akashi started motioning out of the room, followed by him.

 

“Atsushi may not look like it, but he’s quite gifted in the kitchen. I guess that after having tasted almost all types of sweets and snacks, he acquired a liking to cooking as well,” explained Akashi, as they crossed the corridor in the second floor in order to reach the stairs that lead to the first floor, where the common areas and kitchen were located. “I don’t think there’s any recipe that he can’t cook or improve in some way.”

 

“His cooking skills are indeed amazing, then. The vanilla pudding I ate this week was better than the one I tasted before in a café,” acknowledged the bluenette, a slight appetite suddenly perking up in his stomach at the thought of the creamy vanilla-flavored dessert he had ate during lunch some days ago.

 

“Cooking is a fundamental tool for survival, so I take it that you can also cook quite well?” questioned the taller male, opening the door to the kitchen.

 

“No, the only thing I can cook is boiled eggs,” answered Kuroko, a completely serious face in his face. “No one can cook boiled eggs better than me.”

 

“Boiled eggs?” repeated the redhead, lifting slightly an eyebrow. “How exactly have you been surviving all by yourself since first year in middle school if that’s all that you can cook?”

 

“Vanilla milkshakes from Maji Burger,” declared readily the smaller male while getting closer to the counter where the cooking instruments were. “Sometimes food from different restaurant chains and from the convenience store. And, obviously, boiled eggs.”

 

“No matter how you look at it, that’s not the healthiest living style. No wonder you’re so small and thin,” commented Akashi, eyeing the other male from head to toes. “Well, when I held you in my arms, you weren’t that thin, so it’s a given that you _somehow_ managed to survive that way.”

 

“You’re only slightly taller than me. Do you consider yourself small?” counterattacked the bluenette, sulking slightly at the redhead’s words. He had to do his best to not let his blood rush to his face at the part ‘held you in my arms’ of the other male’s sentence.

 

“If you take Atsushi into consideration, then most human beings are small,” acknowledged Akashi, opening the fridge to peer inside of it. “Is there anything you want to eat? We have quite a vast supply of food right now, since it was Atsushi that coordinated this part of the construction and management of the building.”

 

“As I told you yesterday, I’m not a picky eater. You can cook anything that you want to eat or is more convenient for you,” answered the smaller male, looking around the kitchen.

 

“Hmm… But do you have any preferences?” questioned the redhead, looking sideways to the other male as he skirted around the room.

 

“I would say vanilla, but I think you already know that,” deadpanned Kuroko, looking over to the other male. “Just cook something that you want to eat, for a change. I’ll help you.”

 

“…” Akashi turned around from the household appliance to fully look to the bluenette, intently peering in his direction. He softly smiled and looked over to the fridge once again, taking a few things from its inside, then motioning over to the counter where the other male was located. “Then is it okay for you if we cook Tofu Soup?”

 

“Yes, but you’ll have to tell me what I have to do,” acknowledged the smaller male, nodding his head slightly in agreement.

 

“Then, can you fetch cooking oil, sesame oil, cooking wine, tapioca and a small piece of ginger from the pantry?” directed the redhead as he opened the cupboards to take the cooking utensils that would be needed.

 

Akashi observed from the corner of his eye as Kuroko immediately motioned over to the door that lead to the small pantry, feeling the soft smile on his lips starting to stretch into a full grown happy expression. For some reason, the prospect of cooking with Kuroko was making him immensely delighted and he was felling all fuzzy and warm inside.

 

After a few seconds, the bluenette surfaced out of the pantry and motioned over to the counter, stopping beside the taller male to lay down the ingredients. Akashi finished gathering the rest of the ingredients and looked over to Kuroko.

 

“I’m going to add a little bit of pork to the soup. Is that okay with you?” asked the redhead, pointing to the small package of ground pork meat on top of the counter.

 

“Like I said, Akashi-kun, cook it the way you want to. I’ll help you in any way my very lacking cooking abilities allow me to,” deadpanned Kuroko.

 

“Then use your ‘very lacking cooking abilities’ to mix the minced meat with two teaspoons of tapioca, one of salt and another of cooking wine,” started coordinating the taller male, chucking briefly at the other male’s words. “Since your cooking skills aren’t that developed, I’ll deal with the knives and the rest.”

 

Akashi grabbed the small package of tofu and opened it, putting the soft ingredient on the cutting board. He peered sideways to the bluenette while cutting the tofu in small cubes, observing him measuring the condiments to add to the minced meat that had been put on a bowl. Once again, he felt his lips starting to stretch into a full grown smile.

 

“What made you like vanilla this much?” questioned the taller male, while putting the tofu cubes inside a bowl.

 

“Do you must have reasons to like something?” asked back Kuroko, mixing the meat with his hands after having washed them. “Vanilla is something that makes me happy and relaxed, it gives me comfort and satisfaction. Though I admit that my addiction to it is borderline to be considered unhealthy, but it’s probably something that I can no longer give up on for the rest of my life.”

 

“…” Akashi lunged his hand forward and grabbed the Chinese cabbages, motioning over to the washbasin to clean the legumes. If that was the bluenette’s definition of his ‘liking’ for vanilla, what would be his definition of ‘love’ for another human being?

 

“But well, vanilla has been a continuous presence throughout my life, so of course I like it or I wouldn’t be this stuck up on it,” confirmed the bluenette, completely ignorant of the deep thinking state that the other male had fallen under due to his words.

 

“Then you’re lucky that you will have Atsushi’s cooking skills at your disposal for the next few times,” pointed out the taller male, motioning back to the counter.

 

“I wonder if Murasakibara-kun could teach me how to make vanilla milkshakes,” thought out loud Kuroko, moving the bowl with the seasoned meat inside in the redhead’s direction and turning around to wash his hands once again. “The milkshake that Kagami-kun brought me today was really deli—“

 

The sound of a knife heavily dropping on the cutting board, dividing the cabbage on top of it in two, slightly startled the bluenette, who looked right away backwards to peer at the other male. In Akashi’s face was painted a deep frown.

 

 _Ah, I probably shouldn’t have said that,_ admonished himself inwardly Kuroko in the back of his mind, slightly cringing at the fact that he did. Since the conversation between the two of them was going so well, he completely forgot about the heterochromatic redhead’s ‘dislike’ of the taller one. Maybe it would be safer for everyone to not mention him in any way or form if Akashi was holding something in his hands that could be used to hurt or kill someone.

 

“Umm… Akashi-kun, is there anything else I can do?” asked hesitantly the bluenette, trying to change the subject of the conversation before something bad happened to anyone – which in this case, that ‘anyone’ equaled to Kagami.

 

Akashi continued chopping the cabbages, motioning his face slightly up to point at the pan lying on top of the counter. “Put water inside of the pan and add that slice of ginger to it. Then put it on the stove on high heat. Please be careful and don’t get burnt, Tetsuya.”

 

“If I’ve been cooking boiled eggs for a long time, I think I can deal with the stove and come out of it unscathed, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, inwardly sighing in relief that his mood was still the same as it was before. He grabbed the pan and put water inside of it from the faucet on the washbasin, motioning afterwards to the stove to heat it.

 

“Oh yes, you mentioned that some electrical devices stop working due to your ability, didn’t you?” asked suddenly the taller male, looking over to Kuroko. “Is it okay for you to be here? There’s the fridge and other electrical appliances in the kitchen, after all.”

 

“If my ability is considerably stable or if I don’t spend a lot of time in this division when it isn’t, then it won’t affect anything in any way,” answered the other male, adjusting the temperature of the stove.

 

“Then I take it that your ability _is_ stable, at the moment,” concluded the redhead, putting the chopped cabbages in another bowl. He picked up the two bowls, the one with the tofu and the one with the cabbage that he had finished chopping, and motioned over to the stove, putting them beside it. “Help me make small balls with the minced meat.”

 

They both motioned back to the counter and picked up the bowl with the seasoned minced pork. Akashi divided the meat in two parts and gave one to the other male.

 

“How big should I make them?” questioned the smaller male, peering over to the other male. “I take it that you won’t want the balls to be too big, since it’s for a soup.”

 

“Do them more or less of this size,” explained Akashi, exemplifying  what he meant by tearing a bit of meat out of the big mass, rolling it in his hands to form a small ball and then showing it to Kuroko.

 

“Okay,” acknowledged the bluenette, giving a quick nod with his head. He picked up a small piece of the minced meat and started working on it, imitating the steps that Akashi had done. “It is slightly stable at the moment.”

 

Akashi looked over to the smaller male and lifted slightly an eyebrow. When Kuroko saw the other male peering over at him while working on the meat, he smiled faintly at the sudden puzzled expression that was painting his face.

 

“My ability is slightly better in terms of stability. Probably because of what happened yesterday, it went back to normal levels,” explained Kuroko, putting a small ball of ground meat back on the bowl. “Though that doesn’t mean much, since never once since I awoke as a ‘User’ my ability has been completely under control. And yes, it would probably be better if you don’t put anything electronic in my room or the ones around it, unless you want to be constantly buying new ones like I had to.”

 

“That last bit will probably be hard to accomplish. The room beside yours belongs to me and the one in front is Daiki’s. And we obviously need electric devices, such as computers and phones, to be able to do our jobs as ‘Miracles’.”

 

“Then I must advise you beforehand to store all the important information in the computers on a hard drive and keep it far away from that area, or you’ll lose all the information in it as soon as they crash,” deadpanned Kuroko, rolling one more ball in his small hands.

 

“Point taken,” confirmed the redhead, putting another ground pork ball in the bowl on top of all the others already placed there. “Is there anything else I should know now regarding your ability that may cause disturbances?”

 

“Disturbances regarding my surroundings or other humans?” questioned the smaller male, not looking directly at the other male but peering over to him through the corner of his eyes.

 

“If you could tell me both, I would appreciate it,” affirmed Akashi, shaking his hands to take the bits of ground meat that were stuck to his skin. He turned around to the washbasin and cleaned his hands under the cold water.

 

“…” Kuroko thought briefly if he should tell that type of information to Akashi or not. Who knows what types of plans the redhead would think of if he knew about it. However, it would be safer for everyone that would be living together with him on that house if they knew what to expect. “In terms of my surroundings, that’s pretty much all that it does. It crashes anything that is electronic or magnetic. It can also cause some slight interference on phone calls and mess around with the database inside of computers and such.”

 

“And in terms of humans?” asked the taller male, turning around to the stove to put the tofu inside of the pan.

 

“…” Once again, Kuroko pondered profusely on what he was going to tell the other male. He sighed slightly and continued talking. “It doesn’t really have any repercussions on others. As long as they don’t touch me when I’m using it, that is.”

 

“What would happen if someone did?” asked once again Akashi, stirring slowly the soup.

 

“It depends. If I’m only using a little bit of my ability, they would be send to the hospital with some light burns and cuts. If my ability is starting to go out of control, they would have to undergo an urgency treatment on first degree burns and would risk losing the limb that they used to touch me. If my ability is fully out of control…” The bluenette made a slight pause and felt a shudder creep up his spine. “…they would be instantly killed and cease to exist.”

 

“…” The redhead motioned over to near the other male as he turned around to also wash his hands, grabbing the bowl with the seasoned minced pork meat balls and going back to near the stove. “That happens if they touch you, right? What would happen if they touched the shadow?”

 

“Pretty much the same thing, only in a slightly slower and less painful way,” explained the smaller male as he rubbed his hands on the kitchen towel to dry them after having washed them. “The shadow isn’t my ability per se, it’s only one of its physical manifestations.”

 

“I take it that the other ‘physical manifestations’ would be something similar to what happened in the ‘Bloody Night’?” pointed out Akashi, putting the balls one by one inside of the pan.

 

“…Probably…” answered Kuroko, motioning over to the oven to peer to the inside of the pan. “Though there’s a pretty clear distinction between them.”

 

“Which would be?” questioned forth Akashi, lifting slightly an eyebrow at that piece of information.

 

“The shadows you saw yesterday and some weeks ago… Their purpose is to protect me of external factors,” admitted the bluenette, lowering his upper body over the counter to continuing to peer to the soup being made. “The ones you saw in the ‘Bloody Night’… Their solemn purpose was to destroy everything, even if my intentions were never completely that.”

 

“Including yourself,” added Akashi, as he stirred the soup once again.

 

“Yes, including myself. It wasn’t only outsiders that suffered the consequences of my ability. I also did,” acknowledged the smaller male as he observed the redhead put the chopped cabbage inside of the pan and softly stirring it. The aftereffects he felt when the ‘Bloody Night’ ended had been so brutal that he spent the next three months suffering from them. The aftereffects mingling with the painful memories of that night haunted him for days to no end. It still did, from time to time. Especially on nights when the sky housed a full moon.

 

“Then I should probably consider myself lucky, in a way,” suddenly added Akashi, pouring a little bit of sesame oil on the pan. “The only damages your ability caused me lately were that huge burn in my arm some weeks ago, and yesterday this.” The redhead lifted his hand, showing the bandage that covered almost all of his hand and wrist.

 

Kuroko straightened his back and looked over to the other male’s hand as he lowered it to once again stir the soup, a pained expression lightly painting his features. “I’m sorry about that burn. Well, about the other too. I didn’t mean to—“

 

“I know, Tetsuya,” interrupted the redhead, lunging a spoon with soup in the smaller male’s direction after having softly blown it. “You are not the type of person that is capable of knowingly hurt someone. Well, at least not in the same way I did to Kagami Taiga. Now taste it. It should be ready.”

 

Kuroko raised slightly an eyebrow as he shifted his gaze between Akashi and the spoon waiting for him right in front of his face. Akashi softly lunged it a bit closer, prompting him to open his mouth and taste the soup they had been preparing.

 

A little hesitant, the bluenette got closer to the spoon while opening his mouth and put it inside of it, closing his mouth to swallow the hot liquid. He lightly licked his lips and looked over to the taller male. “It’s good. I like it.”

 

Akashi immediately felt his heart skip a beat at the smaller male’s words as he lowered the hand holding the spoon. He peered intently to Kuroko and then released an exasperated sigh as he lunged his other hand up to his own forehead.

 

 _Control it, Akashi Seijuurou. Control yourself and don’t give any more reasons for Tetsuya to run away from you,_ warned Akashi in the back of his mind as he observed the bluenette tilting slightly his head while looking at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Kimi ga Hikari de Aru Tame ni" by Ono Kenshou (our still-in-denial bluenette XD)
> 
> And this was a quick tutoral on Akashi's favorite food, Tofu Soup! (jk)
> 
> Hehehe, Akashi is in a deep, deep problem, with Kuroko unconsciously leading him on~ But yeah... only Kuroko to look so prideful and serious while confessing that the only thing he knows how to cook is boiled eggs XD And you got a slight insight about Kuroko's ability which is a plus! *winks*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	57. The legendary other self

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with this Friday's update!
> 
> Well, by the title of this chapter you can pretty much get the inkling of what's going to happen, don't you? Fufufu~ One of the most awaited moments is on! But I swear, I never wrote so many emotions in the same chapter. And it's extra large!
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

Exiting his bathroom after having brushed his teeth and dressed his sleep nightwear, Kuroko approached the two bags near the bed. He eyed them slightly and then looked around the room. After he and Akashi had dinner, the redhead went to his room to finish reading the reports that had been given to him earlier that afternoon, and he fully used that time to look around his room.

 

The only hideouts he could find for the box were beneath the bed, inside one of the drawers of the desk and inside the wardrobe. None of them were bullet proof. Hiding the box beneath the bed would be too risky, since if someone dropped something to the floor and it rolled over there, they would immediately see the box when searching for the object. Putting it inside the drawers would also be mostly impossible, since he would have to put a lock there and it would be quite conspicuous to have only one drawer being heavily guarded while the others were completely free to be open around. Plus, Akashi could easily command the lock to be unlocked like it had happened back in the room in the redhead’s building.

 

So basically, the only solution he had to this humongous problem was to hide it in his wardrobe. It was big and it had a lot of drawers, shelves and space to cleverly hide a box in it. Also, he doubted that anyone would inspect his wardrobe – its only function was to store clothes and blankets, after all.

 

He opened the sports bag and rummaged through its contents, pulling the things inside of it to the top of his bed. After he took out all the things hiding the box, he also took it out and softly put it on the mattress. Kuroko immediately looked over to the door and then motioned over to the wardrobe, opening one of the doors. He calculated that the safest place would be where the blankets were stored, since winter was over already and the temperature was gradually getting warmer. Nobody would search the wardrobe for blankets during spring.

 

He motioned his hands forward and pulled a couple of blankets out of the part of the wooden wardrobe where they were being stored. Then he quickly walked to the bed and picked the box, almost marching back to the wardrobe with the fear he felt of the prospect of Akashi suddenly walking in.

 

While he was cleverly covering the box with blankets after having put it inside of the wardrobe, a sudden thought crossed his mind. Maybe the biggest problem in all this wasn’t the fact that Akashi could just suddenly decide to pop out of nowhere and see him hiding the box; the biggest problem was the barrier. If Murasakibara knew where he was at all times while inside the building, he probably could get the inkling of what he was doing based on his movements. And, if by any chance, he could also feel his emotions through the barrier, he would clearly know that if someone approached his wardrobe with the intention to take a blanket out, his heart rate would quicken and he would get extremely nervous about it.

 

Kuroko readily clicked his tongue at that sudden discovery. But well, he didn’t really have any other choice until he found an even safer place to hide the box. He probably would have to think of a plan to somehow manage to bring the box out of “Fuyu” and put it back on the trapdoor in his bedroom back in Seirin, even if only for a few more months. After all, it was never fully on his plans to remain in Teikou, now that he had been caught by the “Miracles”, for the following three years that would take him to graduate high school.

 

He eyed the door of the bedroom sideways and then softly sighed. He motioned over to the bed and gathered his things back in the sports bag, grabbing both that bag and the suitcase and taking them near the wardrobe so that he could now put his clothes in it.

 

 _Let’s just get this over once and for all, so that I can get some sleep,_ sighed Kuroko inwardly as he opened the zipper of the suitcase. The fact that he could finally sleep in a room all by himself was making him feel extremely satisfied, but somehow… a voice in the back of his mind was continuously whispering to him that something would be missing while doing so.

 

-.-

 

The moment Kuroko was starting to drift off to the deepest state of sleep, he felt the bottom of his bed’s mattress suddenly sinking with an unknown weight. His mind completely molded by his tiredness and sleepiness, he only fully opened his eyes and sat up on the bed when that unknown weight was almost on top of him.

 

“A-Akashi-kun?” called the bluenette when he saw in front of him a mass of red and the slight glint of a golden eye.

 

“This should be our first official meeting, right, Kuroko Tetsuya?” asked suddenly the redhead, the tone of his voice several decibels colder than usual, even while talking with Kagami or other people when in a bad mood.

 

“Aka—“ When the taller male lifted slightly his head and peered directly to him, the bluenette immediately frowned at the wicked smile that was twisting his lips. It was the same expression Akashi had on his face when he was ‘punishing’ Kagami earlier that afternoon. “No, not Akashi-kun… Who are you?”

 

“What are you talking about, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, a heavily mocking tone on his voice. He crawled even closer to the smaller male, the evil grin on his features widening even more. “I’m Akashi Seijuurou, of course.”

 

“No, you’re n— Ah!” The moment Kuroko started speaking, Akashi immediately lunged his hands forwards, pinning his pale and fragile wrists above his head on the mattress of the bed. “Wait, what are you—!?”

 

“So you are the one he has taken an interest in…” began the redhead, inching his face closer to Kuroko’s with that skin crawling smirk painted on it. “Well, I can see right away why. He’s been seeking you in an unconscious level since the ‘Bloody Night’, though he could never fully see you even when you were passing by him in the corridors due to your ability.” Akashi approached him even closer and slowly whispered in his ear. “But I could. Be it after the ‘Bloody Night’, be it before the ‘Bloody Night’… Be it before Teikou.”

 

“E-Eh…?” Shock immediately was painted in the bluenette’s face as he stared completely flabbergasted to the taller male. He started feeling a wave of panic creeping up inside of his stomach, invading his blood vessels and spreading through his whole body.

 

 _No way… I-It’s impossible for him to know about it…,_ stammered Kuroko inwardly, a warning bell ringing loudly in his mind. Nobody could know about that. If someone discovered what he was doing and being used for before the ‘Bloody Night’ happened and, worse yet, what happened before he was forced to enroll Teikou Academy, he would probably be executed by the government. No, not ‘probably’, he would _surely_ be executed. And to stop that from happening, he would have to… once again…

 

“Did that scare you? Does the fact that I may know things about you that aren’t supposed to be known by anyone else, much less by him, instill fright inside of you?” taunted the redhead, backing away slightly to observe the distressed expression on the smaller male’s face. “You do well in being scared, Tetsuya. I may accidentally let things slip out of my mouth. Things such as… Hmm… Yes, things such as why only the ‘Miracles’ feel that prickling sensation when they touch you.”

 

“…!” Kuroko readily averted the heterochromatic gaze of the mocking male, doing his best to stop his body from shivering and his teeth from teetering due to the incoming wave of stress that was lunging one hundred miles per hour inside of his mind.

 

“It’s rude to not look someone in the eyes when you’re meeting them for the first time, Tetsuya. Look at me!” ordered Akashi, tightening his grip on the thin wrists of the smaller male.

 

“Ngh…” His teal eyes danced around the room, trying to think of any away to escape from this extremely dangerous situation. Due to the lack of _any_ sort of solution to this monumental problem, Kuroko hesitantly shifted his look back to the other male.

 

“Good. You see, he may enjoy, in a roundabout way, the fact that you are constantly defying him. And I can accept that,” continued the redhead, his malign smirk mixing with a deep frown. “But I really don’t like it when people order me around. No exceptions. After all, I am absolute. Whatever it is that I do, I always win. And as such, I am always right.”

 

“…” The bluenette maintained his hesitant stare on the other male, his distressed expression slowly changing into a frown.

 

“So, I will give you a piece of advice. Behave like a good little boy and—“

 

“Why should I listen to your threats?” suddenly interrupted Kuroko, moving slightly his arms to try to create more space for his blood to flow normally, as he was starting to feel his hands becoming numb due to the aggressive hold on them. “Are you going to break my wrists like you almost did to Kagami-kun? Break my arms? Or my legs? Something worse?”

 

“Heh. Pain probably wouldn’t work with you, though it would be fun to do it,” answered the redhead, the smirk on his face widening once again at the prospect of continuing to torment the shivering-with-fright male in such, and better, ways. “The quickest method would be to send an anonymous letter to the government where all your ‘dirty secrets’ were exposed.”

 

“…” The frown in the bluenette’s face widened and he noticed that Akashi was enjoying the situation all the more due to that exact same frown.

 

“Ah, I really should try that out. As things stand where they are, Japan would most likely sink in the ocean first than you would be executed by the government due to the letter,” thought out loud the taller male, his eyes glistening with amusement. “Having him sending this whole spiteful country down would please me immensely. And there’s no doubt he would find a way to do it, since he can be quite stubborn on the things he sets his eyes on.”

 

“…”

 

“I wonder what I should do… Since I managed to set my eyes on you before he did, isn’t it unfair if he’s the one who gets to have fun first?” The golden eye of the redhead flickered intensely while he released his grip on the smaller male’s wrists, sliding his hands down slowly through his arms in his torso’s direction as he spoke. “Should I break you even more, in a completely irreparable way? Or should I simply steal you away from him and make you my little toy? Hey, Tetsuya… Tell me which one would you hate the most!”

 

Finishing his sentence, Akashi aggressively lunged his hands forward and wrapped them around the bluenette’s neck, tightening immediately his grip around that piece of flesh and blocking most of the air that was coming inside and exiting his lungs.

 

“Ack…!” Readily moving his hands in the redhead’s arms’ direction, Kuroko clutched into the sleeves of his clothes, fighting desperately for oxygen. “Aka— Ugh!”

 

“Struggle, Tetsuya,” ordered the taller male, his smirk widening even more and his golden eye shining more intensely. “It’s really enjoyable to see you struggling by my own hands. Ah, I wonder when was the last time since I had so much fun…”

 

“Ak—! Wai…!” continued to fight back Kuroko, trying to push away the hands gripping around his neck.

 

“Heh! I really want to know what the look on his face will be like when he finds out what his own hands did to you,” laughed off the menacing taller male. “Will he be scared of himself once again? Will he try to create space between you two? Ah… So many possibilities…”

 

“Ngh…” Against his own instinct of self-preservation, Kuroko slowly released his grip on the other male’s arms and put his trembling hands down on the bed, morphing his panicking expression into a furious glare.

 

“What’s this? Giving up already?” taunted the redhead, tightening his grip on the bluenette’s neck even more. “That’s extremely boring, Tetsuya. We ought to have more fun. All three of us!”

 

“You can… do whatever… ugh! …you want,” spoke out loud with difficulty the currently-being-strangled bluenette, eyes watery and cheeks bright red due to the lack of oxygen in his system. “Just don’t… ack! …put fault on… others… because of… haa… your own whims…!”

 

“Heh!” Akashi felt a massive shudder run through his whole body, his amusement on the situation escalating even more as both his smirk and the glow of his golden eye intensified. He tightened the grip on the smaller male’s neck, feeling the trachea right beneath his hands struggling to open to give access to the so needed air. Then he suddenly released Kuroko’s neck, lunging his hands up while staring intently at the male beneath him.

 

“Haa— Ugh… Haa—“ Kuroko coughed immediately, giving big gasps for air while inching his body away from the taller male. He continued to keep him under his gaze, eyeing him with wariness in case he thought of another ‘fun thing’ to do to him.

 

“You are turning out to be more interesting that I initially thought, Tetsuya. Maybe he’s right in acting around you the way he does,” concluded Akashi, while he smirked malevolently to the other male. “I’ll give it a thought while I’m away once again, since, unfortunately, my time out here has ended. And I’ll continue to watch over you, pondering on measures to tame you down.”

 

“…” _If someone needs to be ‘tamed’ here is you,_ deadpanned inwardly Kuroko, as he massaged his probably bruised neck. Now he could add dark-purple ones to the pink and red marks Akashi had left on him earlier.

 

“I will wait anxiously for our next meeting, Tetsuya. I’m sure it will be as amusing as this one,” taunted the redhead, inching away to a sitting position on top of the bed. “Have a good night.”

 

Staring hesitantly at the other male, Kuroko saw the taller male’s head abruptly dropping down and the stomach-turning sensation he was feeling slowly started to disappear from inside of him.

 

Akashi’s shoulder suddenly twitched and he moved his hand up to clutch his face, slowly lifting his head up to look in front of him. When he noticed that Kuroko was staring at him with a deep frown on his face, he looked around and saw he was in the bluenette’s bedroom. “Tetsuya?”

 

“Which one of you is it now?” asked hesitantly the smaller male, coughing lightly as his voice came out rough and the vibration of his vocal cords was hurting him while he spoke.

 

“Eh?” Akashi looked intently to the bluenette, surprise painting his features. He saw his watery eyes, the breathlessness that was overtaking him and the large bruise starting to appear around his neck. He readily clicked his tongue, averting the teal gaze directed at him as he finally realized what had happened.

 

“Which one of you is out right now?” asked once again Kuroko, inching away due to the lack of answers on the matter. Was it the usual Akashi right now? Or was it still the same one that suddenly came to his room and tried to strangle him, and was trying to impersonate the usual one?

 

“Tetsuya, I—“ started Akashi, looking directly to the bluenette and moving his hand on his direction.

 

“Which one?” repeated once again the smaller male, pressing down on his words to urge the other male to answer him.

 

Akashi dropped his hand and sighed, closing his eyes briefly. He lunged his bandaged hand up and run his fingers through his hair, thinking on a way to explain what happened to Kuroko. To apologize for what “he” had done to him… if such thing could even be forgiven. He probably would have to tell him about everything, if the chance of the bluenette coming to trust him was still even valid.

 

The redhead peered sideways to the waiting smaller male. Kuroko was probably afraid of him now. If he tried to approach him, he would flinch in fear and move backwards to create distance between them. All the things he had said and done with him most likely had been completely thrown to the nearest recycling machine and turn into distrust and hate once again.

 

Well, how could it not? From the look of the situation in front of him, the inner beast had tried to strangle Kuroko and probably would have continued if Akashi hadn’t regained control of it once again. Luckily it didn’t kill the bluenette, but the damages it caused were more than enough: weeks of building trust and the prototype of a growing relationship completely gone down the drain.

 

Sighing once again, Akashi lifted his head and looked directly at the smaller male. “It’s me, Akashi Seijuurou, the one you have been interacting with for almost a month now.”

 

Relief filling his chest, Kuroko felt his shoulders relaxing and his hammering heart slow down considerably, though it was still going at a pretty quick rhythm. “What exactly happened?”

 

“…” The redhead tried to keep his gaze on the bluenette, but he failed to do so and averted his gaze almost immediately, formulating ways in his head on how he should try to explain it to him.

 

“I don’t want to force you to speak like you do with me, Akashi-kun, but I think you owe me an explanation right now,” added Kuroko, a completely dead-set and serious tone on his voice.

 

“…” Akashi sighed once again and sat straight on the bed, crossing his fingers on top of his legs. “You said earlier today that I’m categorized as a ‘perfect’ person, didn’t you? However, that’s the image I try to give to others. As the leader and representative of all ‘Users’ in Japan, I _have_ to keep that image or things could so easily start to go wrong once again. Truth is… I’m as ‘imperfect’ as everyone else. No, I’m probably even more ‘imperfect’ than all of those around me.”

 

“…” Kuroko observed intently the other male as he talked, a pained glint on his heterochromatic eyes. He could see right away that Akashi was truly being honest with him at the moment. No matter how good of an actor someone was, no one could feign the emotions that were running in his red and golden eyes.

 

“This is my ‘imperfection’. The other self that is usually locked up inside of me,” continued explaining the taller male, moving his hand up to clutch his clothes, right on top of his chest. “The other me that can almost be compared to the devil incarnated in a person. But well, you’re probably aware of that already.”

 

“When was he created?” asked suddenly the bluenette, motioning his hands down to the mattress. “Was he created when you become a ‘Miracle’? Or did he exist from the very beginning?”

 

“…” Akashi looked at the other male, clear surprise showing on his expression. He didn’t expect that to be Kuroko’s first question on the matter they were discussing. Actually, he wasn’t expecting any kind of questions at all. Only disapproval, criticism, deprecation. And, most of all, horror. “I was never a solemn person from the very beginning. Due to… reasons, I divided myself in two entities long before I awoke as a ‘Miracle’. But it only became more accentuated six years ago when ‘Users’ were born. It was only from them on that ‘he’ started to fully take over my body and create chaos on everybody’s lives.”

 

“…” The bluenette was immensely curious on what reasons would take a human being to try to escape from reality in such way. Dividing a human being in two in the same body? Definitely not the average childhood. But, who was he to talk about average childhoods when he never lived one? Most likely, none of the ‘Miracles’ had one. Kagami too. None of the ‘Users’ had had one, probably.

 

Because Kuroko knew the truth behind “Users”. He had long learned, when he was with _them_ , what was the small “spark” needed to ignite the “fire” and make someone suddenly awake as a “User”. And if he had learned it by being with _them_ , it was more than obvious that the “spark” couldn’t be compared to “light”. It was pure “darkness” – and once the seed was planted, there was no escape from the tremendous loop-hole of despair that it brought forward to the recipient.

 

However, for as curious as Kuroko was about it, he would not ask anything about it. He hated to talk about his past. Akashi was probably the same, by the strained look on his face. So, just like he would appreciate it if Akashi would give him time to talk about such painful topics, he was going to give the option of choice to him. If the redhead wanted to talk about it, it was okay. If not, then it was also okay.

 

“You said you usually keep ‘him’ locked up inside, right?” asked the smaller male, relaxing a little bit more his stance as he couldn’t feel that sickening sensation in his insides anymore. “Does that mean ‘he’ can pop up out of nowhere again?”

 

“No, usually he doesn’t fully show up. Though I can’t guarantee that some of his ‘traits’ won’t sporadically show up in me, like it happened when I… did that to Kagami Taiga,” confessed the taller male. “Though he’s not the most well-behaved of individuals, he normally only fully shows up when something picks his interest. Or if I ask him to, but that’s not something that I like to do.”

 

“…” Staring intently at the redhead, Kuroko gulped down hard and slowly opened his mouth, gripping tightly the covers beneath his body with his hands. He was about to make the million dollar question. “Do both of you share the same memories?”

 

Akashi lifted slightly an eyebrow. This question is definitely not something that he usually heard when he talked with someone about the inner beast. Actually, he couldn’t recall anyone ever asking that to him. So, why exactly was Kuroko asking something like that?

 

“We don’t share memories per se. We have the inkling of what goes around each other and, of course, he knows what happened before I awoke as a ‘User’. But that’s only my own circumstances,” explained the redhead, taking close attention to any change in the smaller male’s expression. “There are obviously things that I don’t know and that he knows, just like he doesn’t know some things that I do. We may share the same body, but we are _not_ the same entity.”

 

“I see…” The bluenette felt an incredible urge to sigh in relief, but he swallowed that urge with all his strength. Showing such while Akashi was closely looking at him would give right away that his other self knew of an important detail about him that he didn’t know.

 

“…” Peering intently at the smaller male, the redhead decided to drop whatever suspicions he was having for the unusual question for now and turned around once again, looking to the wall at the end of the room. “Based on our latest conversations, I can gather that you probably think of yourself as a monster, don’t you? Not just because other people claim it to be that way, but because of your own opinion on yourself.”

 

“…” Dropping his gaze slightly, Kuroko continued to stare at Akashi while not entirely looking at him. He was contemplating the redhead’s question. Monster? He was? That was more than obvious. What other name could be given to a person who caused the death of thousands of people in a single night? Who destroyed half of Tokyo and barred the access to a small portion of land that could never house life again?

 

There was no word that could describe what he was other than “monster”.

 

“Well, I’m pretty aware that I’m one,” added Akashi, a strained and faint smile on his lips while he clutched his golden eye. “This abnormality inside of me makes me a monster. Even before I became a ‘User’.”

 

Without thinking, the bluenette lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the redhead’s body, tugging him closer to his chest while strongly hugging him.

 

 _He’s just like me… He’s just like what I made Ogiwara-kun become…_ For some reason, even more than when the other Akashi was trying to strangle him in the most agonizing way, even more than when he felt the repercussions of his ability, even more than during those cold nights when he couldn’t sleep because of his painful memories… Kuroko felt an incredible urge to start to cry.

 

Not because he was feeling pain, nor because he was feeling sad or taking pity on the other male. He felt _understood_. He felt that somebody, even though it was the last person that he could think of, could actually understand what he has been feeling basically all his life.

 

Maybe what Ogiwara had told him yesterday was wrong. Maybe he could really end up befriending the “Miracles”, maybe even be able to coexist with them unlike what had been told time and time again to him. Maybe he didn’t have to stand alone in that shadowy life that he had been living all this time. Maybe, just maybe, he could stand in the light, together with Akashi, Kagami and all the other “Miracles”, even if just momentarily.

 

 _Oh, how happy would I be if I could feel the warmth of being under the light once in my life,_ thought the smaller male in the back of his mind while he clutched strongly to the other male, the beginning of a smile appearing on his features.

 

“Tetsuya?” called the completely flabbergasted redhead, trying to turn his head to look at Kuroko. He was expecting almost anything out of this conversation that he knew that one day would come. Anything but being hugged in such a way. Akashi had never thought that Kuroko would initiate a hug, much less after the inner beast had made a full appearance. Much less when he had enough reasons to do everything but that to him.

 

“Ah…!” Finally coming to the realization of what he was doing, the bluenette stiffly released his hold on the taller male, inching away from him while his arms remained lifted in the air, completely at a loss of what to do with them or even say to defend himself on this impulsive action that he did. “I’m sorry! I— It’s not—“

 

Breaking out of the surprised spell he had fallen under, a soft smile immediately popped up in his lips as he observed the bluenette looking around the entire room while searching for a way to explain himself on the sudden hug. Akashi lunged forward and threw himself over to the other male, tackling him against the mattress of the bed while doing so.

 

“A-Akashi-kun?” hesitantly called Kuroko, lifting his head up from the bed to look at the redhead, who pressed his face against his chest while wrapping his arms tightly around him.

 

“’But it’s warm, Akashi-kun’…” suddenly said the redhead, slowly moving his head against the bluenette’s chest to peer at the other male, beckoning eyes joining a soft smile on his features. “Won’t you tell me the same thing this morning too?”

 

“Eh?” managed to articulate Kuroko, a bright red blush setting his face on fire while someone, apparently Akashi, decided to press the gas pedal of his heart aka he was nearing an heart attack at full speed. He was probably becoming ‘weird’ too, because… Akashi looked extremely cute right now to him, looking at him with the same eyes that a child would look to a mother when they wanted them to buy a new toy or give them a piece of candy. “Ah… I…”

 

“Hmm?” Tilting his head slightly as he peered to the bluenette as he opened and closed his mouth while trying to say anything minimally coherent, Akashi moved his body forward and neared their faces. “How is it going to be, Tetsuya?”

 

“I… No… I mean…” tried to answer the bluenette, still not being able to say anything that could deny the taller male’s request. He motioned his hands up and covered his face with them, trying to hide his completely red face. “J-Just do whatever you want.”

 

 _Ahhh, there it goes my first night alone in a long time,_ cringed inwardly the smaller male, feeling that the other male was twisting him around his little finger yet again. He opened his fingers slightly and peered to the redhead through them, seeing him pushing his body up and moving his face closer. Akashi planted a soft and chaste kiss on his forehead, making his heart go for one more ride in the speed-of-light rollercoaster that he currently was on.

 

Akashi’s expression at the moment could only be called as “being over the moon” as he busied himself adjusting the blankets back to a usable manner. Kuroko just sighed as he turned his body around in the bed. He was starting to feel that giving in to the redhead’s whims was probably the quickest way to solve most of his problems while dealing with him (though it probably wouldn’t be the safest way to work around the other Akashi). He would most likely only be giving him more reasons to continue his completely vexatious and irrational moves while doing so, but accommodating Akashi for one more night only wouldn’t hurt… or would it?

 

After the taller male stopped adjusting the blankets and covers over both of them, Kuroko moved his body further away from the redhead and faced the other way. “It’s just doing the same thing as yester— Wait, what are you doing?”

 

Akashi suddenly moved his body closer and wrapped his arms once again around the bluenette’s body, pulling him over against his chest. He slowly motioned his head closer to the other male’s ear and softly whispered in it. “Don’t tense your body this much, Tetsuya. I’ll just think of you as one of those huge body pillows and you can think of me as… as a panda hugging you?”

 

“Pffffft!” started suddenly laughing the smaller male, covering his mouth. “You, Akashi-kun? A panda? The closest animal that you can be compared to is a big and misbehaving lion.”

 

“Then should I start acting like a carnivore and bite you again?” teased Akashi, smirking slightly as he snuggled against the bluenette.

 

“If you want to spend the rest of the night in a cross armlock, you can try,” deadpanned Kuroko in a quite threateningly way.

 

“I shall refrain myself from doing so, for now, then,” compromised the taller male, once again feeling the same amusement he felt that afternoon on the other male’s threats on him. “I’ll be a _behaved lion_ for a while.”

 

“Just… try not to stick so closely to me,” softly complained Kuroko, trying to create some space between his back and the redhead’s chest. “This is extremely uncomfortable.”

 

“Then I just have to make you used to sleeping this way. That should be a fun goal to set,” teased once again Akashi, erasing once again the distance that the smaller male created between them.

 

“We are _not_ going to sleep together once again,” admonished the bluenette, trying to look at the other male behind him. “Stop acting like a little child who wants to sleep with his parents. You have your own room and I have mine. Please give me at least time to spend by myself at night.”

 

“Does that mean that I can spend the rest of the day together with you, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, bumping softly his nose in the back of the bluenette’s head.

 

“I’m not forbidding you from going wherever you want and you can be in the same division as me. Just don’t stalk me,” deadpanned Kuroko while yawning slightly. “The slight freedom you gave me comes with a price for you too, Akashi-kun. Keep your own words.”

 

Akashi chuckled and gave a few soft pats on the bluenette’s head with the hand that he motioned up. It was always so amusing to talk with the smaller male, even if all they were doing was arguing about the lack of space that he was giving him. “Yes, I’ll keep my own words. Now sleep, Tetsuya.”

 

“…” _How exactly do you expect me to sleep with you completely glued to me?,_ mumbled Kuroko in his head. Every time he tried to move away from the redhead, he closed that distance once again. It was annoying – no, uncomfortable for him, since it seemed that, at least when he was concerned, Akashi had no sense of personal space at all. It was almost as if he was trying to desperately hold on onto him and keep him from leaving.

 

Maybe the first step he needed to take towards Akashi was, somehow, putting in his head that whatever plans he had for him for the future, he would not be able to accomplish them. Kuroko wasn’t there to stay. It simply wasn’t on his future plans, and it never was.

 

Kuroko shifted his body slowly and slightly curled up his own body. The prospect of leaving Teikou Academy never was a completely welcomed decision, especially after Ogiwara’s death. He may have been able to break the chain that linked him to _them_ , but new ones were created: they linked him to this school. It was most likely his way of atoning for his sins and he knew perfectly well that it couldn’t keep going on like that. So, even if it would probably cause him even more pain now doing so, Teikou could _never_ be his definite home and there would come a time when he would have to leave without looking back.

 

_Since… it will be better for everyone that way. Even for myself..._

 

Kuroko softly closed his eyes, trying to not to think about anything. That would be the quickest method to fall asleep and ignore the warmth that was penetrating his body through his back, exactly on the spot where Akashi’s chest was touching him. Even with all the strong emotions he had felt some moments ago, his breathing quickly started to even and slow down and the drowsiness he had felt before the other Akashi came into the room was settling in once again.

 

 _For some reason… I feel safer when I’m sleeping in the same bed as Akashi-kun than when I’m alone…,_ were the last thoughts of the bluenette before completely falling into a deep state of sleep.

 

Feeling Kuroko’s breathing slow down considerably and then stabilize to the same pace that he recognized from the previous morning, Akashi chastely kissed the back of his head, pushing him closer against his chest while feeling extremely delighted at once again sharing his warmth with the smaller male.

 

Just exactly how relaxed and satisfied could this action, sleeping together with Kuroko, make him feel when he hated to be together with others while sleeping, since it was the moment he was more vulnerable to external factors? The redhead probably felt the happiest when the other male was exactly like this, peacefully resting in his embrace. He seriously doubted that anyone else would have such an impactful presence in his entire life.

 

Observing the bluenette sleeping, Akashi once again kissed the back of his head, this time extending the length of the kiss considerably. When he moved his face slightly backwards, a soft smile in his lips, the redhead once again snuggled against him.

 

“I’m sorry, Tetsuya,” softly apologized the taller male, lightly resting his forehead on the other male’s blue locks. “It would be safer for you if I distanced myself. But… that would be impossible for me. I’m no longer capable of being far away from you for too long. I’ll take care of you and stop anyone who wants to hurt you, you included. Nobody will touch you, not even the higher-ups in the Japanese government. I won’t keep you locked up, but I won’t let you leave either. So just give up already and become mine. I promise to love you until the day I die. If necessary, even further than that. So, please become mine, Tetsuya.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "The Other self" by GRANRODEO. (I swear, I feel that they created this song just so that I could write this chapter :P)
> 
> The moment Kuroko hugged Akashi, I was wailing like a little baby... I did say that their relationship would start (really) developing in a unexpected way. And since it was the inner beast that ignited that initial connecting, maybe he's not that bad? Nah... he tried to strangle our lovely bluenette! I'm scared of what he will do to me if I hurt Kuroko in latter chapters -.-'
> 
> But seriously... AKASHI, WHY!? JUST WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO YOURSELF!?!?!?!? IF YOU WANT TO SWEAR YOUR LOVE FOR SOMEONE, DO IT WHILE THE PERSON IS AWAKE, FOR GOD'S SAKE!!!! Argh!!!! You're killing all of us! I'm feeling frustrated once again... *goes off to write another smutty chapter to vent the frustration*
> 
> For those who want to know: I used "Beast (Male Version)" by Mia Martina to inspire me for the inner beast moment, while I think that the songs "Monster" and "Demons" by Imagine Dragons really are on point about Akashi's feelings about the inner beast.
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/ [come check my special sale for commissions - only during Christmas/New Year]


	58. So tell me, ask myself, walk forward now, what am I watching?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another update.
> 
> Unfortunately, I have some slightly bad news for you. I will have to alter my release schedule. This Friday I suddenly collapsed in the street and when I was taken to the hospital, the doctor said I've been overworking myself. Apparently, working/studying/writing for over 50 hours per week is too much for any human being to be able to take. And if we take my very few hours of sleep and my unhealthy eating habits... I'm completely screwed -.-' So, I decided to instead of uploading every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, to release a chapter every 3 days (so, since I'm uploading one now, Monday, the next one will come on Thursday, and then the next one Sunday, and so on and so forth). This way I will have some more time to rest and get my body back on form ^^
> 
> Anyway, let's forget about bad stuff and enjoy the incoming fluff :D

“’Sup, Kise…” yanned Aomine when he walked through the small gate that had been placed in the middle of the wall which delineated the total area of ‘Fuyu’, the building where the ‘Miracles’ and ‘The Phantom’ would be living from now on.

 

“Oh, Aominecchi! Isn’t it quite early in the morning for you to be awake already?” asked Kise, while giving a quick peek to his phone. “It’s 10 am! You usually are still fast asleep during this time in the morning.”

 

“Ah… Well, I sorta woke up early today,” lied the tanned male while averting the blonde’s gaze. If he told Kise that he has been awake for almost 48 hours now because he had spent the last two nights playing basketball with Kagami (though this night it had been only him doing the playing since the redhead was out of commission at the moment), he would surely make fun of him until Aomine forced him to shut up by throwing something hard and painful at him. Probably his fist or his foot.

 

“Ah~ Don’t tell me? Are you feeling nervous for going to be living under the same roof as Akashicchi?” teased the blonde, lifting exaggeratedly an eyebrow. “Worried about the inner beast?”

 

“Yeah, right!” grunted Aomine, shrugging his shoulders. “Out of all of us, you are probably the one who should be more nervous about going to be living here in ‘Fuyu’.”

 

“Eh? Why?” asked Kise right away, tilting slightly his head.

 

“Because of your annoying habit of physical contact with others,” criticized Aomine, crossing his arms over his chest. “Do that to Kuroko in front of Akashi and you probably will be punished in the same or worst ways that Kagami was.”

 

“Ooh… I sure haven’t forgotten the last one…” cringed the blonde, feeling his skin crawl slightly at the memory. “But worse than the physical punishments themselves, it’s the increase in the workload that comes with more frequency. I still haven’t managed to complete the quota that was given to me because of the last trouble I caused.”

 

“And you only have yourself to blame for it. Who told you to break that statue with your ability while in a mission?” half-admonished the tanned male, sighing slightly as he started walking to the entrance of their new home, the smaller male following right behind him.

 

“I was not to blame for that! And I made that very clear to Akashicchi, even though he still wound up punishing me,” tried to defend himself the blonde, sulking a little bit at the other male’s words. “Besides, you usually cause more damages than I do when in missions.”

 

“Yeah, but I never broke a 60,000,000 yen statue while on one,” pointed out Aomine, smirking maliciously at Kise. “How many reports do you still have to do per week?”

 

“Argh! 15 per week, plus a detailed inventory every other week…!” cringed Kise while taking his hands up to his head. “Just how much has the poor little me suffered because of that demon!? Because of all this work, my time with my beloved Kasamatsu-senpai has decreased drastically! I’ve been feeling extremely frustrated because of that!!”

 

“I see that you’re still jerking off alone, then,” teased the taller male, the malicious smirk growing considerably on his face.

 

“Shut up, Ahominecchi!” yelled Kise to the other male as he opened the front door of the building. “At least I have someone who loves me who I can jerk off to, while you continue to be the same lone wolf as always.”

 

“Oh, don’t worry, Kise. I’ll start having my amount of ‘fun little interactions’ eventu—“ Aomine suddenly stopped both his steps and interrupted his own sentence, lifting slightly an eyebrow. Why was it that an image of Kagami playing basketball suddenly popped up in his head? He shook his head and continued walking, climbing the stairs two steps at the same time. “Anyway, we probably should go make our presence announced to the oh-all-powerful Akashi-sama, shouldn’t we?”

 

“Yeah, if he catches us slacking off like last time, we will probably hear once again a two-hour long lecture…” added Kise, following right behind Aomine. “And he’s probably awake already doing some kind of Student Council-related work, I bet.”

 

“His room is the one beside the room in front of mine, right?” asked the tanned male before lunging his hand totally forward to open the door in question.

 

“Yup!” confirmed the blonde, giving a quick nod with his head.

 

Aomine opened the door to Akashi’s room and stepped inside right away, Kise peeking inside through the corridor, but all that greeted them was an empty bedroom. The redhead was obviously up already, since the bed was done and there were some papers laid on top of his desk.

 

“Do you think he went to get tea or something?” asked Kise, lifting slightly an eyebrow while he scanned the interior of the room with his golden eyes. “Oh, wait! Kuroko-kun is probably in his bedroom. Let’s ask him if he knows where Akashicchi is!”

 

“Isn’t he probably awake and out already?” pointed out Aomine, closing the door as he followed after the blonde who was walking over to the room that was right beside Akashi’s. “I have a feeling that he probably wasn’t able to sleep all that well, since he’s in a place that he doesn’t really like to be in.”

 

“Oh, he’ll be fine~” added Kise, lunging his hand forward to open the door to Kuroko’s bedroom. “Good morning, Kuroko-kun! Do you know where— Woah!!”

 

“Hey, you idiot! Don’t just stop so sudd— Ehhh!?” started grumbling the tanned male when Kise halted his steps suddenly after having opened the door, but when he saw the exact same thing that the smaller male did, Aomine couldn’t help but also stop walking and just let his jaw drop.

 

In Kuroko’s bedroom, laid down in the bed, were Akashi and Kuroko peacefully sleeping, the bluenette pretty much glued to the redhead as he tightly gripped into his clothes.

 

Kise, completely flabbergasted to what he was seeing, motioned his hands up and rubbed his eyes, blinking several times and then looking again to the two sleeping males. “A-Aominecchi, w-what exactly is this?”

 

“Ahh… I think it’s a proof that Akashi’s flirting with Kuroko is actually bearing fruits…” answered the incredulous tanned male. He had no idea how Akashi managed to convince Kuroko to sleep in the same bed as him, much less in such way, but he sure had to congratulate the redhead on his persuasion skills.

 

“T-They’re sleeping in the same bed! Akashicchi is sleeping in the same bed as Kuroko-kun!” continued Kise, almost shrieking as he pointed to the sleeping males with his finger, looking over to the taller male with his face painted with a shocked expression. “When we have to go somewhere because of a mission, Akashi _always_ refuses to sleep in the same room as us! But look at him now! And Kuroko-kun! For someone who’s afraid of us, he sure looks like he’s in heaven righ—“

 

“Could you two make less noise?” spoke up suddenly a voice coming from the bed. “Tetsuya is sleeping.”

 

“Weren’t you also sleeping, Akashi?” asked Aomine, lifting slightly an eyebrow as he peered over to the redhead who motioned his upper body slowly against the pillow while adjusting the sleeping position of the bluenette on top of him. “I’m sorry if we woke you up.”

 

“I woke up the moment you two entered inside of the building,” added Akashi, adjusting the blanket on top of Kuroko to cover his body in a better way. “And I would appreciate it that the next time you want something from me, you knock on the door of my room first before entering. In Tetsuya’s room, too.”

 

“Y-Yes,” apologized both the blonde and the tanned male, averting their gazes from the almost angelic semblance of Kuroko while sleeping attached to the male who could be compared almost all the time to a devil.

 

“Are you here to complete your moving?” asked the redhead while he softly stroke the end of the smaller male’s blue locks with his fingers. “And aren’t you awake quite early today, Daiki? I was only expecting to see you after lunch or later.”

 

“Why is everyone asking me the same thing today?” grumbled Aomine, crossing his arms over his chest while he leaned his shoulder on the door frame. “Can’t a guy be early in the morning for once in his life?”

 

“I’m not saying that. It’s just that it almost seems like you haven’t slept for several nights consecutively,” answered Akashi, peering intently at the tanned male as he scanned his body from head to toes. “If you are having trouble sleeping again, you should consult Shintarou about it.”

 

“I’m not having trouble sleeping. I’ve just been busy lately, that’s all,” sighed Aomine while lifting his hand up to scratch his head. The fact that Akashi could read others so well was one of the traits of the redhead that sometimes sent the chills down his spine. No, probably everyone’s spines.

 

“I’m just worrying about you, Daiki. I don’t want you to collapse due to exhaust—“

 

“Nnn…” Kuroko suddenly released the grip on the redhead’s clothes and motioned that hand up, softly scratching Akashi’s face with the tips of his fingers. “Akashi-kun… it’s noisy…”

 

“I’m sorry, Tetsuya,” answered right away Akashi, grabbing the bluenette’s hand with his own and motioning it down while softly smiling. He put both of their hands beside Kuroko’s body, slowly stroking his pale skin with his finger. “We’ll stop talking now, so you can continue sleeping if you want.”

 

Kise and Aomine observed the interaction between the two males with half amazement, half shock painting their features. How exactly had the redhead managed to put Kuroko so relaxed with him when they were constantly arguing with each other whenever others were present?

 

“Nnn…” gruntingly acknowledged the half-sleeping male as he snuggled closer to Akashi’s body, not even bothering to take notice of the audience that was closely observing him. “Ah…”

 

“Hm?” hummed softly the redhead, focusing his heterochromatic eyes on the smaller male.

 

“But it’s warm, Akashi-kun…” suddenly added Kuroko, opening one of his teal, sleepy eyes and moving his head slightly up to look at the male underneath half of his body.

 

“Eh?” Akashi felt his heart skip yet another beat. No, it skipped a beat and then started pumping the blood in his veins in a furious manner, as the bluenette continued to shift his body to peer directly at him with a slight smirk on his sleepy features.

 

“You were the one who said you wanted me to say it this morning too, Akashi-kun…” added Kuroko, widening the smirk in a teasingly manner as he practically hugged the redhead in his new sleeping position.

 

Akashi suddenly felt his whole face ignite with heat and in his features was painted a myriad of shades of red. Being a witness to this miraculous event, Kise and Aomine let their jaws drop even more at the blushing redhead.

 

 _Just what kind of monster is Kuroko to be able to make the Akashi Seijuurou blush like that!?,_ thought both the tanned male and the blonde in the back of their minds at the same time. They had a sudden feeling that maybe it wasn’t Akashi that was managing to “tame down” Kuroko with his unmeasured flirting and constant presence. Maybe it was the smaller male that was twisting Akashi around his little finger.

 

Noticing the flabbergasted looks on the two taller male’s faces, Akashi readily looked in their direction, finally managing to control the redness on his face to less noticeable colors. “Daiki, Ryouta, leave.”

 

“A-Ah, yes!” stuttered Kise, feeling the threat behind the redhead’s tone. They were starting to step too close to the two smaller males’ territory and Akashi was obviously starting to feel that invasion. The best thing they could do was leave like they were being told, though he doubted that he would really do them anything at the moment as he was being straight out forced to stay in the bed by Kuroko. And, honestly, Kise felt that Akashi was just as much in heaven as Kuroko was.

 

“Ah, well, we’ll leave now,” added Aomine as he prompted his body away from the door frame and covered a yawn with his hand. “Sorry for the interruption.”

 

The two taller males turned around and left the room, softly closing the door behind them. Akashi continued to stare in the door’s direction and then sighed deeply, lowering his head to peer at the once again sleeping bluenette.

 

“Tetsuya,” called softly the redhead, moving slightly the smaller male’s body to wake him, even if momentarily (he had said that he could continue sleeping, after all).

 

“Nnn?” breathed softly Kuroko, rubbing slightly his eyes with his pale hand.

 

“I think you really should start controlling your sleep-talking habit, if such thing is even possible,” said Akashi, lightly running his fingers through the blue locks of the half-sleeping male. “Unless you want me to ‘attack’ you under these circumstances, that is.”

 

“I don’t want to be ‘attacked’ under any circumstances,” mumbled Kuroko, as he slowly blinked his teal eyes to adjust his vision to the light coming inside of the room through the window.

 

“Then you—“

 

“But I was being honest just now when I said that…” mumbled the bluenette as he gave up on trying to motion his body up to release the taller male’s body and just continued snuggling with the warm body underneath his own warm one. “Wasn’t it you who wanted me to do so…?”

 

“…” Akashi continued staring at the smaller male, feeling that he just lost, in a way, to the argument that Kuroko pointed out. That had never happened to him before in his entire life. Once again, the thought that he was experiencing firsts left and right with Kuroko surfaced on the back of his mind.

 

“Now let me continue sleeping, Akashi-kun… I still need a couple more of hours of rest under my belt…” mumbled the bluenette, plainly moving his hand to grip on the taller male’s clothes and motioning his body even closer to Akashi’s.

 

Akashi had said that night that he would think of Kuroko as a body pillow… but it was probably Kuroko who was thinking of Akashi as a human-shaped hot water bottle from the moment he suddenly turned around and grabbed tightly into him more or less half an hour after he fell asleep.

 

-.-

 

“Somehow, I feel like we just saw something that is solemnly meant to be seen by Kuroko,” yawned Aomine as he motioned over through the corridor in the second floor beside Kise.

 

“Yeah… Akashicchi really has it hard~” acknowledged the blonde, nodding his head slightly in agreement. “It sure isn’t every day that you see him blushing like that. Probably never happened, actually.”

 

“You said that before, didn’t you, Kise?” asked the taller male, lifting slightly an eyebrow as he looked sideways to the blonde. “So you noticed it too?”

 

“You were the only one who didn’t notice it before, Ahominecchi,” teased Kise, sighing slightly. He was probably the dumbest one out of all of them, but Aomine could be as dense as a door. “Everyone who has talked with Akashicchi these last few weeks has noticed it almost instantly when Kuroko-kun was brought in to the conversation.”

 

“Ah…” If Kise was putting it that way, it really was his fault that he hadn’t noticed it before. He had talked with Akashi several times, one of them on the day after he went to check on the bluenette because of Murasakibara’s request. He had indeed noticed an unusual worry in the redhead as he talked with him, but he just thought of it as him trying to certify himself that Kuroko wouldn’t go back to neither his self-imposed comatose sleep nor lose control on his ability. And Akashi was the type of person that tried to maintain everything that he dealt with under control, to avoid any unexpected surprises. But since yesterday that that ‘worry’ was renamed as ‘love’.

 

“But, really… I never thought Kuroko-kun would get this close to him this quickly,” continued the blonde, motioning his hand up to rub the back of his head. “Since he’s sorta afraid of us and all that.”

 

“Akashi is constantly with Kuroko, almost to the point of dumping more work on us so that he can stay together with him,” added Aomine, covering with his mouth another yawn as he started going down the stairs. “It’s obvious that he would warm up to him more quickly than with us.”

 

“But isn’t he mellowing out around Akashicchi a liiiiiiiittle bit too much?” asked Kise, raising slightly an eyebrow as he also started going down the stairs to the first floor. “With what we saw in Kuroko’s bedroom, it was almost as if he was unconsciously leading him on.”

 

“That’s possible,” spoke suddenly a voice from the bottom of the stairs. Aomine and Kise looked right away in its direction and saw both Midorima and Murasakibara finishing entering inside the building and closing the door. “Maybe just like Akashi until yesterday, Kuroko hasn’t realized yet that he’s fallen in love with him and leads him on in an unconscious level.”

 

“Kuro-chin doesn’t really dislike it when Aka-chin is all over him, after all,” confirmed Murasakibara while munching on some maiubo. “Actually, Kuro-chin feels more relaxed and happy when Aka-chin is around than when he’s alone.”

 

“Really!?” gasped the blonde, opening his eyes in a surprised manner. He motioned his hand up and touched his chin with the back of his finger. “I can’t really imagine anyone relaxing when Akashicchi is around, though…”

 

“Kuro-chin does. A whole lot,” acknowledged the purple haired giant once again, giving another bite to the maiubo on his hand.

 

“Is that what you feel when he’s inside your barriers?” asked Aomine, leaning his back on the railing of the bottom of the stairs.

 

“Yeah,” nodded Murasakibara, swallowing the last bit of the savory snack and motioning his hand to his pocket to take another one.

 

Kise and Aomine immediately looked at each other and in their lips surfaced a devilish smirk as they slowly motioned over to near the giant in an almost animalistic manner with the prospect of discovering some details about the mostly unknown time that the redhead and the bluenette spent together.

 

“Then how have Kuroko-kun and Akashicchi been feeling since they entered this building?” slyly asked the blonde, walking around Murasakibara to see if there was any snacks that he could eat.

 

“Hmm… Aka-chin was feeling really happy, especially when they were cooking their dinner together, and some moments before he fell asleep he was feeling… Ah… Half delighted, half conflicted, maybe?,” answered Murasakibara, looking down to open the plastic wrap of the new maiubo. “Kuro-chin was just extremely relaxed throughout the entire time, but there was some reluctance before he fell asleep. Then it just disappeared.”

 

“Half delighted, half conflicted?” Aomine tilted slightly his head and thought about the information that Murasakibara was giving him. He suddenly looked over to the blonde, who apparently had the same sudden realization that he did. “Sexual frustration!”

 

“No, that was earlier yesterday,” continued the munching giant male. “At night it had something to do with the inner beast’s sudden full appearance.”

 

“EH!?” All of the males present looked immediately to Murasakibara, who casually continued to eat his snack. In Midorima, Kise and Aomine’s face was plastered raw surprise that morphed almost instantly into panic and worry.

 

“Is Kuroko all right!?” almost yelled Midorima, ready to climb the stair to go see the bluenette.

 

“He panicked quite a bit at the moment, but it quickly went way,” answered the purple haired male, trying to soothe down the worried green haired male.

 

“Yeah, it must have…” sighed with relief the blonde, relaxing his shoulders that had immediately stiffened at the mention of Akashi’s inner beast. All of their bodies had stiffened at its mention. “They were flirting with each other in bed a moment ago, after all~”

 

“In b-bed…?” stuttered Midorima, lifting slightly an eyebrow at Kise’s words. Akashi wasn’t the type of person to sleep in the same bed as another human being. Actually, not even in the same room as anyone else. It was a trait of the redhead that all of them knew of. So it wasn’t the fact that Kuroko allowed Akashi to sleep in the same bed as him (yes, it was still shocking), it was the fact that Akashi actually shared his most prized personal time and space with a person that he knew for less than a month that was completely unthinkable for him. _I mean, I know Akashi for over 5 years and I never saw him sleeping._

 

“Yeah, Kuroko was basically laid down on top of Akashi and was really going at it with his flirting,” confirmed Aomine, smirking slightly as he spoke. “He even managed to make Akashi blush!”

 

Midorima and Murasakibara immediately opened their mouths, completely flabbergasted at the fact that someone actually made _the_ Akashi Seijuurou blush. Such thing was completely unimaginable if the tanned male wasn’t telling them that it had happened.

 

“Ahaha! That was exactly our reaction when we saw it~” laughed Kise, enjoying the fact that it wasn’t only him and Aomine that were surprised (more like plainly flabbergasted) by the unexpected reaction of the redhead to Kuroko’s unconscious flirting. “So it’s exactly like I said. Akashicchi really has it hard~”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> Hehehehe, the little AoKaga seed has been planted~ (well, at least in Aomine it has :P) Let's watch over these two big idiots and see how it goes, okay?
> 
> Akashi, my love, the moment you blushed at Kuroko's (unconscious) flirting, you lost XD You two are so freaking adorable! Just get married already!!! Please! *does puppy eyes*
> 
> But it's really funny to see the reaction of the other Miracles to the growing closeness of AkaKuro. They are so used to a straight-laced, serious and demon-like Akashi that they almost enter in shock at the fact that he actually blushed because of Kuroko XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	59. Decide for yourself what'll be good or bad in the future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another update!
> 
> I've been quite happy lately. You wanna know why? Haikyuu!! 1st volume finally arrived <3 Now I just have to wait for the other volumes, as well as Kuroko no Basket ones, that may take quite a while to arrive... but the two mangas are totally worth the wait ^^ (And now that I have received one of my salaries, I can finally go for another binge-buying weekend in the manga store XD)
> 
> Well, enjoy more funny interactions between the characters :D

“I’m sorry for the wait, Daiki, Shintarou, Atsushi, Ryouta,” greeted Akashi as he stepped inside of the dining room where all the other ‘Miracles’ were reuniting in. “Tetsuya will come down as soon as he manages to somehow control his wild bedhair.”

 

Chuckling briefly at the image he had in his head, Akashi motioned over to the table where Murasakibara was finishing arranging his usual breakfast: tea. Even with less hair, Kuroko’s blue locks still managed to take on creative ways in the morning. Probably in an even worse way than before the haircut. He sat down on the table and poured the piping hot tea in the cup.

 

“We heard from Murasakibara that the inner beast made an unexpected awakening once again,” suddenly said Midorima, straightening his back while sitting down on one of the chairs in the dining table. “Is Kuroko alright?”

 

“Yes, he is,” answered Akashi, sipping slightly the tea after having added a small spoon of sugar. He put it down on the saucer and peered down to it, a soft and gentle smile surfacing on his lips. “Nothing has changed from before. No… actually, things are probably better than before.”

 

“I see…” Adjusting his glasses, Midorima looked over to the door that connected the dining room with other sections of the house and then peered once again to the redhead. “Do you think Kuroko will take a lot of time getting down? I want to ask him a few things, if possible.”

 

“What is it, Midorima-kun?” asked suddenly a soft voice.

 

All of them looked over to a seat in the center of the table and saw Kuroko leisurely sat down there. Everyone present in the room, with the exception of Akashi, yelped and jumped in their respective places, Kise almost falling down from the surface of the table where he had established himself on.

 

“Woah, Kuroko!” yelled Aomine, staring completely surprised to the bluenette. “When did you get here!?”

 

“Since the moment Akashi-kun put down his teacup in the saucer,” deadpanned Kuroko, eyeing cautiously the position of every member of the ‘Miracles’ present in that division of the house.

 

“You’re kidding, right!?” shrieked the blonde, looking around the room as if searching for the footprints of the path that Kuroko had used to reach that seat in the table. “I didn’t see you enter the dining room at all! None of us did!”

 

“Did you use your ability?” asked Murasakibara, munching on a new snack, this time a chocolate bar. “I didn’t sense you entering this room at all. I lost you the moment you started going down the stairs.”

 

“No, I didn’t use it. My presence was never strong to begin with,” continued deadpanning the bluenette as Murasakibara gave him his breakfast: two waffles with a ball of vanilla ice cream dribbled with a little bit of chocolate on top and a cup for him to pour the same tea that Akashi was drinking. He did, however, take notice on what the purple haired giant had said: the barrier couldn’t know his location all the time, after all. “Thank you.”

 

The moment he put the first bite of the waffles on his mouth, together with a little bit of the ice cream, his eyes started to shine as he relished on the sweetness of the vanilla. It was more than obvious by the texture and warmth of the waffles that they were homemade and the vanilla ice cream had a certain flavor that made him think the same way about it.

 

Kuroko peered over to Murasakibara and softly smiled at him. “It’s delicious, Murasakibara-kun. Thank you for all the meals you have prepared for me up until now.”

 

“I only used you as a first-taster for my creations since my usual one is out of commission at the moment”, mumbled under his breath the purple haired giant while he gave the tea pot to Kuroko for him to pour the hot drink in his cup. “If Aka-chin hadn’t told me about your like to vanilla, I would have just cooked you the things that I normal do.”

 

The bluenette shifted his gaze from the purple haired male to the redhead, who was leisurely drinking his tea while closely observing the interactions between the other “Users” present in the room. He noticed the smaller male’s gaze on him almost instantly, giving a quick twist on his lips that could almost be considered the beginning of a smirk.

 

Once again looking to his breakfast, Kuroko put another bit of the waffles on his mouth and munched it slowly, feeling the same sensation of comfort that he always did when he ate vanilla. For some reason, there was a certain similarity with what he felt last night when he slept once again beside Akashi.

 

“…” Kuroko suddenly put down his fork and looked directly to Akashi, who once again quickly felt the gaze on him. “Akashi-kun, you said that all of you learned how to control your abilities, didn’t you?”

 

“Yes, I did,” acknowledged the redhead, giving a quick nod with his head. “Controlling your ability is a basic requirement to work both in the Student Council and in any department associated with Teikou or ‘Users’.”

 

“Then, can you teach me how to control mine?” asked further the bluenette, a half blank, half serious demeanor on his features.

 

“…” Akashi lowered his cup slowly and put it in the saucer once again, an eyebrow slightly raised as he intently stared to the smaller male. “Are you asking that of me because you want to learn how to control it to prevent anything bad from happening or because you want to leave Teikou as soon as you can?”

 

“Do you want me to be honest?” added Kuroko, also raising slightly an eyebrow as he kept his direct gaze to the other male.

 

“Yes, I do.”

 

“…” Kuroko paused slightly, giving a thought on the best way to approach the redhead on this subject, never averting his stare. “For both reasons.”

 

“…” A soft frown surfaced on the taller male’s expression. He was starting to regret a little bit the fact that he told the bluenette the day before that he could leave Teikou Academy if he managed to learn to fully control his ability and get himself 'clean' from the charges he was currently being accused of by the Japanese government. He had no plans of letting Kuroko leave, of course, but if the person himself wanted to leave after those requirements were fulfilled, he wouldn’t have any choice other than letting him go.

 

All the other males were paying close attention to the exchange of words between the two smaller males. They had no idea of how they should categorizing it: or Kuroko had nerves of steel to be confronting Akashi on something that they knew that he would not be able to accomplish, since Akashi’s expression was a clear proof that he had absolutely no intention of letting him go, or Kuroko was even denser than Akashi was, for not having noticed such yet.

 

“Very well,” acknowledged Akashi, picking his cup once again to sip the still hot liquid. Somehow, the tea had acquired a sudden bitter-sweet taste. “I can give you a hand on controlling your ability. But there are two conditions for that. The first one is that you’ll have to give me more details about your ability, nullification. Though you can choose to tell me whatever you are comfortable with for now. The second one is that _you_ are the one that will have to find the equilibrium within you and your ability. That’s what all of us did.”

 

“I’ll ponder on what I can tell you and what I won’t tell you about my ability,” answered Kuroko, returning to his breakfast once again. However, he noticed that Midorima was closely staring at him and also locked his teal eyes with the green ones of the taller male. They stayed that way, keeping a direct gaze with each other for a few seconds while silence reigned over the entire room.

 

“Shintarou, it’s useless to have a staring contest with Tetsuya. You’ll only lose when doing so,” pointed out the redhead, half of him amused at the fact that the bluenette, even with his ‘dislike’ towards all of them, didn’t back down on the unconscious challenge that had been made. “Anyway, I’m going outside of Teikou Academy all day tomorrow, probably until dinner time. So, Tetsuya, we can start your ‘tutoring’ the day after tomorrow. And to the rest of you… _Please behave_ around Tetsuya.”

 

“…” The other ‘Miracles’ felt a shudder go down their spines at the threateningly way that Akashi had addressed to them. They definitely had to start treading carefully around the bluenette when Akashi was and wasn’t around, if they wanted to keep all of their body parts… or their lives.

 

“Are you going to Kyoto, Akashi?” asked Midorima after having adjusted his glasses and briefly cleared his throat.

 

“Yes. Since I’ve been quite busy lately, I still haven’t found time to go visit her,” confirmed the redhead, filling his cup with tea once again. “But since Tetsuya is now settled in on Fuyu and things are calm at the moment, I want to use tomorrow to go there. I have no idea when I will have free time on my hands again, after all.”

 

“Then, send her my—“ The green haired male suddenly stopped midsentence and eyed sideways the bluenette, who was finishing eating the waffles. “Well, the usual, I guess.”

 

“Of course, Shintarou. Thank you,” answered Akashi, giving a quick nod with his head. He finished drinking his second cup of tea and put it down on the saucer, motioning it further away from him to make space to start talking. “Now that we are all here, I should start explaining some things that some are aware and others aren’t. Atsushi, could you start by explaining the barrier?”

 

“There’s nothing much to it,” answered the purple haired giant while munching on the chocolate bar. “There’s a barrier positioned around Fuyu, circling the entire property since the walls around the house. It works 24/7, but it gets weaker if I’m too far away from Teikou. Though it’s still safe even if I have to go out to stock on snacks and the like. While you’re inside the barrier I will pretty much know all the time where you are.”

 

“Eh~ I really don’t like that bit,” complained Kise, frowning slightly.

 

“Don’t worry, Kise-chin. I will continue doing the same thing I always do with you: ignore you completely,” added Murasakibara, crushing the paper wrapper of the chocolate bar he finished eating.

 

“How mean!” yelped the blonde, an exaggeratedly shocked expression on his features.

 

“The only person who can’t use his ability inside of the barrier is Kuro-chin, since his ability will automatically nullify it,” continued explaining the purple haired male, searching on his pockets for more snacks. “The rest of you can do as you like with your abilities, though I advise you to not use it without thinking first. It can interfere with the barrier and make it explode. We’re not regular ‘Users’, after all.”

 

“I already had explained that little bit to Tetsuya,” acknowledged Akashi, putting his elbows on top of the surface of the table and crossing his finger together as he intently peered to all the students present. “He said that he will try not to use his ability while in here. Right, Tetsuya?”

 

“I’ll try, but I can’t guarantee anything, as you should all be aware,” acknowledged Kuroko, after finishing munching on the last bit of the waffles. “My ability is not something that even I can predict, after all.”

 

“For now, that is,” corrected the redhead, shifting his heterochromatic eyes to the bluenette, a slight smirk erupting on his lips. “I’ll work you so hard, you won’t be able to get up after the trainings.”

 

“I don’t go down that easily, Akashi-kun,” counterattacked Kuroko, a completely deadpan look on his face.

 

“Really? You looked like a new born fawn two days ago when you— Ah, that was when you lost control on your ability. I do wonder what animal you will look like when you simply use it?” teased Akashi, chuckling softly at the different images that were running through his head.

 

“I will look as much of a human as you. If we can really call _you_ a human, that is,” counterattacked once again the bluenette, giving a quick sip to the lukewarm tea that was still inside of the cup.

 

 _Do they really need to do this every time they’re talking?,_ mumbled inwardly the rest of the “Miracles” as they observed yet another bickering session of the two smaller males. It was sort of amusing to see this new side of Akashi, but it was plainly bad for their hearts due to the tension that sometimes sparkled out of these arguments between them.

 

“Anyway,” interrupted Midorima, after having cleared his throat loudly to catch the attention of the redhead and the bluenette. “The barrier is something that all of us had the inkling that it would happen, since it’s the most precise safety measure we can put around the house. Is there anything more about it that we should know of?”

 

“Nope, nothing,” confirmed Murasakibara, motioning over to the kitchen to gather more snacks for himself. “Try not to break the barrier, Kuro-chin. It’s a pain in the ass to create a new one from scratch.”

 

“Beside the barrier, I take it that all of you are conscious about the rules of the house. Right, Daiki, Ryouta?” asked Akashi, eyeing closely the tanned male and the blonde.

 

“Y-Yes,” confirmed the two ‘Miracles’, feeling yet another shudder go down their spines at the slightly threatening way that Akashi once again addressed them.

 

“Then I have nothing more to add about this particular conversation,” concluded the redhead, motioning up from his chair, also lifting from the table the used tea cup and tea pot and starting to walk in the kitchen’s direction. “You can all start working on unpacking your things, in case they already got sent here. Tetsuya, come with me.”

 

“…” After staring sideways to the walking redhead for a few seconds, Kuroko also got up from his seat and picked his dirty dishes, following after Akashi to the door that connected the dining room to the kitchen.

 

Inside the kitchen, Akashi rinsed his tea cup and then asked Kuroko to give him his plate and cup to also do the same, putting them afterwards in the dishwasher. Murasakibara was busying himself by intently analyzing the cupboard that Akashi had mentioned the day before that would belong exclusively to store the purple haired giant’s snacks and sweets.

 

“My things have probably arrived, so I’m going to pick them up now,” started Akashi, wiping his hands on the towel while peering sideways to the bluenette. “I take it that you already organized your own clothes and the rest, correct?”

 

“Yes, I did it yesterday before I went to bed,” answered Kuroko, giving a quick nod with his head.

 

“Then you’re free to do whatever you want,” continued Akashi, leaning his lower back on the counter. “However, if you plan to exit the restricted area to go to the school area, please warn me beforehand. After I finish organizing all of my things, I want to discuss with you about the training and your ability, like we agreed earlier.”

 

“…I’ll just remain in my room, for now, then,” sighed the bluenette, starting to walk over to the door to exit the kitchen. “Since I pretty much missed a month of classes, I need to review some things.”

 

“Sure. I’ll meet you there in around two to three hours,” acknowledged Akashi, departing his back from the counter to also walk out of the kitchen.

 

Observing the bluenette almost reaching the door, Murasakibara, in two short steps (which would equal five or six to a person with Kuroko’s or Akashi’s size), positioned himself beside the smaller male, motioning his hand up to ruffle his blue locks of hair.

 

“…?” Kuroko looked up at the purple haired giant, a questioning look on his face as he remained completely unaware of the frown that immediately appeared in Akashi’s face at the unexpected action of Murasakibara. “Is something the matter, Muras—“

 

Suddenly, the purple haired male lunged his upper body down and gave a quick lick to the bluenette’s cheek, slowly straightening his back afterwards as he thought deeply about something. “Hmm… Muro-chin tastes better in my opinion.”

 

Once again, the light above their heads started to flicker on and off and the floor beneath their feet was trembling slightly, causing the plates and other kitchenware utensils to vibrate and clash against each other. All of a sudden, two hands motioned forward in Kuroko’s direction and grabbed him by the waist.

 

“Wha—“ When Kuroko noticed, he was being held over Akashi’s shoulder, his arms clutching tightly around his waist and back to maintain him there. “A-Akashi-kun?”

 

“Atsushi, do you want me to cause the prices of _all_ snacks to suddenly sky-rocket?” asked Akashi in a cold as ice voice, a furious glare on his heterochromatic eyes.

 

“Eh~ But since he’s covered in bite marks, I thought he would be delicious and wanted to taste him too,” complained Murasakibara, taking a few steps away from the two smaller males.

 

“The only person who is allowed to ‘taste’ Tetsuya is me,” continued glaring Akashi, motioning over to the door to exit the kitchen while continuing to carry the bluenette over his shoulder, the purple haired male cautiously following after them.

 

“You’re not supposed to ‘taste’ me either…” mumbled Kuroko under his breath, releasing a soft but slightly exasperated sigh.

 

“Do you really want to go over there, Tetsuya?” asked the redhead, lifting slightly an eyebrow as he peered over to the male on top of his shoulder while stepping inside of the dining room once again. “After a made you c—“

 

“Okay, let’s just finish the conversation here!” interrupted the bluenette, panicking slightly over the words that were almost going to exit Akashi’s mouth in front of Murasakibara, who was following after them, and Kise, who was still in the dining room using his phone. “Now put me down, Akashi-kun.”

 

“Eh~ What’s going on~” asked cheerfully the blonde, putting his phone back on his pants’ pocket. “Did Kuroko-kun try to run away?”

 

“No, I just licked him a bit to find out for what reason is his neck covered with bite marks,” answered Murasakibara, opening the plastic wrap of a Matcha flavored Kit Kat and immediately putting one of the pieces in his mouth.

 

“Oh! Does he taste goo—“ started Kise, but the malicious glare he was feeling in the back of his head made him stop midsentence and slowly turn his body to look in its direction. What he saw made his blood suddenly go cold.

 

“If I hear one more word come out of your mouths regarding Tetsuya, you won’t be able to leave the Student Council building for the rest of the year, because you will be too busy to do anything else other than reports,” hissed Akashi while peering sideways to the two taller males, his golden eye glistening slightly. “Let’s go, Tetsuya. I’ll take you to your room.”

 

“Akashi-kun, I’m on top of your shoulder. I don’t have any option other than follow you,” deadpanned the bluenette, sighing once again, this time completely exasperatedly, as Akashi continued walking out of the dining room while carrying him, leaving behind two completely petrified ‘Miracles’.

 

It seemed that Akashi was in need of another stern lecture by him on why he should not threaten his comrades by using his higher position in Teikou Academy and the Student Council.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Punky Funky Love" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Well, I did say that Murasakibara would also be death glared soon enough, didn't I? -.-' But Akashi and his possessiveness are as endearing as always, trying to show everyone who Kuroko really belongs to XD (Oh, and their flirting/bickering too ^^)
> 
> Hehehe, with this chapter I brought out some questions, while giving an indication that some answers will come soon enough~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	60. Tell me your theories on human life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> Ahh... Colds are scary as hell! I swear that I never spend three whole days with the blinds of my room all pulled down... The light of the sun intensifies my headaches, and I know that when I have an headache while feeling or extremely cold or extremely hot, it's a sign that my fever went up again (or maybe it's a sign that I'm really turning into a vampire -.-') I really might die this time... Please pray to the yaoi god/goddess for my recovery so I can continue to contribute to the fandom :P
> 
> On a side note, my other big project, "Bullet Proof", will come out of hiatus after Christmas! It's not AkaKuro, it's KagaKuro, but it will be as entertaining and smutty as this one *winks* Please check it out when the time comes!
> 
> Well, enjoy! :D

“Akashi-kun, we’re in my room already. Can you please put me down now?” asked Kuroko, wiggling slightly his body to free himself from the redhead’s hold on his waist and back. “Akashi-kun?”

 

“…” Peering intently sideways to the bluenette on top of his shoulder, Akashi sighed and motioned over to the bed, where he sat down and softly put the smaller male also on, beside him.

 

“Listen, Akashi-kun. You can’t go around threatening others as you like. You’re neither a dictator nor a tyrant,” started Kuroko, while sternly looking at the other male who in turn was staring intently at him. “If you ask other people for things nicely, they will abide for what you’re saying, if it’s something they are capable of doing. As long as you don’t go overboard and close people inside of a building while forcing them to do office work, of course. Besides, _please_ be careful of what words come out of your mouth. What you were about to say back then surely can’t be used as an argument to counterattack what I sa—“

 

Out of the blue, Akashi lunged forward and wrapped his arms around the bluenette’s back, pulling him over in his direction. The same moment the taller male was about to close his mouth and sink his teeth on top of the other male’s cheek, Kuroko motioned his hands up and pushed Akashi’s head away from him.

 

“Were you just about to…?” asked the bluenette, completely flabbergasted at the other male’s sudden actions.

 

“I was just going to disinfect the place where Atsushi licked you,” answered Akashi, an almost angelic look on his face as he motioned his hands up to pull the hands pushing his face away down.

 

“By biting my cheek?” deadpanned the smaller male, dropping his hands down to the bed while Akashi gripped on his sleeves. There it was again… the illogical reasoning of Akashi was showing up once again. And Kuroko had a feeling that it was getting worse from day to day. He sighed softly and motioned one of his hands up, wiping with his sleeve the cheek that the purple haired giant had licked. “There, it’s clean. Satisfied now?”

 

“No, not at all,” affirmed Akashi, a smirk tugging his lips up. He abruptly pulled the sleeve he was still gripping onto and pulled the bluenette in his direction while motioning his free hand up to tilt Kuroko’s face so that he could once again have access to the ‘contaminated’ cheek. The redhead planted a soft and quick peck on the cheek and used the fact that Kuroko wasn’t being able to stop the momentum of the pull to once again wrap him in his arms. “Now I’m satisfied… even if just barely.”

 

“…” Gaping his mouth open and close like a teal damselfish, Kuroko stared once again flabbergasted to the redhead. He shortly broke out of his stupefaction and lunged his hands forward, tentatively pushing the taller male away from him. “If you’re satisfied now, please release me.”

 

“I will jot down your request and send it to my office to be evaluated later on,” teased Akashi, a smirk once again painting his features. “For now, you can just stay here quietly while I continue to disinfect you until I’m 100% satisfied.”

 

“How satisfied are you right now?” deadpanned the bluenette, continuing to struggle against the hold around him.

 

“Hm… I would say around 0,001%,” smirked the taller male, adjusting slightly his hold around Kuroko’s waist to pull him closer once again. “So the both of us should work hard to quickly reach the 100%, right, Tetsuya?”

 

“No, thank you. Go find satisfaction other way,” added the deadpan bluenette, trying to pull away the arms circling behind his back with his hands. However, the inhuman strength of the redhead was making that task slightly hard to accomplish. He soon gave up on that plan and tried to once again reason out with the other male. “Why don’t you ask Murasakibara-kun to make you some kind of sweet? You can easily achieve satisfaction that way.”

 

“What a great idea, Tetsuya,” acknowledged Akashi, the smirk on his face widening even more as he moved one of his arms out of his hold on the smaller male’s waist and motioned his hand to tilt Kuroko’s chin up. “Shall I have a taste of the waffles you ate for breakfast?”

 

Akashi was about to lung his face forward to kiss the bluenette when someone interrupted the action by suddenly clearing their throat. He clicked his tongue and slowly motioned his hand down while looking in the door’s direction, where Midorima was waiting while adjusting his glasses.

 

“Our things have been delivered to the front gate of Fuyu,” warned the green haired male, taking a step inside of the room. “Nijimura-san is also there. He said he wants to talk to you about the result of the first interrogatory he did to Furihata Kouki.”

 

“I see.” Akashi looked once again to the bluenette and unwillingly released him, getting up from the bed. Before departing from near Kuroko, he motioned his hand up and lovingly ruffled his blue locks. “We’ll continue this later when I return here so we can discuss that matter. I’ll see you in a few hours, Tetsuya.”

 

“…” Kuroko only nodded softly his head, his eyes slightly downcast as he peered to the other male while not entirely looking at him.

 

Akashi chuckled softly. Was Kuroko sulking right now? And was it because he was thinking that he was treating him once again like a child… or was it because they were interrupted by Midorima (for the umpteenth time) and he had now to leave? Not knowing the answer to those two questions was both entertaining and slightly aggravating, but well, all he had to do was ask those two questions to Kuroko after he finished talking with Nijimura and organizing his things in his room.

 

With a smirk once again growing on his features, Akashi turned around and motioned to the door, passing by Midorima on his way out. However, he halted his steps when he noticed that the green haired male was not following after him and looked over his shoulder to him. Observing the once again fixed gaze on his face while looking over to Kuroko, the redhead arched slightly an eyebrow and released a soft sigh.

 

“Just don’t cause any problems, Shintarou,” pointed out Akashi before resuming his steps through the corridor.

 

“…” Midorima adjusted his glasses as he peered sideways to the leaving male, and then looked right back to the bluenette. Almost as if sensing his analytic gaze on him, Kuroko lifted his face and looked over at him once again, not saying anything, but also not averting his gaze not even for a second.

 

“You wanted to ask me something earlier, didn’t you, Midorima-kun?” suddenly spoke the smaller male, interrupting the sepulchral silence that had nestled in his bedroom. “If you don’t talk, I will not know what you want me to say. Or if I can even answer you.”

 

The green haired male sighed softly and motioned further inside the room while leaving a certain safety distance between the two of them. “When is your birthday? Also, your blood type.”

 

“Eh?” The bluenette lifted slightly an eyebrow at those two questions. He was absolutely not expecting that type of questions. “January 31st. And I think it’s type A.”

 

“A type A Aquarius, then,” thought out loud Midorima, while motioning his hand up to his chin in a thinking motion. “Absolutely fantastic... I will have to live in the same house as someone who I have absolutely no compatibility with.”

 

 _Though I think there’s a certain someone who will be delighted to know that,_ mumbled inwardly the taller male as he continued observing Kuroko, who seemed sort of lost in this conversation.

 

“You don’t seem as scared of us as you did some days ago,” continued Midorima, adjusting his glasses slightly. “Are you getting used to have Akashi together with you all the time?”

 

“No. I just learned how to not show it so upfront,” answered the bluenette, slightly frowning at the other male’s words. Where exactly was he trying to get at with this weird conversation? “If I have to be honest about it, I still feel as uncomfortable around you all as before.”

 

“Then, why did you give your consent to move in to Fuyu with us?” asked the green haired male, taking a step forward in Kuroko’s direction. “You knew that if you came here, you would have to be with all of us almost 24/7. Besides, the ‘little contract’ you did with Akashi that night is weird.”

 

“…”

 

“I can understand that you have your own goals. All humans have, and ‘Users’ aren’t an exception to that,” added Midorima. “However, I can’t understand why you would put those limitations on us. Why is it that you don’t want us to know about your ability and research it further?”

 

“From a human’s point of view, I don’t believe there’s anyone who wants to be used as a guinea pig,” answered the bluenette, suppressing the slight trembling that wanted to overtake his body. “And I am no exception to that.”

 

“Even if I said that if we researched it, we could maybe find things that could help others?” suddenly announced the taller male, lifting slightly an eyebrow as he stared intently to the other male.

 

“…” Kuroko immediately clutched the covers beneath his hands and frowned deeply. There it was. It always started like that. People telling him that he could do good with his ability. That he could help, no, save others. That he could change the world and make it a better place. However, he knew what his ability was. He knew what _he_ was. And the ‘Bloody Night’ was the perfect evidence that denied all those ideals that others always tried to foist in him – supposedly with good intentions. “There is absolutely nothing in my ability that can help others.”

 

“How do you kn—“

 

“My ability is the last thing in the whole universe that could bring something positive to the world, much less to an individual,” continued Kuroko, interrupting the green haired male exactly the moment he was going to continue insisting on the matter. “You may not know anything about it, but I do. I know everything there’s to know about it and I can guarantee you with 100% of certainty that the only thing that my ability brings forth is doom and disaster. Especially to those who want to use it completely unaware of the consequences they will suffer for doing so.”

 

“…” Midorima continued to stare intently at the bluenette. Was Kuroko saying that because of his own opinion on his own ability or was it due to past experiences on the matter? He could continue to press forward regarding that subject, but the frown on the other male’s face was a clear proof that he would not be able to get anything out of him, much less convince him of otherwise. Well, he was only basing his own theory on this matter because of the things he observed the morning Kuroko lost control on his ability, so there was nothing that could prove him correct or wrong on what he would like to do. If Kuroko allowed him to. Kuroko and, of course, Akashi. “I think we should leave the conversation here for now. I have my own things to unpack.”

 

“Midorima-kun,” called suddenly the smaller male as the green haired male was almost exiting the room. “You should abandon the concepts you have about my ability. You will regret it if you continue to pursue useless theories about it.”

 

“…” Peering slightly over his shoulder, Midorima adjusted his glasses and then looked back to the corridor. “I won’t. Hope springs eternal in the human breast, after all.”

 

 _I will die first than giving up on saving him,_ vowed inwardly the green haired male as he crossed the door and disappeared in the shadows of the corridor, leaving Kuroko once again alone in his bedroom.

 

“You are a fool, then, Midorima-kun…” mumbled softly the bluenette as a peered sideways with a strained expression on his face to the wardrobe on the other side of the room. “Just like I was, before entering Teikou.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "MEMORIES" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Midorima, again... WHY!?!?!?! But well, your interruption brought forward some important information, so you're forgiven... not! Why, Midorima, just why!? If Akashi gave a quick peck to Kuroko's chin and got 0,001% satisfied, then... One, two, three, four... Hmm... JUST FUCK HIM ALREADY, AKASHI! Then I think EVERYONE would be satisfied XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	61. "What should I do?" I know the answer, but...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> I used this chance to add a few more couple tags and other tags to this fic, since I think there's some things that should be put there. About the new couple tags, I have absolutely no idea of what's going to come out of them... They aren't exactly main couples, just side ones so they may have a chapter dedicated to them or they may only continue to be mentioned. I don't know. I just know one thing - I feel like I'm writing a huge soap opera sometimes -.-'
> 
> And yes, you read it correctly! It's no longer "Aomine Daiki & Kagami Taiga". It's now a certain thing that it will be an official/main ship in this fic (though you will only understand why in a few more chapters~). I know a few of you will rejoice at that fact, won't you? *winks*
> 
> Oh, and be prepared for the bitter-sweet, cruel angst...
> 
> Well, enjoy! :D

While he was reaching the bottom of the staircase, Akashi felt a sudden urge to just climb them right back, enter inside of Kuroko’s room and take him together with him while he did his work and the unpacking. Or, even if he couldn’t take him together with him, he wanted to know what it was that Midorima was asking the bluenette. Who knew if Kuroko would not say something that could get him to know and understand him better?

 

Because, yes, he wanted to know everything there’s to know about Kuroko and his circumstances. But most of all, he wanted to understand him. Just like Kuroko had done the previous night when his inner beast appeared, he wanted to give time for the bluenette to warm up to him and tell him things by his own initiative. But… what was this? Akashi had a certain feeling that not only Kuroko was forcing himself to close himself up, not only to him, but everyone else, but that he wouldn’t be able to keep the bluenette close to him for too long.

 

He felt that, right now, there was a fundamental piece of the complex puzzle that constituted Kuroko Tetsuya that was completely out of reach because the other missing pieces were hiding its location, and that was causing the bluenette to distance himself from him. However, _that_ piece may very well be the most important one out of all of them. And the redhead had no idea which path he should follow to access that piece, much less the key to capture the smaller male’s heart.

 

Forcing his way in was clearly not the answer. Manipulation much less. Even Akashi himself no longer wanted to use such underhanded methods anymore. Which was the best way to approach Kuroko and continue to get close to him? Honesty? Well, that seemed to be working for now, but would that guarantee him that the bluenette would come to feel the same type of affection that he felt for him?

 

As he continued twisting his thoughts back and forth, he reached the entrance of the house, the door open to show several sets of boxes, each one in a different location to signalize which belonged to the new residents of Fuyu. Kise was there working around one of the sets, picking up two boxes with his hands to motion back inside. Out of all of the boxes, the biggest sets were the one which the blonde was busying himself with and the one that was in front of that one. And by the tags that some of the boxes had, Akashi had a very clear suspicion that they would belong to Midorima (since it wasn’t obviously Aomine or Murasakibara that would put the word “Stuffed Animals” in one of them).

 

In the front gate of Fuyu were Nijimura and Momoi, the pink haired girl animatedly talking with the older male. If Momoi was with Nijimura then that meant that he would have a lot of detailed information to give him and was probably too busy to write it all down, so he would be resorting to her perfect memory to help him relay everything.

 

“Oh, you’re finally here, Akashi,” greeted the black haired male as he suddenly turned his head to face the smaller male. Momoi gave a quick bow with her head and walked together with Nijimura to Akashi’s encounter. Seeing the redhead already eyeing the pink haired girl in wait for the report, Nijimura shook slightly his head. “No, I have close to zero information to give you. The interrogatory on Furihata couldn’t have gone worst.”

 

“What happened?” asked Akashi readily, lifting slightly an eyebrow. He sure didn’t like the tone in the older male’s voice.

 

“Furihata-kun seemed really reluctant to talk,” started explaining Momoi, a worried look on her face. “We somehow managed to convince him to talk by assuring him that we wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him, as long as he told us the truth behind the attack. However, as soon as he started talking, he was suddenly overcome with an enormous painful sensation all over his body.”

 

“A painful sensation?” repeated Akashi, a frown surfacing in his features as he crossed his arms over his chest. There was only one explanation to that. “Hanamiya Makoto.”

 

“That’s one of the information we got out of all this,” confirmed Nijimura, raising his head to scratch the back of his head. “Hanamiya is the only ‘User’ capable of such. The ability to control others and make them his pawns through pain is unique to him and what made him gain the title of ‘Bad Boy’.”

 

“Though it was his twisted personality and methods that gained him the expulsion from Teikou Academy and from the research facility he was affiliated with through the academy, even though he was quite the asset in terms of discoveries about ‘Users’ and his ability enabled him to join the restricted group denominated as ‘Uncrowned Kings’,” added Akashi, his frown intensifying slightly as he spoke.

 

“You are the last person I want to hear commenting on other people’s twisted personalities,” retorted teasingly the older male, a smirk tugging at his lips.

 

“My personality is not that bad. I take absolutely no enjoyment in causing others’ distress or pai—“ Seeing the almost blank look on the two ‘Users’ in front of him due to what he was saying, Akashi finally understood where Nijimura wanted to get at with his words. “Well, it’s quite useless to complain to me about it. Go talk with him about it when he shows up again.”

 

“Ah, then I guess I should have said something last night,” added Nijimura, crossing his arms over his chest. Feeling the slight glare that Akashi was sending him, he softly sighed. “You know that we are under the obligation of informing everyone that knows about ‘him’ every time ‘he’ decides to pop up. It’s obvious that I wouldn’t be an exception to that.”

 

“…” Eyeing closely the black haired male, Akashi released a sigh and dropped his arms down. “So, what more did you discover out of the interrogatory?”

 

“We only got a slight understanding on what the attack was about,” continued explaining Momoi. “Furihata-kun told us that ‘someone’, who we already acknowledged as Hanamiya Makoto, ordered him to attack Tetsu-kun so he could test him.”

 

“Why would Hanamiya Makoto want to test Tetsuya?” asked the redhead, another deep frown appearing on his features. “Besides, how did Furihata Kouki even know who Tetsuya was? We only recently discovered that he is ‘The Phantom’.”

 

“Apparently, that ‘someone’ showed him a photo of Tetsu-kun and told him to wound but not kill him,” added the pink haired girl. “But we don’t know more details about it, since Furihata-kun entered in the self-imposed comatose sleep almost immediately after he started feeling the painful sensation on his body.”

 

“Damn it,” cursed slightly Akashi, motioning his hand up to run his fingers through his hair as he thought about what he should do about that particular situation. He looked over to Nijimura and Momoi once again and let his hand slowly go down. “I take it that you still haven’t managed to contact your ‘little birds’ or discovered his whereabouts then, right?”

 

“Oh, we did find my ‘little birds’… or what was left of them, in this case,” answered the black haired male, a furious frown surfacing suddenly in his face. All of his ‘little birds’ were good people, and those who worked directly under his orders were ‘Users’ he trusted unconditionally and the other way around also happened. It highly pained him that he wasn’t able to save them from such end.

 

“I’m sorry to hear that, Shuuzou,” honestly apologized Akashi. He knew he had no direct involvement on their deaths, but he was still the one responsible for all ‘Users’ in Japan. Their premature death, and under such circumstances, was something that always made the redhead feel useless. It made him realize that he still wasn’t strong enough to stop meaningless losses from happening.

 

“Ah… no, don’t worry,” answered Nijimura, clearing his throat as he sensed that somehow he stepped in some sort of landmine. “We haven’t managed to track down Hanamiya as of yet, but if he managed to control Furihata, I’m sure he’s not that far away from Teikou Academy. He needs to be in direct contact with the ‘puppet’ for the control to be imprinted in the victim, after all.”

 

“Did you find anything in the footages of the surveillance cameras, Satsuki?” asked the redhead, shifting his gaze from the taller male to the pink haired girl.

 

“No, nothing. It appears that the footage referring to the time and place of the attack to Furihata-kun have been completely erased. The safety copy has also disappeared.”

 

“So the possibility that there are others being controlled or working in league with Hanamiya Makoto is strong,” thought out loud Akashi, motioning his hand up to his chin in a thinking motion.

 

“That’s a suspicion we have since Hanamiya was kicked out of Teikou,” acknowledged Nijimura. “Or else, he wouldn’t have been able to do such a well organized kidnapping attempt two years ago. Though that didn’t work successfully because Midorima was in the right place at the right time.”

 

“Something that I’m pretty sure he is very thankful for,” added Akashi, a slight frown appearing once again in his face at the mention of the green haired male. He softly turned his head back to the building and wondered if Midorima was still talking with Kuroko or not. “Speaking of them, how is Kazunari doing?”

 

“…” Momoi exchanged a quick glance with the black haired male and looked right back to the redhead. “Aomine-kun was with him yesterday and he said Takao-kun seemed the same as always, but it was probably because Midorin was around taking care of him. The medical records are the same as they were a few months ago.”

 

“I see,” softly nodded Akashi, while he eyed once again Fuyu from the corner of his eye.

 

 _Is it about this that you went to talk with Tetsuya, Shintarou?,_ asked inwardly the redhead. Akashi already had a suspicion of what was it that the green haired male wanted out of Kuroko since the morning he lost control on his ability and the cut in his arm that Aomine made healed almost instantly without leaving any sort of scar or mark in it. Midorima had been quite intrigued by that characteristic of the bluenette’s ability and was probably searching for a way to apply that trait in others to help Takao restore his health.

 

For as much as all of them wanted to believe otherwise, Takao became Midorima’s pillar the moment they got together as lovers, the other way around also happening. The moment the raiven haired male’s illness would fully infiltrate all of his body and he succumbed to it, Midorima would be no more. Akashi had always had a hard time understanding that side of him. How could a person depend so much on another to be able to continue existing properly as a human being?

 

However, he could understand that now just as much as Midorima could. All thanks to Kuroko. Love could make a person become the most brave of heroes in times of need, while creating the most useless and broken smithereens of a human being when it was lost forever. And it was exactly the second case that would happen to the green haired male if Takao died. Just like it would happen to him if anything bad happened to Kuroko.

 

Midorima would do anything that was needed to save the raiven haired male just as much as he would do everything to protect the bluenette. That he was certain of.

 

“Akashi?” suddenly called Nijimura. When the redhead looked right back to him and the pink haired girl with a questioning look on his face, the taller male lifted slightly an eyebrow. “No, it’s just that you suddenly got all quiet and such. What were you thinking about?”

 

“It was nothing. Do you have anything more to report about this?” asked Akashi, trying to get back on topic, in both the conversation and his own thoughts.

 

“No, this is everything we know as of now. I did say we didn’t manage to get a lot of information this time,” answered back the taller male. When he read the question ‘Then why did you bring Satsuki with you?’ in the redhead’s expression, he softly snickered and a half-smirk appeared in his features. “Ah, Momoi-chan came to check on Aomine. But the true reason of her visit is ‘Tetsu-kun’.”

 

“Nijimura-san!” yelped the pink haired girl, a sudden blush flushing her face with a myriad of shades of red. She looked immediately to Akashi and lunged her hands up, shaking her head in a fervent motion while thinking up an excuse. “I really only came here to check if Aomine-kun is alright. He hasn’t slept these past few nights because he was with Kagami-kun.” Seeing the redhead suddenly furrow his brows, Momoi panicked even more. “Ah, umm, you know how Aomine-kun is! If I don’t keep my eyes on him, he’ll start to do strange things again. I did want to see if everything was okay with Tetsu-kun, but Aomine-kun is my priority! B-But I think that he will survive without my help for a day, so I-I’m leaving now! See you later, Nijimura-san. Good bye, Akashi-kun.”

 

Even before the two males could say anything, the pink haired girl suddenly started running out of Fuyu through the main gate and quickly disappeared from sight.

 

“Ah… I probably teased her a little bit too much…” said Nijimura as he motioned his hand up to scratch his head while looking over in the direction where Momoi had left. “Though you were the one who dealt the final blow, Akashi.”

 

“I don’t recall saying anything to her, Shuuzou,” protested Akashi, lifting slightly an eyebrow at the accusation being thrown at him.

 

“Your face was scarier than any words you could say,” explained the black haired male, a soft mocking tone in his voice. “You should start carrying a mirror with you. The face you make when someone mentions Kuroko is priceless. I wonder what kind of face you make when you’re alone with him. Should I secretly install cameras through the house to see it?”

 

“…” Akashi immediately glared at the older male. “It would be a waste of money, seeing as Tetsuya’s ability breaks anything that is electronic.”

 

“Oh, what a pity. But yes, that’s the face I’m referring to. As I said, priceless,” teased Nijimura as he turned around to leave. He motioned one of his hands up and waved it. “You can’t blame gravity for falling in love~”

 

“…Albert Einstein this time?” asked the smaller male, the frown on his face widening. “You are getting more literate these past few weeks.”

 

“All because of this certain love-struck fool that I know,” laughed Nijimura, stepping out of the main gate of Fuyu and closing it softly behind him. “Oh, that’s right. You won’t be alone with Kuroko in Fuyu from now on, so be careful with the nighttime noises~”

 

“I’m not like a certain someone who beats someone to a pulp and then gets ‘busy’ with him in the office,” counterattacked Akashi, turning around to walk over to his set of boxes.

 

“…” The older male continued walking away, now with a sharp frown painting his features. He motioned his hand up and ruffled his hair, sighing deeply as he came to a halt.

 

_Okay, I teased him a little bit too much, but did Akashi really need to bring up Haizaki at a time like this…?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Start it right away" by Hyadain.
> 
> Well, well, well~ Nijimura continues to troll around and then it comes to bite him in the ass! :P
> 
> But seriously... MidoTaka were supposed to be our healing angels! How come they are causing our hearts to ache just as much as AkaKuro!?
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	62. Within the memories that have begun to fade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> My, my~ I'm over the moon at the moment~ I may be completely broke until next week, but I got my hands on 26 KnB doujinshis XD I only regret the fact that I couldn't bring more with me... They are slim, but quite heavy (especially for someone with my size -.-') But worry not! Next week I'm planning another trip to the store so I can bring the ones I left there :P
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

Kuroko was entertaining himself with the class notes that Akashi decided to give him by once again suddenly popping up in his bedroom. He suspected it was just an excuse to see if he was behaving like he should, but he was indeed thankful to the redhead: the notes were easier to understand than probably the things that the teacher explained in the classes actually were.

 

He had finished reviewing World History and was going to move on to Japanese History when he suddenly heard a heavy thing falling in the corridor. He heard it once, then twice, and a heavy grumbling soon came along. Lifting slightly an eyebrow, Kuroko got up from the chair in his desk and motioned to the door, opening it slowly.

 

“What are you doing?” asked the bluenette to Aomine, who was crouched down on the floor picking up a dozen of scattered… gravure magazines.

 

“Ah... I’m taking my things to my room,” answered the taller male, prompting one eye up to peer at the other male. “But apparently I grabbed one of the boxes backwards and the opening came undone. This is the result.”

 

Aomine pointed to the scattered gravure magazines, accompanied in the floor by other types of magazines, such as sports magazines with special features in basketball and sport shoes catalogues. Also crouching down, Kuroko started to pile the magazines in his arms one by one.

 

“You don’t need to force yourself to help me,” added the tanned male, taking the magazines that the smaller male had gathered and putting them inside the box once again. “I know you don’t like it when we are around.”

 

“Just take it as my thanks for helping Kagami-kun yesterday,” answered Kuroko with the same expressionless face as always. He motioned his hand forward and picked up a gravure magazine and then another. “Still the same fan of Horikita Mai…”

 

“Eh? Did you say something?” asked Aomine, suddenly prompting his head up to look in Kuroko’s direction.

 

“I was just thinking out loud that Kagami-kun may be right when he called you a ‘stubborn dirty old man’ yesterday,” deadpanned Kuroko while picking one of the gravure magazines with the tips of his fingers. The magazine was completely creased, some of the pages almost coming out of the spine. He sure didn’t want to know how it got in such condition.

 

“I’m a man! All men are ‘dirty’ in the inside,” barked the tanned male as he fetched the magazine out of the smaller male’s hands. “Besides, who are you to judge me with that expressionless face of yours when your neck is covered with bite marks and hickeys?”

 

“…” The bluenette lunged his hand up immediately and tried to cover his neck with the collar of his shirt, a soft blush painting his cheeks.

 

“Meh! Don’t bother covering it now. We all saw it already, after all,” teased Aomine, putting the last few magazines inside of the box and closing the flaps on the top part. He motioned up with the box and walked over to his bedroom, opening the door with his foot. He suddenly looked over to the bluenette and pointed to something further away in the corridor with his chin. “Hey, Kuroko, pass me the ball over there, will ya?”

 

_“Pass it here, -------------!!”_

 

A bolt of electricity was suddenly discharged in his head, almost making him drop the box once again to the floor. Strange pulsations were eradiating inside of his brain, as his own voice echoed there time and time again, and he felt an enormous urge to lung his hands forward and clutch his head to stop that broken record of a sentence from continuing repeating itself.

 

He was feeling the same sensation he always felt when he formed a fist with his hand. It was almost as if his brain was complaining for him to remember, but a closed door was stopping his memories from returning. He sure hoped that Momoi didn’t felt the same symptoms as he because those sudden bolts of electricity were painful as hell, almost to the degree of being crippling. Aomine took a few steps inside of his bedroom and immediately went over to his bed, dropping his body there while letting the box heavily fall to the floor.

 

His breathing slightly heavier due to his quickened heartbeat and constant pain in his head, Aomine massaged his temples in search for some sort of relief. He had never felt such intense pain since the day he woke up from his comatose sleep and worked his head off trying to remember everything that had happened and had, apparently, been wiped out of his memory.

 

What was missing? Who was missing? Who was supposed to pass something to him?

 

The tanned male heard some soft footsteps coming in his direction and he strongly closed his eyes, massaging with more vigor the sides of his forehead. He slowly opened his eyes and looked in front of him to what probably was Kuroko entering inside of his bedroom. “Ah, thanks. You can just pu—“

 

Kuroko was halted in front of him, his arms stretched out in front of him as he secured the basketball with his two hands. In his face… was the most pained look that Aomine had ever seen in another human being in his entire life. He felt that the bluenette was close to break into tears and the only reason why he hadn’t cried yet was his pure will to not do it, at least in front of him. Maybe the pain in Kuroko’s features was more accentuated due to his perpetual expressionlessness, but even so…

 

That face was making Aomine’s insides clutch inside out and his heart felt extremely heavy and sorrowful to being witness to the smaller male’s pain.

 

“I’ll be going to my room now,” suddenly said Kuroko, softly putting the basketball in the bed beside the tanned male. He readily turned on his heels and started walking over to the door once again.

 

“W-Wait, Kuroko!” Out of the blue, Aomine lunged his hand forward and grabbed the scrawny wrist of the smaller male. He immediately felt the prickling sensation that both Akashi and Midorima had mentioned before, a similar sensation to what he had felt when Kuroko had grabbed his neck in self-defense in the morning he had lost control of his ability but one hundred times softer and less painful (and, of course, it wasn’t burning his skin). However, there was more to the prickling sensation. What was it? It was similar to… _nostalgia_.

 

“What is it, Aomine-kun?” asked Kuroko, halting his movements but not turning around to face the tanned male. His voice was the same as usual, but he doubted that his expression had returned to his usual one.

 

“Ah! Umm… Y-You…” started Aomine, readily releasing the bluenette and moving his hand to scratch the back of his head as he thought about what to say. “D-Do you want to help me organize my things?”

 

“…” The bluenette softly motioned his hand to the side of his body and clutched strongly at his clothes, curving his body slightly forward while he thought about it. He should refuse Aomine. He should just walk out of his bedroom and return to his own, continuing to focus on reviewing his school subjects. He should continue to maintain the distance he had with all of them. Not only with Akashi and the others, but also with Aomine. He knew he should do it. He knew, but… “I do not want to see your dirty magazines, Aomine-kun.”

 

“Do you think I only brought gravure magazines with me to this house!?” barked the tanned male, getting up from the bed and motioning over to the door. “Just you wait there and I’ll show you that there’s more of me than the ‘stubborn dirty old man’ that you think I am!” Aomine quickly disappeared in the corridor, but a few seconds later, his head popped up inside of the room once again. “Ah… You probably shouldn’t look inside of the box over there, then.”

 

Kuroko continued to peer over to the door for a few more seconds and then lunged his hand up to his face, crouching down on the floor as he inwardly admonished himself. Why was he thinking something and then doing the exact same opposite of it? However… the sort of satisfied grin on Aomine’s face when he was exiting the room…

 

 _Why do I have to be so weak when others do the puppy eyed look?,_ cringed the bluenette in the back of his mind. He had always been weak to Aomine since the first time they met, but he only discovered he was truly weak to that type of look on others’ eyes when he started interacting with Akashi. He had a feeling that if he saw a dog in the street looking at him with that type of eyes, he would immediately take it back home with him (though comparing the two taller males to a puppy was underestimating them – they could only be categorized as carnivores, and not the type that would obey if ordered to do something).

 

He just continued there crouching down as he admonished himself in the back of his mind repeatedly until Aomine entered once again in the room while carrying three boxes all piled up in his arms. Kuroko really had to wonder how the tanned male could see anything in front of him when the boxes reached close to his forehead.

 

“These only have my clothes, so you’re safe to peek around them,” teased Aomine as he dropped the boxes near his wardrobe. “They are a little bit disorganized, though.”

 

“You call this ‘a little bit’?” deadpanned Kuroko as he opened the first box and saw… He wasn’t even sure what exactly was inside of it. The clothes were obviously thrown there without any care and they were all jumbled together: t-shirt, sweaters, underwear, socks. “Ah… I think I will go to my room after all.”

 

“Wait, wait, wait!” Aomine quickly lunged his hand sideways and grabbed the back of Kuroko’s clothes to stop him from running away, a sly smirk twisting his lips upwards. “If you didn’t sneak out while I was fetching my stuff, you won’t leave until it’s all organized in their respective places, right?”

 

“Uhh…” grunted softly the bluenette as the taller male pulled him back to near the boxes and the wardrobe once again. _See? A total carnivore who doesn’t listen to what others say…_

 

Against his will, he started working on the clothes, taking out one piece at a time and folding them into usable ways, while Aomine continued to bring the rest of the boxes from downstairs. After a good hour, all those boxes were finally completely emptied.

 

“Oh, they’re looking nice there! I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen a room that belongs to me so organized,” acknowledged Aomine as he softly whistled while looking around his bedroom.

 

“I’m afraid to know how your room in Touou was…” added Kuroko as he slowly deconstructed the cardboard boxes to flat sheets so that they could be stored and used on a latter date. “Kagami-kun is sort of similar to you in that sense. I don’t know what happened to his bedroom, but his clothes were all scattered in the floor.”

 

“Ah, that’s right. Kagami mentioned that he had taken you to his apartment when you passed out and that Akashi went to pick you up there afterwards,” recalled the tanned male while he picked on his ear. A smirk once again surfaced in his features. “No wonder Akashi dislikes Kagami. He literally took you to his territory and that’s why Akashi accused Kagami from ‘stealing’ from him.”

 

“That’s how you interpret Akashi-kun’s actions?” deadpanned once again the bluenette, a completely blank expression on his face as he peered to the other male.

 

“For as illogical and fucked up Akashi may be, if you think about it, you can see why he does certain things the way he does,” explained Aomine, motioning over to his bed and sitting on it while he picked his basketball up with his hand and started unconsciously playing with it. “Your neck is a proof of that, isn’t it?”

 

“What does my neck have anything to do with it?” asked the smaller male, a soft blush in his cheeks while he tried not to think of the way his neck got to such degree.

 

“It’s like that, you know. Felines have that thing where they chase, sneak around, stalk, ambush, attack and bite each others, right?” continued explaining Aomine, spinning the ball in his index. “But they only do it for fun. They are interacting with each other and showing their affection through rough play, in a way.”

 

“If we are talking about Akashi-kun, he can only be called a lion,” acknowledged Kuroko, starting to see what the other male was trying to say.

 

“Right?” answered the taller male, giving a quick tap in the ball with his stretched finger and grabbing the ball in mid-air with his hand. “I bet that if you bit him too, he would be overjoyed.”

 

“Why would I bite Akashi-kun?” asked the bluenette right away, tilting slightly his head while he looked to Aomine.

 

“Eh?” gasped the tanned male, letting his mouth drop momentarily. “Ah… I mean… Um… Don’t you…”

 

“Don’t I what?” asked again Kuroko, not understanding anything that the other male was trying to say due to his broken speech while maintaining the same expressionless face as always.

 

 _Eh!? Does this mean that Midorima was really right when he said that Kuroko was doing all that unconsciously?,_ started rationalizing the taller male inwardly as he continued to look at the bluenette with a disbelieving expression on his face. _Wait? So does this mean that Kuroko also likes Akashi or not? Is he only going with the flow or is he starting to reciprocate Akashi’s advances? Eh? Which is it!?_

 

“…?” Feeling as if he was being studied by the tanned male, Kuroko tilted once again his head, peering intently to him as he wondered what exactly that conversation was about to begin with. He gave a quick peek to the window of Aomine’s bedroom and got up from the sitting position in the floor he had put himself on while working on both the boxes and the clothes. “I think it’s about time I—“

 

“Aominecchi! Do you have a pair of scissors you can borrow me?” Out of nowhere, Kise peeked his head inside of the taller male’s bedroom. Immediately noticing that Kuroko was also there, he fully motioned his body inside. “Oh, Kuroko-kun! What are you doing here?”

 

“Aomine-kun forced me to help him organize his things,” deadpanned the bluenette while he peered over to the blonde.

 

“Aominecchi is such a savage~” teased Kise, a grin erupting in his features. “Come help me too! I still have some boxes to unpack.”

 

“I recommend that you don’t, Kuroko,” added Aomine, picking on his ear. “I bet that when he said he still has ‘some’ boxes left, he meant half of them. And he had more boxes than Midorima, which must prove something.”

 

“Eh~ I only need to unpack 2 more boxes!” complained loudly the blonde, but he quickly retracted himself again and started playing with his fingers. “Plus the other 10 that I still have downstairs…”

 

“Toldja so…” sighed the tanned male, approaching the bluenette to whisper in his ear. “Kuroko, I will warn you beforehand. This guy here is the most bothersome out of all of us! He will use every chance he has to use your weakness against you and will force you to help him do his own damn work! Especially his reports! I talk from personal experience.”

 

“I can hear you, Ahominecchi!” growled Kise, pouting at the words the taller male had said about him. “I’m a very famous model! Do you really expect me to fit in my extremely tight modeling schedule all that office work? And I still need my daily lovey-dovey time with Kasamatsu-senpai. Of course I will use all the cards displayed in front of me when I can!”

 

“Uwah… You have a terrible personality…” muttered Aomine between his breathe.

 

“Oh, c’mon. My personality is pretty nice if you get to know me well~” protested the blonde with a knowing look on his face. “Besides, if you compare my personality with Akashicchi, I’m a complete angel. Oh, speaking of Akashicchi!” Kise quickly skirted around the tanned male and put himself beside the bluenette, closing their distance. “What exactly is your relationship with him, Kuroko-kun?”

 

“Excuse me?” asked Kuroko, lifting slightly an eyebrow as he created some distance between all of them. If he already had to endure the prickling sensation when he was with Akashi, he would really like to avoid feeling it with the other four, if possible.

 

“Aominecchi and I saw you sleeping with Akashicchi this morning~” added Kise while putting his arm around the bluenette’s shoulders. He immediately felt the soft electric discharge flowing inside of his body and lightly twitched at it, but he soon recalled that both Akashi and Midorima had mentioned it before, so he put it out of his mind quickly and continued to press forward. “So what kind of relationship do you have with him? You know, Akashicchi never slept in the same room as us, even when we were out during missions. He claims that it’s his private space and doesn’t want anyone invading it.”

 

“…” Kuroko softly tried to inch away from the blonde but both the prickling sensation and the sparkling aura around the other male were making it hard for him to react. However, he did remember Akashi mentioning something about him not enjoying sleeping with other people. Then why has the redhead slept two nights in a row with him? And by his own initiative, at that.

 

“Are you close friends now? Or are you maybe dating~? Have you kissed? Oh, you must have, since your neck is covered with hickeys and bite marks,” continued insisting the blonde, enjoying the growing blush in the smaller male’s face. “Hey, Kuroko-kun. Since you’ve been spending so much time with Akashicchi, do you know if he has any weakness? I totally want to know so I can use it the next time I get in trouble with him~ You also want to know, right, Aominecchi?”

 

“A-Ah… Umm…” Aomine suddenly got completely pale, taking a few slow steps backwards as he looked over the shoulder of the blonde, in the door’s direction. He could already feel a cold sweat coming out from his pores as he felt the rage present in the glistening eyes of the sudden visitor.

 

“Hm? What’s wrong, Aominecchi? You suddenly got all—“ It was only then that he felt the threatening presence behind his back, and a shudder immediately crept up his spine. He gulped hard and started to softly remove his arm from around the bluenette’s shoulders. Silently, he moved his lips to form the sentence ‘he’s right behind me, isn’t he?’ to which the tanned male give a quick nervous nod with his head.

 

“That looks like fun, Ryouta,” smiled Akashi, taking a few steps in the blonde’s direction. “Can I participate too?”

 

“A-A-A-A-Akashicchi…! Ah… No… Wait…” stuttered Kise while he turned on his heels to face the smiling redhead. “Y-You know I was only kidding, right? Right? I-I-I would never use anything against you! And I was only socializing with Kuroko-kun. You know I only want Kasamatsu-senpai in my life, right? S-So… P-Please consider my situation here and— Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

 

Final verdict: Kise Ryouta was sent for a one-week mission without breaks to Aogashima, the southernmost and most isolated inhabited island of the Izu archipelago… without his phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> Aomine and his gravure magazines... Priceless as always XD But poor Dai-chan... He's trying his best to get his memories back, but he still finds himself crashing against that closed door. Then again, it's really nice to see Aomine and Kuroko getting a little bit closer again and having some bromance moments.
> 
> RIP Kise Ryouta :P
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	63. The figure of the future is like a bubble attracted to the miracles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> Hehehe, I'm preparing for tomorrow another "hunt" for doujinshis XD How many will it be this time? Will it be KnB? Another anime? I'm so excited to discover~
> 
> Anyway, let's return for our favorite devilish angel and lovely bluenette, yes? Hmm... All this time, since I started updating this fic, you must have been wondering "How exactly does Kuroko's ability work?" I'm right, aren't I? So, allow me to explain some little bits of it~
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

“Don’t you think you’re being too harsh on Kise-kun?” asked Kuroko as he closed the door of his bedroom after he and Akashi stepped inside. “He barely finished arranging his things in his room and you already sent him away on a ‘mission’.”

 

“You have to nip the evil in the bud,” answered nonchalantly the redhead as he leaned his lower back in the bluenette’s desk and crossed his arms over his chest. “Ryouta needs to be taught how to behave now, or he will continue to repeat the same mistakes again and again. And I wasn’t all that harsh on him. If I really wanted to be ‘mean’, like he called me, I would have sent him to an uninhabited island for a month, at least.”

 

“If sending him to an island with around 100 habitants without any means of communicating with Teikou isn’t being ‘mean’, then I have no idea what we should call it,” deadpanned the smaller male as he assorted his notebooks and textbooks back to their normal positions. “Thank you for the notes. They were helpful.”

 

“Is that so? I also haven’t been going to classes, so they are my own interpretation of how things are done,” confessed the redhead as he picked one of his own notebooks and turned the pages.

 

“…” Kuroko released a soft snort and peered sideways to the other male. “And then you call yourself ‘imperfect’… How many positions do you have in Teikou? The Head of the ‘Miracles’, the Student Council President and finally the one student who ranks first in all exams with a perfect score since the school opened… Should any more ‘titles’ be added to the list?”

 

“Like I said yesterday, I’m only maintaining the status, and doing what I have been taught since I was a child,” pointed out Akashi while putting the notebook back in the desk. “Talking about ranks, which place are you exactly?”

 

“I’m an average student, so probably somewhere in the middle.” When Kuroko noticed that Akashi was staring at him with an eyebrow slightly perked up, he immediately knew what he was thinking. “Being a terrible student would get unwanted attention on me. The other way around would be the same. So I try to keep myself in the place that catches less attention to both students and teachers. Which means I’m a completely average student.”

 

“Somehow, I don’t think the word ‘average’ really suits you,” teased the taller male. “Hm… Maybe ‘invisible’ or ‘camouflaged’ would better describe you. ‘Sneaky’ also works pretty well.”

 

“The only ‘sneaky’ person here is you, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, trying to contain the urge he felt of rolling his eyes at the other male’s comment. Though the word ‘invisible’ he had referred was pretty close to what he had to become these past few years, for safe-keeping measures.

 

“Whatever you say, Tetsuya,” consented Akashi, chuckling softly at the accusation. Maybe he really was a sneaky person, the way he manipulated things around them while trying not to manipulate the person in question, just so he could obtain the results he wanted. Yes, he was definitely a sneaky one. “You’ve been using your ability all this time to maintain a low profile, haven’t you?”

 

“…” As always, Akashi went straight to the point. They had agreed to have this conversation today, but couldn’t the redhead reschedule it more to the end of the day? He knew perfectly well which were the things he couldn’t say, not to Akashi and not to anyone else, however he still didn’t know how to say the details he could give without creating a large suspicion about other things. Akashi was smart – he would easily associate one thing to the other if given the information. “Yes, I have.”

 

“How exactly does your ability work?” asked the redhead, staring directly to the other male’s teal eyes.

 

“I don’t exactly know how to explain it without exemplifying it, and since we are inside of Murasakibara-kun’s barrier, this will have to do. But you’re smart, so you’ll probably understand what I want to say,” started Kuroko, after sighing softly. He picked up one of his notebooks and opened it in an empty page; then he motioned his hand forward and grabbed his mechanical pencil. He immediately started scribbling in the notebook. “You know the neutralization reaction, right?”

 

“Yes, of course,” confirmed Akashi, giving a quick nod with his head.

 

“Basically, you need an acid and a base, and when you mix them together, you get out of it salt and water,” explained the bluenette, scribbling the equation in the notebook with the name in front of it. “If I’m dealing with other abilities, they would be the acid and I the base, and they would neutralize each other, whether I want to or not. It just happens and I can’t stop it.”

 

“And what exactly would be the salt and water when that happens?” asked the redhead, shifting his body around to look more closely to the notebook.

 

“…” This would probably be the most complicated part to explain. No matter how he said it, Akashi would automatically understand the biggest defect of his ability. “My ability. Simply put, the salt and the water become my ability and feed it, making it stronger and most effective the next time I use it.”

 

“What?” interjected Akashi, a shocked expression surging in his features. Did this mean what he thought it meant? “Then…”

 

“Yes, exactly,” sighed the bluenette, continuing to scribble in the notebook. “Each time I nullify an ability, I transform it into nothing and then add it to my own ability, making it gradually stronger and stronger. It may sound weird how something that is a ‘plus’ becomes a ‘zero’ suddenly, only to once again morph into a ‘plus’ afterwards, but it’s the best way I can explain how it works.”

 

“So you’re telling me that you are absorbing other abilities when you nullify them?” inquired Akashi, an eyebrow slightly rising as he picked a pen and also wrote in the notebook.

 

“No. I’m changing them to suit my own ability,” corrected Kuroko, scratching what Akashi had written and adding the correct term to it (if he could even call it such). “I don’t acquire that ability in any form; I change it in some sort of way so that it can become my ability. But don’t ask me how I do it. I have absolutely no idea.”

 

“So, in a way, the stronger the ability you nullify is, the stronger your own ability becomes,” repeated the taller male with his own words, as he interiorized all the information given to him. “Doesn’t that mean…”

 

“Yes, it’s exactly what you’re thinking, Akashi-kun,” acknowledged Kuroko even before the other male could finish his sentence. “While you five are probably the only ‘Users’ or humans who can stop me if I go out of control or, if it ever happens, I start another ‘Bloody Night’… you are also constantly feeding my ability, making it grow stronger and increasing the possibility of me losing control of my ability again.”

 

“…” Akashi was certainly not expecting this. He didn’t have the fundaments of Kuroko’s ability before so he tried to maintain an open mind to it, but this information was turning out to be a big miscalculation to his plans. He softly snorted at the word ‘miscalculation’ being together in the same sentence as Kuroko again, even though this matter was anything but something to laugh at. How could he work around this particular situation? “Does that only happen when you outright nullify the ability or do you only need to be present when it’s being used or being near a ‘User’?”

 

“That’s a… complicated question to answer, Akashi-kun,” answered honestly the bluenette, bumping the tip of the mechanical pencil in the notebook. “When I nullify something, my ability doesn’t manifest itself in a physical way. So I could very well be using it in an unconscious level without knowing about it when I’m in the presence of other ‘Users’.”

 

“I see…” The redhead continued staring to the scribbles and drawings in the notebook, while he thought about all this. A certain question suddenly popped up in his head. “You’ve been here since first year of middle school, right? Then when was it that you _awoke_?”

 

“…I don’t want to talk about that,” confessed Kuroko, a brief shadow of a pained expression flashing momentarily in his features.

 

“Okay. Then does the prickling sensation that all of us feel when we touch you have anything to do with that particular trait of your ability?” asked forward the taller male, consenting to leave that previous question unanswered.

 

“I don’t know,” lied the bluenette, peering sideways to the other male. However, he suddenly turned to face Akashi directly when he saw his golden eye flicker intensely for nothing more than a fraction of a second. An image of the wicked smile of the other Akashi flashed in his mind and he felt his stomach clutching slightly at the realization that the threats he had made yesterday maybe weren’t as empty as he had initially thought.

 

“Tetsuya?” called softly Akashi as he saw the other male staring in an almost petrified way to him. “Is everything okay?”

 

“Ah… Y-Yes…” Nodding slightly his head in acknowledgment, Kuroko quickly swallowed hard and turned once again to the notebook, gripping tightly the mechanical pencil in his hand.

 

“You explained what would happen when you use your ability on other abilities. So, what happens when you use your ability on other things?” continued questioning the taller male.

 

“The roles would be reversed. I would take the role of the acid and the thing I want to nullify would be the base,” explained the bluenette, scribbling once again on the page of the notebook. “The most fundamental different would be that I would not change it into my ability. It would simply cease to exist. The only thing that doesn’t apply to that rule is…”

 

“You, right?” completed the redhead, getting the inkling on how he had applied his own ability on himself all these years he had spent on Teikou so that nobody would know of his presence there. “If the ‘User’ himself would be affected by his own ability, then it would be a quite flawed ability. And if you have been using it on yourself, then it must mean you come scot-free after using it.”

 

“Well, something like that, I guess,” answered cautiously Kuroko, measuring his words very intently while he peered sideways to the other male. The redhead didn’t seem to be giving that big of an importance to his answer and he disguisedly sighed with relief at that fact.

 

“So, between abilities and other things, is there anything that your ability can’t nullify?” asked further the taller male. “Excluding yourself, of course.”

 

“Excluding myself, there’s nothing,” answered the bluenette almost immediately. “Whatever it is that I want to nullify, I bring it… to a… naught…”

 

“Tetsuya?” called Akashi when the smaller male suddenly started slowing his own speech and then stopped for good, staring absentmindedly to nowhere in particular. “Hey, Tetsuya.”

 

“And then the world was changed for all eternity,” started mumbling Kuroko in between his breathe. “Copying, shooting, strength, barriers, commands… Then the naught... or the even bigger scale…”

 

“Tetsuya, what are you talking ab—“ started questioning the redhead, but he was interrupted when the smaller male clicked his tongue and lunged his hand up to his face in a completely exasperated way.

 

 _Damn it, I’m completely dancing around to its tune, aren’t I?,_ admonished himself Kuroko in the back of his mind. It was only now that he realized that he was still unconsciously following after the words that were constantly being repeated in his dreams. It was probably because he had been sleeping so little these past few weeks that the dream hadn’t find its way inside of his mind again. And these past two nights when he indeed managed to catch some real sleep, he didn’t dream about anything at all. So he had been sort of pushing those words to the back of his mind this whole time.

 

He could understand the initial part clearly. The change the world suffered was the sudden awakening of the “Miracles” followed by the other “Users”. The copying skills, shooting, strength, defense and control each symbolized the five “Miracles”: Kise Ryouta, Midorima Shintarou, Aomine Daiki, Murasakibara Atsushi and Akashi Seijuurou, respectively. The latter part was obviously related to him since he was the only “User”, if he could even call himself that, who could nullify anything at his own will.

 

However, other that the terrible event that was the “Bloody Night” and his past interactions with Aomine, Kuroko had absolutely nothing that directly linked him to the five “Miracles”.

 

 _I understand the bit that says that I can bring it to a naught, since I can nullify their abilities any time I want. But to bring it to an even bigger scale…_ Kuroko quickly, but very carefully, treaded in his mind through all the information he had gathered about his ability and the five “Miracles” these past few years. He suddenly lifted his face up and dropped his hand down when he reached a conclusion. _No way… It can’t mean that I will…_

 

“Tetsuya!” called worriedly Akashi the moment he saw the bluenette’s knees buckling down without any warning. He immediately motioned his hands forward and grabbed him before he fell to the ground. The expression on Kuroko’s face could only be described as pure terror, all color completely drained from his already pale skin. He pulled the chair and sat down there, putting the smaller male between his legs as he continued to look petrified with whatever it was that he was thinking or came to realize. “Tetsuya, are you all right?”

 

“…” Kuroko just looked with frightened eyes to nowhere, maybe to stare fixedly to a point in the air that he could somehow see. However, he was actually staring to deep inside of himself. He skirted his mind around, trying to find another theory, _any_ theory that could completely break down the realization he had come to.

 

“Tetsuya?” called once again the redhead, giving a light squeeze to the hold he had put around the other male’s waist to stop him from falling. The only response he got out of it was the immediate lunging of the bluenette’s hand to clutch at his arm. Kuroko was gripping so tightly unto him that he could feel his nails digging into his skin, even with the fabric of his clothes in between. He used his other hand and softly pulled the smaller male’s face in his direction, staring deeply into his eyes. “Tetsuya, answer me. Are you all right?”

 

“A-Akashi-kun…” Suddenly ‘waking up’ from his deep state of thinking, Kuroko finally focused his teal eyes truly on something concrete. He noticed the aggressive way he was holding into the taller male’s arm and readily released it. “I-I’m sorry, I…”

 

“It’s okay, you didn’t hurt me,” reassured Akashi the still frightened bluenette. What was it that put Kuroko in such a panicky state? They were simply talking about his ability, how it worked and the things it could do. There had been no change in his behavior or facial expression throughout the entire conversation that could explain this sudden alteration on him. He released his hold on the bluenette’s face and softly caressed his still completely pale cheek with his thumb. “But are _you_ okay?”

 

“Yes, I am,” answered Kuroko, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves and still running around mind. He was readying his body to get up from the redhead’s lap when Akashi tightened the hold around his waist and pushed his head against his shoulder. “Akashi-kun?”

 

“Stay here for a few more minutes,” advised Akashi, softly patting his blue locks with his free hand. “You are as pale as a corpse right now. If you try to get up abruptly, you will feel weak all over again.”

 

“…” Kuroko was indeed feeling weak at the moment so he just let himself be in the taller male’s lap for now. Not knowing what to do or say, he just darted his eyes around the entire room, searching for some topic to talk about in order to break the silence that was unconsciously administered to his bedroom. He softly motioned his head sideways and peered over to the redhead, who just stared to what was in front of him while continuing to give soft pats every once in a while to his blue locks. The bluenette tilted slightly his head as he recalled the words that had been given to him earlier.

 

“Ngh…!” Akashi suddenly felt something softly bite into his neck and he immediately looked down, where he saw Kuroko moving his head away from his neck while closing his mouth. “Tetsuya?”

 

“What? Did you think that lions are the only animals who can bite?” smirked the bluenette in a teasingly way. There was indeed some sweetness in giving Akashi a taste of his own medicine.  “Pandas are mainly herbivorous, but the cubs sometimes bite each other while playing.”

 

“…” Akashi was slightly flabbergasted at the sudden action of the smaller male, which could only be called… flirting? Wait, was Kuroko right now _flirting_ with him? Now, of all times? The redhead let his head fall backwards to the back of the chair and sighed exasperatedly, closing his eyes as he started mentally counting the prime numbers. “Why would you do such a thing in this precise moment, Tetsuya?”

 

“Eh? It was just something that Aomine-kun said that suddenly crossed my mind,” answered the bluenette, not understanding why Akashi seemed so frustrated right now. “If you behave as illogically as some animals do, shouldn’t I also let you experience the same so you don’t repeat your own actions again? You have to nip the evil in the bud, right?”

 

“Ugh…” softly grunted the redhead, switching from counting to recite the digits of pi, also applying the prime numbers to the equation as he inwardly mumbled which digit represented each prime number.

 

He wasn’t sure if he should praise Aomine for whatever ‘advise’ he had told Kuroko or if he should curse him for having said it at this stage of the game. Whatever it would be, the next time he saw the tanned male, he would tell him he was excused from office work this upcoming week.

 

_But you’re wrong about a little something, Tetsuya. Doing this won’t stop me… it will only spur me on to continue or do worse._

 

Akashi slowly peered over to Kuroko once again and saw him staring at him with his head slightly tilted. The redhead once again grunted and forcibly swallowed the bitter pill that was the extreme exasperation he was feeling at the moment for having this perfect little dish spread right in front of him and not being able to take a single bite of it because it still hadn’t came out of the oven.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> Well, I guess today I truly gave you some answers, didn't I? Were you surprised? I'm sure Akashi was, especially with the little "gift" that Kuroko gave him in the end (and enable Aomine to gain some brownie points from our devilish angel ;D). It's only fair if Kuroko sometimes frustrates Akashi, right? XD
> 
> On a side note, I put on Twitter my version of what Kuroko was drawing in his notebook (I had nothing to do so I decided to entertain myself with meaningless things - though it did help me explain it better).
> 
> [P.S. - You have no idea how much research I have to do to write this fic... I already researched Japanese Cuisine, Chemistry, Math and Biology! I'm a freaking Languages students! I haven't studied Sciences for years now -.-']
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	64. A miracle is a pain in the butt, there are no lucky shots

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> You probably were wondering why I suddenly decided to put AoKaga as an official main couple and not as something that may happen, right? Well, this chapter is the happy miscalculation that I had when writing that lead me to do it!
> 
> Well, enjoy, fufufu~

The phone rang and rang and rang. When Aomine thought that the call had finally connected, he heard a sudden click and the call went down… for the third damn time! He exasperatedly sighed and threw his phone to the bed. When he was picking up his jacket and motioning over to the door, his phone suddenly started to ring and the tanned male immediately went back to the bed, peeking at the screen of the electrical device. When he read the name of the caller, he quickly grabbed the phone and answered.

 

“It was about time, Bakagami!” barked Aomine right away, throwing his jacket to the bed before dropping his body down to sit in it. “Do you have any idea of how many times I’ve called you!?”

 

 _“Shut up! Try doing your daily routine with only one hand! And it’s not even my dominant one!”_ barked in response Kagami. _“Every time I tried to pick up the calls, I accidentally disconnected it instead of answering.”_

 

“Not my problem,” added the tanned male while he picked at his ear.

 

 _“You dare to say that when it was one of your comrades that did this to my hand!?”_ admonished the redhead. _“Do you have any idea how hard it is to cook, get dressed, bathe and do all the other things?”_

 

“Just take it like the big boy you are,” retorted Aomine, quickly motioning to the door of his room. He softly opened it and took a peek to the corridor. If he remembered correctly, Akashi should still be together in Kuroko’s bedroom with the bluenette. They should still be talking (or flirting, most likely) so he had enough time to peacefully talk with Kagami without the chance of being heard by anyone. Kise was arranging his departure in the Student Council building so he would not be disturbed by any nuisance either. He closed the door and motioned back inside of his room. “Anyway, I have a question to make you.”

 

 _“What?”_ asked the redhead, a soft background sound of kitchenware being used accompanying his voice.

 

“Um… Ah… I-Is it possible to be in love with someone while not knowing it?” hesitantly asked the tanned male as he walked back and forth in his bedroom due to the awkwardness he was feeling of asking such a question to someone who he only met recently.

 

 _“Huh? Why are you asking that?”_ questioned once again Kagami, the background noise suddenly stopping. _“Eh~ Don’t tell me? Did you realize you’re in love with someone?”_

 

“That’s not it, you idiot!” roared Aomine, coming to a halt in his dance around the room. “I’m asking this because of Kuroko.”

 

_“Eh? Kuroko is love with someone?”_

 

“Yeah, Akashi, apparently,” answered right away Aomine. He suddenly heard a bunch of things falling down to the ground from the other side of the phone and the redhead cursing loudly. It sounded like a frying pan, so Kagami must have been preparing his lunch or something. “Are you okay, man?”

 

 _“Fuck, no. I mean, yeah. I just ruined my lunch but forget about that for now! What did you say?”_ asked the redhead, shock clearly painting his voice. _“Kuroko is in love with Akashi!?”_

 

“Yeah. I mean, probably,” explained Aomine, motioning his hand up to scratch his head. “You saw them yesterday while they were leaving for Seirin, right? Then let me tell you what happened afterwards. They got all cozy with each other here in Fuyu, the house where we’ll all be living in. Cozy enough to sleep together.”

 

 _“They what!?”_ gasped Kagami, completely flabbergasted at the events that occurred after Akashi literally tried to break his wrist.

 

“Ah, no, I didn’t mean it in that sense,” corrected Aomine. “They were only sleeping in the same bed. Well, the hickeys in Kuroko’s neck have doubled and there are clear bite marks there now too, but I don’t think they have gone that far.”

 

 _“Okay, I will put the hickeys and bite marks bit to the side for a while,”_ started the redhead. Aomine could hear through the phone that he was picking up the frying pan from the floor and putting it on top of the counter, but after that he didn’t heard any more noises related to the kitchen at all. Kagami was probably going to focus all of his attention on the conversation now. _“How do you know that Kuroko and Akashi slept together?”_

 

“Kise and I saw them sleeping in Kuroko’s bedroom,” explained the tanned male, motioning over to his bed to sit down once again. “I have to congratulate Akashi on his persistence. I never saw Kuroko look so relaxed before. He was just laid down in the bed, literally sleeping on top of Akashi.”

 

 _“That’s… Are you sure it was Kuroko and not some mirage or something like that?”_ hesitantly asked Kagami, not believing the words coming out of the other male’s mouth.

 

“Yeah, as if a mirage could make Akashi blush the way he did…” snorted the tanned male while rolling his eyes.

 

 _“That crazy bastard blushed!?”_ repeated the redhead, now pure disbelieve painting his voice. _“I can’t really see Akashi blushing for anything in this world…”_

 

“That’s why I told you yesterday that Akashi must be in love with Kuroko,” added Aomine, taking a quick peek to the basketball near his bed on the floor. For some reason, Kagami’s voice was making him feel like play basketball again. “Akashi hates to have his private space invaded by others. However, he allowed Kuroko to step inside there for the entire night, the time where a person is most vulnerable to others. Someone as cautious and reserved as Akashi would never, and I must repeat _never_ , allow a person who he didn’t felt a stronger affection for to be with him in that type of situation.”

 

 _“Well, I can understand what you’re trying to say, but…”_ started Kagami, an eyebrow slightly lifted while he thought about it. _“Isn’t that only the prospect of Kuroko being ‘stolen’ from him talking? Kuroko is ‘The Phantom’ and you’ve been searching for him since a year ago. And now you’ve caught him. Isn’t Akashi only certifying himself that Kuroko doesn’t run away or something like that?”_

 

“I would have probably thought like that too if I hadn’t seen the look in Akashi’s face this morning,” interrupted the tanned male, extending his arm to grab the basketball. “The only thing that was there was pure affection. Even his golden eye seemed to be smitten by him – though that’s probably not a very good thing. Anyway! The thing that’s most noteworthy in all of this is that Akashi has been smiling.”

 

 _“Smiling?”_ repeated Kagami, not understanding what the other male was trying to get at. _“If you’re talking about that creepy ass smile he was making yesterday, then I don’t really think it’s a good thing…”_

 

“I’m not talking about that one. That’s the ‘I-will-torture-you-then-kill-you' smile he makes when the inner beast shows up or when he’s in an extremely bad mood,” continued explaining Aomine while spinning the ball on his finger. “I mean a true, genuine smile. The type of smile that a person only makes when they are either at the entrance of Heaven where they can have eternal peace of mind or when they feel happy from the bottom of their heart to be in the presence of someone they care for. And that type of smile was something that we _never_ saw in Akashi. Well, at least in this way.”

 

 _“But does that mean that he loves Kuroko?”_ questioned once again the redhead. _“Somehow I can’t really see Akashi falling for a person in the span of a month, at least not in the way you are describing.”_

 

“Well, yeah, I guess…”

 

 _“And Akashi may very well have manipulated Kuroko in some way to put him sleeping in the same bed as him,”_ continued Kagami, pointing out every single thing he had noticed about this Akashi/Kuroko ‘love’ story. _“Though I can consent that he indeed managed to find a way to put Kuroko relaxed, if he was really sleeping on top of him like you said.”_

 

“I just can’t make sense of how they really feel for each other, in the end,” sighed Aomine, stopping playing with the ball all of a sudden and putting it between his legs. “I can see that Akashi has some sort of feelings for Kuroko, but I can’t understand what Kuroko’s position in all this is. When they are together, they are or going for each other throats or shamelessly flirting. It’s like they are in this messed up love-hate relationship with each other, where those two emotions are so entwined that not even them themselves know which one is their true feelings.”

 

 _“Woah… For an idiot, you sure can say some pretty poetic things,”_ teased the redhead, whistling briefly in a mocking motion.

 

“Shut it!” growled the tanned male, a vein slightly popping out at the little remark of the male on the other side of the phone. “Those who call others an idiot are also idiots, you know?”

 

 _“And you know you’ve called me an idiot a couple of time now, too, right?”_ teased once again Kagami, a smirk tugging at his lips. _“But yeah, I’m also quite confused with all this. I don’t know if what they feel for each other is really love or not, but they are bordering some kind of weird relationship. The hickeys—“_

 

“And bite marks,” added the tanned male.

 

 _“—are a proof that they aren’t only talking with each other when they’re together,”_ continued Kagami, ignoring the other male’s interruption (but still registering what he was saying). _“Though I think that was Akashi’s doing and not by Kuroko’s own initiative, I’m sure. I can’t imagine that expressionless prick starting any kind of flirting, much less that type of intimacy.”_

 

“Oh, Kuroko flirts with him too,” corrected Aomine, a sly smirk on his features. “How do you think Akashi got to blush like a tomato? And when he and Akashi are going at it with both their flirting and their arguing, sometimes about the most ridiculous of things, I think Kuroko is having fun.”

 

 _“I can only imagine him flirting with a completely deadpan expression on his face…”_ mumbled Kagami, a part of him a little bit curious about it. Probably because Kuroko Tetsuya’s personality and facial expressions didn’t seem to link with flirting at all. _“But I’m still worried, nevertheless! I can’t let that demon corrupt Kuroko’s innocence if it’s done unwillingly.”_

 

“You know that he’s ‘The Phantom’, right?” pointed out the tanned male, a blank expression momentarily installed in his face. “He stopped being innocent when he killed the first victim in the ‘Bloody Night’.”

 

 _“I’m not talking about that kind of innocence, you blockhead!”_ barked the redhead. _“I’m talking about the purity of his soul and body. I can’t let Akashi do such things to him, like leaving his whole neck covered in hickeys… and bite marks… if Kuroko doesn’t want him to.”_

 

“Yeah? And what exactly are you going to do about that?” teased Aomine, amused at the innocence that Kagami himself was showing. “Ask Akashi to not make advances at Kuroko? You know that he would take it as a challenge and would really kill you for trying to order him around, right? For getting between him and Kuroko, too. And he would probably try to hasten the process of ‘courting’ him if he thought you were seriously trying to also pursue Kuroko’s affections.”

 

 _“Ugh… You’re right…”_ acknowledged Kagami, a little bit let down to not have thought about those things. However, what was the best way to come around and discover what where the true intentions of the heterochromatic redhead and the bluenette’s real feelings for him? _“Hey, Aomine. Can Kuroko go to wherever he wants now?”_

 

“Huh? Well, more or less,” answered the tanned male, trying to remember what Akashi had told them about that particular subject. “He can walk freely inside the restricted area, since it’s heavily guarded. He can also go wherever he wants inside of Teikou Academy as long as he warns one of us where he is. But if he wants to go outside, he needs to ask one of us to take him there.”

 

 _“Geez… I pity Kuroko. Akashi is a complete control freak,”_ sympathized the redhead. No wonder Kuroko had run away from all of them this whole time. He must have known that he would be restricted in this way if he was caught by them. Thought he was probably lucky that the Japanese government didn’t decide to execute him right after he was ‘collected’ by Akashi and the other ‘Miracles’. _“Anyway, are you free tomorrow?”_

 

“Eh?” Aomine suddenly felt his heart rate increasing just the slightest bit and the ball between his legs slipped out of his hold on it. He quickly lunged his hand forward and tapped it so it would bounce on the floor and enable him to catch it and put it in between his leg once again. “I’m probably free. Why?”

 

 _“I want to invite Kuroko to have dinner tomorrow at my apartment,”_ explained Kagami, a certain hint of a smirk coming across through the phone. _“Since one of you has to come with him, you’re invited too. This way we can prove two things in one go!”_

 

“Prove what exactly?” asked right away the tanned male, lifting slightly an eyebrow. He wasn’t really understanding what having dinner in the redhead’s apartment would prove, but there was a part of him that was extremely curious about this whole business. Especially the prospect of enjoying a meal together with Kagami.

 

 _“First of all, we can question Kuroko directly about his feelings for Akashi. Though it would probably be better if we don’t do it in a very upfront way,”_ continued explaining Kagami. _“The other is that we can force Akashi to show his true colors by ‘threatening’ him that I will ‘steal’ Kuroko from him.”_

 

“Okay, there are two big problems in your little scheme,” interrupted Aomine, a sly smirk pulling his lips upwards. Kagami was truly an interesting fellow. “Akashi won’t be here tomorrow. He will go to Kyoto and will probably only return by night time. And, most important of all, Akashi will probably kill you for that. Me too, since I’ll be your accomplice.”

 

 _“Didn’t you say that Akashi only obeyed Kuroko’s orders?”_ pointed out Kagami, a complete certainty tone in his voice. _“Then if Kuroko is also present, he can just stop Akashi from killing us. Though he probably won’t be able to prevent him from adding more work to your schedule as a punishment for you.”_

 

“So you’re literally throwing me to the wolves while you came out of it unscathed,” mumbled Aomine as he once again started playing with the basketball using his free hand. “But well, Akashi will probably come chasing after your ass first, and that will be pretty interesting to see on its own.”

 

 _“Your personality is also pretty twisted. I wonder if all ‘Miracles’ have that trait,”_ teased the redhead, a heavy mocking tone in his voice. _“The fact that Akashi will be away is even better, actually. He will start to think of how long Kuroko has been in my apartment and what we have been talking about and doing throughout that entire time. And that will equal to a dose of jealousy to someone as possessive as he is.”_

 

“And then you call me ‘twisted’. You’re pretty manipulative and evil yourself, Kagami,” teased the tanned male this time. “But I can see what you’re trying to do. And I have to be honest… I like it! I’m in! If Akashi forces me to do more office work or sends me to an isolated island as a punishment, I’ll deal with it when that time comes.”

 

 _“You’re being pretty laid back about all this,”_ suddenly said the redhead. Aomine could feel a certain hesitation in his voice as he talked. _“Don’t you think that the fact that Akashi may be in love with Kuroko, and vice versa, is a little bit… abnormal?”_

 

“Huh? Why would I?” asked Aomine almost immediately, an eyebrow readily being propped up at that unexpected question.

 

 _“I mean, for me it’s a usual occurrence. I grew up in America so I’m used to see gay couples,”_ started explaining hesitantly the male from the other side of the phone. _“And well, Akashi and Kuroko are both males. Akashi is someone you have known for years now, in addition to being almost considered superior to you in this whole hierarchy thingy that exists in Teikou.”_

 

“So what?” answered Aomine, shrugging his shoulders even though he knew that Kagami couldn’t see him since they were only talking on the phone. “You probably don’t know this but Midorima, Kise and Murasakibara have their own lovers. And they are all males. I personally know them and they are all pretty nice people. You met Takao yesterday, didn’t you? He’s Midorima’s boyfriend. So if Akashi wants to pursue a relationship with Kuroko, he’s free to do whatever he wants. Besides, there is a really big percentage of students here in Teikou that are homosexuals.”

 

 _“I see,”_ acknowledged Kagami, a feeling of relief calming down his earlier hesitation. Though he had no idea why and what for he was feeling relieved about. _“T-Then how about you?”_

 

“Are you asking if I have a lover or what is my preference in terms of sexual orientation?” asked the tanned male in a teasingly way. Since the other male wasn’t saying anything, he continued with his teasing. “Hmm~ I wonder~ I haven’t had a lover for quite a while so I wonder which is my type indeed~ But if you asked me if I was able to fuck you, then the answer would be yes.”

 

“I-I-I-I-I-I-Idiot!” stuttered the redhead, almost dropping the phone due to his embarrassment. Aomine had a feeling that the other male’s face right now must be as red as the color of his hair… which should be a pretty interesting sight to see.

 

Well, Kagami on the whole was an interesting guy, with his constant fostering of the small bluenette and perpetually grumbling about the heterochromatic redhead. So when he teasingly said that he would be able to have sex with Kagami, he was actually being pretty frank about it. Aomine had never considered having that sort of relationship with another guy, but with Kagami… he ended up wondering how that would work out.

 

“M-M-My stomach is grumbling really loudly, so I really have to go prepare my lunch now,” added the still flustered redhead, trying not to continue stuttering. “I should clean up the mess I made in the kitchen and prepare another thing to eat. We’ll talk tomorrow in school about the dinner. S-See ya.”

 

“Sure, sweetheart~ Have a nice lunch~” continued teasing Aomine, talking in an extremely girly and high-pitched voice. He heard the phone of the other male almost falling once again and then the call ended.

 

Yes, Kagami was truly an entertaining fellow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Eikou Made no Run and Gun" by Ono Yuuki (our innocent lil' tiger).
> 
> Guys, you have no idea of how much I laughed while writing this chapter. And it was for two reasons: for the conversation and plan that Kagami and Aomine are making... and for what it will lead to XD I mean, they are both idiots and they think they will come out of this little scheme unscathed? It will obviously go wrong in some sort of way! Let's just see if their miscalculation will have a happy ending or not...
> 
> I sort of have the feeling that Aomine and Kagami are Kuroko's parents in all this. They worry about him (especially Bakagami) like a mother or a father would. Which is so fucking adorable of them ^.^
> 
> And AoKaga... Oh dear god, their constant teasing and bickering and Aomine's flirting... *passes out from fangirling too much*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	65. I just blindly decided where my threshold is

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> Christmas is slowly approaching, isn't it? And what is it that Christmas brings with it? Yup, exactly! Akashi's birthday <3 I'm preparing a very special gift for my favorite heterochromatic redhead! (It won't come in the format of this fic, Shattered Miracles, though)
> 
> So, last chapter, Kagami and Aomine made a full (evil) scheme to find out the truth about AkaKuro. I bet you're all anxious to see the result of that, aren't you? Let me slowly build up your expectations for that moment while giving you a quite tasty cliffhanger *evil smirk*
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

“Are you sure you’re feeling completely well now?” asked Akashi, glancing attentively to Kuroko with a slight frown on his face as they walked down the stairs to the dining room. “I can take your lunch to your room if you’re still feeling weak.”

 

“I’m not a baby, Akashi-kun,” sighed the bluenette, continuing to motion downstairs. “That back then was just a momentary... loss of strength. I don’t feel sick or unwell anywhere.”

 

“I can only worry, since you don’t tell me what happened earlier,” pointed out Akashi, an eyebrow slightly raised as he continued to eye the smaller male very closely. He wanted to be alert if he was going to feel badly again.

 

“It’s probably because I haven’t eaten lunch yet and it’s past 3PM already,” softly lied Kuroko, averting the somewhat worried gaze of the taller male. He knew perfectly well that it hadn’t been hunger that made him weak – it had been the dread that suddenly overcame his whole being when he solved one more part of those words. A realization that he thought that would never again be a part of his life. Not after the ‘Bloody Night’.

 

“Then we should feed you right away. Atsushi must have cooked something already,” acknowledged the redhead, grabbing Kuroko’s hand to take him faster to the dining room and then to the kitchen. “And you probably should refrain from eating so many sweets. It’s clearly not healthy.”

 

“You almost sound like a mother,” deadpanned Kuroko as he stepped inside of the kitchen by being towed by the redhead. Inside was also the green haired male, preparing a bowl of Zenzai, sweet red bean soup.

 

“I just don’t want you to fall ill, Tetsuya,” continued Akashi in his lecturing, releasing the smaller male’s hand so they could prepare their lunch. “Sugar is good for our body if not taken in excessive quantities. Just because you’ve been living off of only vanilla milkshakes and other sporadic foods up until now, it doesn’t mean that you should continue to do it for the rest of your life.”

 

“You’re going to restrict me from eating vanilla?” asked right away Kuroko, a slight tone of panic in his voice. He shifted uncomfortably his body around as he waited for Akashi’s answer.

 

“…” The redhead peered sideways to the smaller male, a soft smirk surfacing in his features. He noticed right away that he had put him in a tight spot with this conversation, since Kuroko had explained to him the day before how his like for vanilla worked. It was something that he couldn’t survive without, had said the bluenette. Akashi continued to pretend to be thinking about it, enjoying the fact that the other male was anxiously waiting for his confirmation. “I won’t forbid you from eating it. You are free to eat whatever it is that you want, Tetsuya.”

 

Kuroko immediately sighed in relief at those words. He would probably die if he couldn’t drink vanilla milkshakes or eat anything with vanilla as frequently as he could. When he noticed that Akashi was calling him, waving his hand in his direction in a summoning motion, he softly walked in his direction to see if he needed his help in something. He wondered if they were going to cook like they had the previous day.

 

“However, Tetsuya…” continued the redhead, straightening his back when Kuroko stopped beside him so that he could look directly at him. “If you are allowed to eat whatever you want, so am I. And I won’t complain about it, so you can’t complain about what I choose to eat either.”

 

“Eh? Why would I complain about what yo—“

 

Akashi suddenly motioned his face closer and gave a quick nip with his teeth to the bluenette’s small and pale nose, licking the tip in a teasing way. He took great relish on the fact that Kuroko’s expression was immediately covered in a myriad of shades of red when he understood what he was implying with that conversation.

 

He chuckled softly as he observed Kuroko open and close his mouth, trying to find some sort of retort to what he had said but apparently failing miserably at it. Akashi only moved his eyes off of the other male when he heard something fall to the ground. Both of them immediately looked to the other side of the kitchen, where Midorima had dropped his bowl to the floor and was staring at them with a completely shocked expression.

 

“Is something the matter, Shintarou?” asked innocently the redhead, peering closely to the taller male with a questioning expression on his face.

 

“N-No, it’s nothing,” answered Midorima, adjusting his glasses as he averted the other two males’ gazes. He didn’t see nor hear anything. Yes, nothing at all. He probably should be thankful that his room was the farthest away from Akashi’s and Kuroko’s rooms. “Murasakibara left some dishes prepared for whoever wants to eat them.”

 

“Yes, I saw them in the fridge,” acknowledged Akashi, turning his back to the green haired male so he could look to Kuroko once again. “Do you think you can eat Hayashi rice, Tetsuya?”

 

“I just told you that I’m not feeling unwell anymore, Akashi-kun,” repeated the smaller male again, motioning over to the cupboard to take out two plates for them. “After I eat, I’ll go back to my lively self.”

 

“When exactly are you ‘lively’?” teased the redhead, taking the Tupperware with food out of the fridge. “The only times I remember you not being completely expressionless is when you’re eating sweets, when I tease you or when we were back then in your apartment in Seirin.”

 

“Will you please stop reminding me of that?” admonished Kuroko, bringing the plates in Akashi’s direction with a pink blush in his cheeks. “I’m not food or a mean of nourishment. What happened in my apartment and these past two nights will _not_ repeat itself again.”

 

“Really? We shall see,” answered Akashi, a knowing smirk in his features as he put the food in their plates. After he distributed the food evenly between them, he motioned over to the microwave, but halted his steps when he noticed Midorima’s expression once again. “Are you okay, Shintarou?”

 

“Y-Yes. I’m just cleaning the spilled red bean soup. Continue doing what you’re doing,” answered Midorima, picking a few more napkins to clean the soup off of the floor.

 

_Why are they talking about such things when I’m right here to hear them!? Is Akashi doing it on purpose? Argh…! I’m not listening. Not listening at all!_

 

Akashi resumed his mission and went over to the microwave, heating one of the plates and then the other. After both were at a warm temperature, he passed by Kuroko and gave him his plate. Their spoons in hand, they both motioned back to the dining room, each one of them walking to the seats they had taken that morning.

 

“Tetsuya, sit here,” suddenly said the redhead as Kuroko was about to sit down on the chair in the middle of the table.

 

“Why?” questioned Kuroko, lifting slightly an eyebrow at that sudden request. “I ate here this morning, and I heard no complaints about it.”

 

“But there were more people in the room,” pointed out Akashi, getting up from his seat once again and walking over to the smaller male. He took his plate from in front of him and walked back to his seat, putting the plate in the seat beside his own. “I think it’s quite depressing having only two people at a table as big as this one and they being in almost opposite sides of it.”

 

“…” Kuroko thought having seen the remnant of a pained expression in the heterochromatic eyes of the redhead. Adding that to the fact that he just got his food ‘confiscated’ by him, the bluenette reluctantly motioned over to near Akashi, sitting in front of his plate. “I won’t even ask if you’re satisfied now, since I know it would be a mistake on my part.”

 

“You’re free to ask me whatever you want, Tetsuya,” added Akashi, while he gave a quick bow in appreciation for the food. “I don’t remember ever forbidding you from asking me things.”

 

“I’m not like you, who forces others to give them answers whether they want to or not,” deadpanned Kuroko, also giving a quick bow and picking up the spoon to start eating.

 

“…” Akashi ate a spoonful of rice with a little bit of the meat’s broth and then motioned his hand down, thinking very closely about what the other male had ‘attacked’ him with. “About that… I don’t think there’s any need to continue with it. You’ve been answering my questions and I don’t think you’re lying when you do so, though it’s undeniable that you’re hiding a lot of things when answering them. I used it as a safety measure to keep you giving me information to be prepared for any future eventuality. Also because of the reports I have to give the government about our safe-keeping you, of course.”

 

“…”

 

“However, as things are, I won’t continue to force you to answer my questions anymore,” continued Akashi, observing the slight frown that surfaced in the bluenette’s expression at the mention of his reports on him to the higher-ups. “You can choose to answer me or not from now on. But don’t make me change my mind, Tetsuya. I’m trusting that you will keep being as cooperative as you have been lately.”

 

“I don’t think it’s really a matter of cooperation here,” suddenly added Kuroko, putting one more spoonful of rice and meat in his mouth and chewing it slowly. “If it hadn’t been you founding me, I would have continued these next three years living the way I lived after the ‘Bloody Night’. Which means continuously running away from the Japanese government. And from you five, of course. Then I just would have silently disappeared after graduation.”

 

“…”

 

“Most likely, I would have to live the rest of my life hiding, since I don’t really see the government dropping any of the charges they have on me. I’m pretty much a terrorist in their eyes. No, in the entire world’s eyes,” continued talking the bluenette, a faint pained smile on his features. “Anyway, you caught me and now they know who I am. Which means I have absolutely no survival chances if I make the slightest of mistakes or give them even more reasons to execute me. So, all in all, you are holding the rope that keeps the guillotine from beheading me. In the most literate of senses. For you, this whole thing is nothing more than ‘protocooperation’, while for me it’s pure ‘parasitism’. I’m only using you to extend my life a little bit longer.”

 

“Are you an idiot?” suddenly interrupted Akashi, wiping his mouth with a napkin. Kuroko simply stared with a surprised expression at him, completely caught off guard due to being called such. “How can you compare yourself to a parasite, Tetsuya? Fighting for survival can never be seen as such. Our instinct makes us use all that we can, in every form we can, just so we can preserve our lives. And that’s not a trait that makes us humans. It’s something that proves that we are still alive. It’s the exact same moment we stop caring about it that we can no longer say we are truly living. We would simply exist as a residual shadow that couldn’t bring about any sort of change to anything, not even to ourselves.”

 

“But am I someone who deserves such?” asked the bluenette, slowly releasing the spoon on the side of his plate. “I killed people. I destroyed half of Tokyo and bared the entrance to that small portion of land. Am I really someone who deserves to be put in that category? In the category where someone that keeps on fighting for survival and does anything for it will still be called a human?”

 

“I have killed too, as you are well aware of,” confessed all of a sudden Akashi, surprising once again the smaller male. “So have Shintarou and Daiki. So have Atsushi and Ryouta. Though it wasn’t in the same proportions that you did, do you see us as anything other than humans?”

 

“You can’t compare it that way, Akashi-kun…” softly added the bluenette, a slight pained expression on his face. “The difference between the numbers prevents it from being a fair comparison.”

 

“Really?” asked Akashi, filling another spoon with the meal in front of him and motioning it to his mouth. “I think the feelings are the same, though. Whether you kill once, twice, a hundred times… The guilt and regret you feel afterwards is the same. And it’s actually a good thing that you feel that way. It means you haven’t abandoned your humanity just yet.”

 

“…”

 

“You feel as guilty and regretful about the ‘Bloody Night’ as any other person would feel about killing another human being,” continued Akashi, eating one more spoonful of rice with the broth. “So you are just as human as any of us is. And you are as deserving of fighting for your life as any of us would be. Now continue eating before the food gets cold, Tetsuya.”

 

“…” Kuroko picked the spoon up once again and filled it with some rice and broth. He put it in his mouth but… it just didn’t have the same taste as before.

 

He really would like to believe in Akashi’s words. From the bottom of his heart, he wanted to believe that Akashi was right and that he was indeed like that. However, Akashi didn’t know his past. He didn’t know what he had been forced to do since he awoke as a “User”, sometimes even by his own initiative or will. He had no idea of how many lives he completely ruined due to his foolish wishes and childish dreams – and all that in its totality lead to the events of the “Bloody Night”.

 

So, after having killed, deceived, hurt so many innocent people… How could he call himself “human” or someone “deserving of trying to survive”?

 

“Aka— Mmph!?” When the bluenette was about to start talking once again, Akashi just suddenly decided to shove a spoonful of rice and meat in his mouth. Not having expected it, he just readily chewed the food and swallowed it, looking with an eyebrow slightly lifted to the redhead.

 

“Your food is going to get cold, Tetsuya,” answered the taller male to the silent question that Kuroko was making him, a slight smirk on his face. “Will I have to continue to spoon-feed you until all of your meal is gone?”

 

“You’re treating me like a child again, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, giving a quick peak to his plate. “And you just fed me from your own plate. How exactly will I finish my food if you’re taking it from your own?”

 

“You probably need more food in your small body that me,” added Akashi, chuckling briefly. “You won’t be able to survive my trainings if you don’t eat properly. I’m an extremely strict teacher. Isn’t that right, Daiki?”

 

Akashi and Kuroko peered over to the door that lead to the other divisions of the first floor and heard something rustling against the wall from the other side. The bluenette would have not noticed that Aomine was there if the redhead had not pointed it out.

 

“Just stop eavesdropping into other people’s conversations and come inside,” added the redhead, releasing a soft sigh and motioning his spoon down to fill it once again with his meal. “I also have something to tell you, so it’s convenient for me too.”

 

“…” After grumbling under his breath for a few seconds, Aomine stepped inside of the dining room and walked over to the table, pulling a chair and sitting down on it. “For how long did you know I was there?”

 

“The moment you were about to step inside the room but decided to return to the corridor because Tetsuya and I were talking,” answered Akashi right away, eating one more spoon of food. “Anyway, Daiki.”

 

“Y-Yes!” stuttered slightly the tanned male, straightening his back immediately at the serious tone in the other male’s voice. Was it possible that he knew of the conversation he had had with Kagami earlier? Akashi may not have a hearing as sharp as his, but he always seemed to know what was going around everywhere. He nervously waited for what was about to come. And it probably wasn’t going be good news…

 

“You are excused from working on the Student Council building for a week starting tomorrow,” finally said Akashi, after a slight break where he intently observed the taller male. He seemed unusually restless, but that was something he was used to deal with since there were a lot of people that, for some reason, felt extremely intimidated by him.

 

“Eh? What? …Why?” asked suspiciously Aomine, an eyebrow slightly perked up. He would more quickly expect to have his workload doubled or tripled than receiving the sudden notice of a one-week vacation in regard of his functions in the Student Council. Akashi was only a slave driver when he was in a bad mood or wanted to punish someone in anyway, but he wasn’t exactly someone who decided to give others a break from their duties just because he suddenly felt like it. Everything that he did had a very well based reason to back it up.

 

“You’ve been looking unusually tired lately, so I’m worried about your health,” explained the redhead, finishing eating the last bit of the Hayashi rice. “And your words apparently brought out an unexpected situation. So just take it as my way of thanking you. However, just because I’m allowing you a little bit more of free time, it doesn’t mean it will be an occasional occurrence from now on. So use this chance wisely and don’t make me regret having done so.”

 

“Ah…” He wasn’t really sure of what Akashi was talking about, but the tanned male had a very bad feeling that the redhead would regret having done so tomorrow, most likely. The fact that he still wasn’t aware of his and Kagami’s little scheme was a good thing, but he was already starting to fear the rage that would be thrown at him for it.

 

Aomine wasn’t really that scared for himself. It would be Akashi’s reaction to Kagami that was making him a little bit hesitant about this whole plan. They needed answers, though. And the taller redhead would probably continue to be at death’s door in the future, whether they put this plan forward or not, due to his friendship with Kuroko and Akashi’s plain dislike for him. He also didn’t want to lose Kagami as a basketball partner because of the heterochromatic redhead’s twisted way of punishing others.

 

However, if Kuroko was indeed in love with Akashi and hadn’t noticed yet, and they made him admit it to himself, wouldn’t that be a beneficial thing for Akashi? Aomine still couldn’t really see if the bluenette’s feelings for the other male were love or other type of emotion, but he was starting to see how the connection between them was blossoming, based on the conversation he unexpectedly walked in to.

 

“Tetsuya, you have food on your face,” said Akashi, chuckling as he motioned his hand forward to take the grain of rice stuck near the corner of the bluenette’s mouth.

 

“I can take care of myself, Akashi-kun,” pouted the smaller male, although a soft pink blush appeared in his face when he saw the redhead move his hand to his mouth to eat the small grain.

 

“I know you can take care of yourself. I just also want to take care of what belongs to me,” added Akashi, giving a napkin to the bluenette.

 

“I don’t belong to you,” sighed Kuroko, taking the napkin out of the other male’s hand.

 

“For now, you mean,” corrected the redhead, a smirk tugging his lips upwards. He briefly looked over to his plate and then to the bluenette’s, which was now empty. “Tetsuya, let’s go to your room after we clean the dishes. I’m feeling like having the daifuku that Atsushi gave us a few days ago as a dessert.”

 

“What if I said I already ate them all?” pointed out the smaller male, a slight smirk surfacing in his lips. When he saw the pout that readily appeared in the other male’s face, he softly chuckled and got up from his seat, taking his used tableware with him as he walked to the kitchen. He hadn’t ate any of the daifuku, but having the upper hand every once in a while wouldn’t hurt anyone. “I’ll give you one if you drop by my room later on the day. As long as you continue to behave well.”

 

“What if I want to eat it now?” asked slyly the heterochromatic redhead, the smirk in his features widening. He also got up and picked up his plate, motioning to the kitchen after the smaller male.

 

“I will give you the same answer that you always give me: deal with it,” added Kuroko, the smirk on his face also widening as he halted his steps under the frame of the door to peer at the taller male.

 

“Then allow me to change your mind on it,” proposed the redhead, also stopping under the frame of the door. He put his plate on top of the one the other male was carrying, observing with a knowing smirk the way Kuroko seemed completely lost in this exchange. Then he just suddenly motioned his hands up and with one of them cupped Kuroko’s face to pull it slightly up, while with the other he touched his neck.

 

“Ngh…!” Kuroko readily shivered at the warm touch of the taller male on his neck and the prickling sensation that came with it. He was about to lung his hands up to push him away… when he noticed that he was holding the dishes and couldn’t exactly let go of them at the moment. Panicking slightly at the unknown that was Akashi’s next move, he darted his eyes between the redhead and the tanned male, who seemed just as surprised as him. “A-Akashi-kun?”

 

“Will you let me eat?” asked Akashi, an innocent look on his face even though what he was saying was anything but that. Though the innocence was solemnly on his face, since the sly glint on his eyes was a clear proof that he was up to no good. Adding to the look on his eyes was the soft sliding of his fingertips in the smaller male’s neck, tracing leisurely all the hickeys and bite marks there.

 

“E-Eat what, exactly?” asked back Kuroko hesitantly, leaning his back on the door frame as he inched away from the taller male.

 

“My dessert, of course,” mischievously smiled the redhead, slowly motioning his fingertips through the length of the small male as he enjoyed the slight trembling that that action was causing on the other male. “So what will it be, Tetsuya? Will you let me eat or not?”

 

“Wasn’t it you who said we need to be careful with the sugar we take?” tried to deadpan Kuroko, but the blush in his cheeks and quickened heartbeat were completely bring down his chances of succeeding in it.

 

“Yes, but I’m not a sugar-addict like you are, so it won’t do me any harm. Though I don’t really mind getting addicted to this particular dessert,” added mischievously the redhead. “And we just agreed that we won’t complain about what the other eats, didn’t we, Tetsuya?”

 

“Ngh… J… Just do whatever you want,” conceded the bluenette, feeling extremely frustrated at himself since he was only being that strong against the taller male’s advances and arguments. “Go to my bedroom and take as many daifuku as you want. Just please let go of me already!”

 

“I will. But first…” acknowledged Akashi, tilting the smaller male’s chin slightly up in his face’s direction. “Let me eat the little appetizer I couldn’t have earlier.”

 

Immediately after he finished his sentence, the redhead lunged his face forward and kissed Kuroko before he had time to react. He had absolutely no way of escape, seeing as behind him was the frame of the door and his hands were too busy holding into the plates to be able to push him away.

 

“…!” Aomine simply screamed inwardly at the scene happening before his eyes. Forget ‘threatening’ Akashi with the prospect of Kagami ‘stealing’ Kuroko away from him so they could have proofs about his feelings for the bluenette. Akashi just gave him a front-row seat to the weirdest setting of romantic mood he has ever been witness to. The redhead was proving to be worse than Takao Kazunari was on public displays of affection… and that was saying a lot since Takao had no qualms on teasing Midorima in the most unexpected of ways.

 

“Okay, appetizer is done. Let’s move on to dessert,” teased Akashi, licking lightly his lips after having broken the kiss. He took the plates out of the other male’s hands and picked the dumbstruck bluenette up, putting him once again on top of his shoulder. “Since you seem to be back to your ‘lively’ self, I take it that you won’t mind if I eat a little bit more, right?”

 

“I-I-I’m not food!” yelped the flustered smaller male, who came out of his flabbergasted self when the redhead started to walk back to the table while carrying him. “A-And put me down! I changed my mind. Go get another dessert. Akashi-kun, are you hearing me? Release me!”

 

“I’m a lion, right? Lions are opportunists and I’m not about to let my prey escape any longer,” continued teasing Akashi, putting the plates back on the table. He then eyed Aomine intently, a triumphant look on his face. “Daiki, do me the favor of putting these on the kitchen. I’ll take care of them later.”

 

“Ah… sure…” hesitantly answered the tanned male as he observed the wiggling body of the bluenette as he tried to break free from the redhead’s hold on him.

 

“Akashi-kun, opportunism has nothing to do with this. Now put me down! Are you hearing me?” pleaded once again Kuroko. When he got no answer from the taller male other than the slight adjust he made on his body so he could be more comfortable on top of his shoulder, Kuroko let his head slump down as he got aware that whatever he would say, it would be meaningless. That was the type of person Akashi was, after all.

 

Kuroko turned his gaze to Aomine as Akashi started to walk in the door’s direction to go to the second floor, begging for help with his eyes. Aomine could see right away that the smaller male was trying to request his aid, but truth to be told… this was way to amusing for him to interfere.

 

_Kuroko, you need to understand something. Whatever it is that Akashi wants, he will get it. No matter what it is. You see, it’s not just because of his ability that he is called the ‘Emperor Eye’._

 

The tanned male observed with half amusement, half pity as Akashi crossed the door while carrying the demoralized bluenette on top of his shoulder. He could only hope that Kuroko lasted long enough to tomorrow go have dinner at Kagami’s apartment.

 

“Huh? Now that I think about it, don’t lions go for the neck of their prey first when hunting?” mumbled Aomine as he slowly got up from the chair and motioned over to the other side of the table, where Akashi had left the used plates. A smirk erupted in his mind as the lyrics of a song suddenly popped up in his head. “Baby, I’m preying on you tonight~ Hunt you down, eat you alive~ Just like animals~”

 

He continued whistling the song as he walked over to the kitchen while carrying the plates. Somehow, that song really seemed to suit the current “love-hate relationship” between Akashi and Kuroko.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Start it right away" by Hyadain.
> 
> And the public displays of affection begin XD Ahahaha, I'm probably having way too much fun while writing but I just can't not put Akashi teasing Kuroko in some kind of way. It's too amusing to overrule. But damn, Akashi sure has put both Midorima and Aomine completely "shocked" with his flirting and innuendo.
> 
> Oh, and yes. Since I said in the notes up there that this chapter ends in a cliffhanger... there will be some sort of continuation in the next one of what our AkaKuro lovebirds are doing~ Everyone who is anxious to read the continuation, raise your hand in the air!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	66. If this is what you want, go on and bare your fangs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> It's coming a little bit early, since tomorrow I have to wake up early to go solve some stuff in the capital (which means 2h30 of public transportation awaits me. Oh the horror...!) and as such I need to sleep well to face it like any person would.
> 
> Oh and warning: NOSEBLEED ALERT (tissues are recommended to have at hand) - read at your own caution!  
> [Sorry, I always wanted to say this. I got a little bit excited in this warning -.-']
> 
> Well, enjoy~

“Akashi-kun, you definitely need to lose the habit of carrying me like a sack of potatoes,” pouted Kuroko, feeling extremely tired for some reason. It was probably because dealing with Akashi’s illogical actions was sometimes the most vexing part of his new daily routine – mainly due to the fact that he still hadn’t found a countermeasure for it.

 

“Hm? But it’s quite entertaining, isn’t it?” teased Akashi, opening the door to the bluenette’s bedroom and stepping inside. “Especially the fact that I can carry you like this so easily.”

 

“It may be entertaining for you, but it isn’t for me in the least,” continued pouting Kuroko, rolling his eyes slightly. “Now put me down. The daifuku is over t— Uff!”

 

Kuroko’s body was suddenly dropped on top of the bed, the soft mattress cutting off the momentum of the fall. When he looked up in the redhead’s direction and saw him quickly lunging in forward towards him, the bluenette quickly closed his eyes, already expecting what would be Akashi’s next action, based on the words he told him downstairs.

 

However, all Kuroko felt was a quick and chaste peck on his lips. Then another. And another. Akashi continuously gave him small pecks, sometimes switching to short licks and soft nibbles to his thin lips. It almost seemed as if he was asking him for permission before going straight to the kill.

 

Quite hesitantly, the bluenette opened slightly one of his teal eyes and peeked over to the taller male, who simply hovered over him with a somewhat predatory glint in his heterochromatic eyes. Just like lions did, he was closely observing his prey, taking in all the information about it as he waited for the perfect opportunity to strike.

 

But… why was it that a small part of him wanted that Akashi would just hurry up and kiss him like he usually did? Weird… He was really becoming “weird” too. Just as much as the redhead was… if not even more.

 

Observing intently as the smaller male peeked at him with a certain suspicion, Akashi gave him another quick peck, licking slowly the bottom lip of the bluenette afterwards. All he needed was the slightest of opportunities, the smallest of reactions, and then he could finally enjoy his “dessert”. The redhead really had to congratulate himself – Kuroko almost seemed to be constantly testing him in terms of patience and restraint. He luckily has been able to endure it up until now and, well, it was entertaining on its own most of times, but even so… It was extremely vexing.

 

So this time it was the taller male’s turn to test the bluenette. He wondered how long it would take to crack the wall that Kuroko always imposed on others and make him melt with pleasure once again due to his kisses and touch. Akashi would not use the smaller male’s weak point against him, though. He wanted to see how he surrendered himself to him once again by his own choice, not because he made him do so by using cleverly his weakness.

 

Once again, Akashi gave a few quick pecks on the other male’s lips, enjoying the fact that even though he was gradually closing their distance, the bluenette was not taking any measures to get away from him. He lunged forward once again and nibbled on his bottom lip, pulling softly the sensitive flesh with his teeth.

 

“Ngh…” Kuroko shivered from head to toes, closing his open eye once again so he could prevent a gasp from exiting his mouth while Akashi continued his ministrations on him. There it was again. That extreme urge that sometimes fuelled his whole body while he was together with the redhead and made him want to just forget about his whole enmity towards him and give in to what he wanted out of him. Because, in the end, he wanted it just as much as the redhead did (though he had absolutely no idea why).

 

 _Ah… Geez, forget it,_ thought Kuroko in the back of his mind. Slowly, the bluenette hesitantly opened his mouth only the slightest, finally granting the taller male access to what he was searching for.

 

Akashi didn’t need to think twice about it. His golden eye flickering briefly, he immediately lunged forward and went for what he wanted. Kissing the bluenette hungrily this time, the taller male fully joined their bodies, relishing greatly on the fact that Kuroko, by his own initiative, decided to put his arms around his neck to pull him even closer.

 

A smirk tugging slightly his lips up while he kissed Kuroko, Akashi somehow had a feeling that things would not go all that well once again and was already starting to anticipate some sort of interruption. So he may have given a quick glance to the door of the bedroom and commanded in the back of his mind for the door to lock. Yes, he just _may_ have done that.

 

Focusing once again fully on the smaller male, now with that worry sent flying by the means of his ability, the redhead circled Kuroko’s waist with his arms, tugging him up slightly to put them both in a more comfortable position and enable him better access to the other male’s whole body. Kissing him with extreme want and desire, Akashi got the inkling that Kuroko was once again beginning to lose himself to his ministrations, the way he was responding to his kisses and forgetting completely that he was actually holding into him more strongly than Akashi himself was.

 

“Ngh… Aka…shi-kun…” mumbled the bluenette in between kisses, running softly his fingers through the red locks of the other male. For some reason, it was satisfying to kiss Akashi. Extremely so. Then again, why wasn’t he feeling 100% satisfied at the moment? There was something missing there, and it was most certainly not in the kissing department.

 

Smirking slightly as he continued to savor the smaller male, Akashi could feel a slight frustration on him. And he knew exactly why. He was doing it on purpose, after all. Kuroko may not have noticed and was probably thinking that he was kissing him like usual, if he could really call it such, but there was a little detail about it that was different: he wasn’t touching him directly. Up until then, every time the redhead had kissed the bluenette, he was touching his skin directly in any form, be it cupping his face or teasing his neck. Whereas right now, he was only circling his waist with his arms while holding into him and it was being done on top of his clothes. Akashi found himself wondering when would Kuroko notice that.

 

Panting slightly, the bluenette briefly broke the kiss and peered at the heterochromatic eyes that stared right back at him, the “I-will-hunt-you-down-because-you-are-my-prey” glint still present in them. Akashi most likely was or would tease him in any way soon enough. For his own safety, he should probably close this whole “exchange” right here.

 

“D-Daifuku…” started Kuroko, giving quick huffs for air to restore the oxygen on his system that was lost after the strain of continuously kissing.

 

“Hm?” hummed right away the redhead, closing once again the distance between their lips as he peered intently at the teal eyes in front of him.

 

“Aren’t you going to eat it?” asked hesitantly the smaller male, his cheeks painted with a lovely shade of pink. He probably should have said that with more conviction, or Akashi would think he was searching for some sort of escape or excuse to stop. It wasn’t that he wanted to stop per se but… dangerous. The fact that he was starting to enjoy kissing Akashi this much was making it extremely dangerous for the bluenette himself.

 

“I think I’m more satisfied by this type of dessert,” answered slyly the redhead, motioning his face slightly down and giving a long and slow lick to the length of the other male’s neck, fully relishing on the shiver that it brought out of him.

 

“If you’re satisfied… then stop already,” gasped Kuroko, pulling his arms out of around the taller male’s neck. “I have things I want to do.”

 

“I’ll help you doing them, so leave it for later,” added Akashi, motioning the arms around the other male’s waist slightly down while he brushed softly the tip of his nose on his neck.

 

“I don’t think reading is something you can help me with,” pointed out the bluenette, a half deadpan, half flushed expression on his face. He motioned his hands fully down and tugged at the redhead’s sleeves, seeing as Akashi’s arms were still around his waist. “If you don’t want to eat the daifuku, then you can go back to do your own things. I’m sure you should be quite busy, Student Council President-sama.”

 

“Hm… I should, shouldn’t I? However, what a pity. I’ve already completed all the work I need to do today,” answered the taller male in a teasing tone. He pulled the bluenette once again towards his body and gave a quick peck on his lips. “So I have the rest of the day completely free.”

 

“Then use it for something productive,” added Kuroko, darting his eyes between looking down to his waist and to the heterochromatic eyes of the redhead. He had a feeling that the slight roaming around of the other male’s hands on his waist was not going to be good news.

 

“Who said that spending time with you isn’t being productive?” asked Akashi, tilting slightly his head while he peered intently at the smaller male, a soft smirk painted in his features. “It may not be the type of productivity that is related to my functions as a ‘Miracle’ or the Student Council, but it is to my own persona. And it’s extremely satisfying… in a way that daifuku could never be.”

 

“Ngh…” Kuroko shivered for the umpteenth time as he felt the redhead’s hands still slowly roaming around his waist. He may not be touching him directly, but the bluenette could feel the warmth eradiating from his skin to his body. It was pleasant, soothing… but at the same time, it was sending his heart into disarray and muddling his mind. He already couldn’t make heads or tails of Akashi, and that was apparently contaminating him in a way where he was starting to not understand even himself.

 

“So let’s be fair in this, okay? Seeing as you have partially satisfied me, I will do the same to you,” added the taller male, the smirk on his face widening considerably.

 

Before Kuroko could question him on what he was talking about, Akashi tugged the hem of his shirt slightly up and put his warm hands inside, touching the bluenette’s skin directly. Kuroko could only yelp in surprise at the sudden action, the prickling sensation readily invading his whole body even further.

 

“A-Akashi-kun, wait…!” protested the smaller male, motioning one of his hands to his clothes, to once again pull them down, while the other gripped into one of the redhead’s arms, so he could move it away from his body. “W-What do you think you’re doing!?”

 

“Like I said, I’m satisfying you,” pressed forward the redhead, gently stroking the sides of the bluenette’s waist, feeling directly with his fingers his warm and velvety skin.

 

“Ngh…! Ahh— Let g-go…” Trembling at the sensation of having his skin touched by such feverish fingers, Kuroko felt his heart go for one more loop at the speed of light and his head was becoming a mushy mess. He weakly fought against the hands trailing his body, but the biggest fight was going on inside of him. He really wanted the redhead to let go of him while _really_ wanting to continue to be touched by him. Apparently, his inner contradictions were also becoming more accentuated from day to day. “Aka— Ahh! Akashi-kun, please t-take them out…!”

 

“Rejected,” answered Akashi, observing intently the bluenette as he pleaded him to stop while displaying a begging-for-more expression on his face. His watery teal eyes, the bright red blush on his cheeks, his ragged panting… The way Kuroko looked right now could only be considered criminal and it was only spurring him on even further.

 

Akashi lunged forward one more time and kissed him greedily, swallowing in the process the half-moans and gasps that escaped the smaller male’s throat. The prickling sensation on his body only got stronger by doing so, but he could care less about that at the moment. His head was filled with thoughts of wanting to caress that smooth and unblemished burning skin, desiring to discover and memorize every nook and cranny of it with his fingertips, with his hands, with his mouth and tongue, bite into it and leave a mark where nobody else has touched before and never will be in the future by anyone except him.

 

It probably wasn’t a very good sign that he was going after the bluenette in such a possessive and predatory way, but he just couldn’t help himself. Akashi deeply desired and lusted after Kuroko in a way that was everything but healthy to any of them. Did that made him weird? Yes, probably. But he didn’t really mind as long as his weirdness was being caused by his fascination and love for him. It simply didn’t matter at all.

 

“Ngh… Haa… Aka— Take them—“ tried asking once again the smaller male in between hungry kisses, shivering madly as he felt the redhead slide his hands further north through his torso, pulling his clothes up even further while doing so. The cold air that touched him only made him notice how hot his skin was at the moment.

 

“Tetsuya,” whispered softly Akashi, breaking the kiss to lower his head down and lick the length of the bluenette’s neck, leaving one more hickey in its base, near his collarbone. He greatly relished on the noteworthy shiver that this caused on the other male, but what was pleasing him more right now was the fact that Kuroko had fully given up on fighting against him, even though his words were still contradictory to his own actions. “Shall I give you more, Tetsuya?”

 

“No… more… Enough…” panted the bluenette, feeling completely drained at the moment. The mixture of the pickling sensation and the pleasure that the taller male’s kisses and touch provided him were running him completely dry of strength. He didn’t even have enough will in him to continue to fight back against his advances. When he felt Akashi once again start to move his hands around in his skin, it was the last drop. “I can’t… Akashi-kun… Too much…”

 

Feeling his vision blurring slightly, his head started to empty out completely and all the muscles in his body gave in. He let his body fully slump down and softly closed his eyes, letting his head crash against the redhead’s chest. The last thing that Kuroko thought of was that he would later hide the daifuku somewhere in Fuyu and force Akashi to search for it as a punishment.

 

“Tetsuya?” called softly Akashi, feeling the body of the bluenette suddenly go completely limp. He removed his hands from inside of his shirt and pulled with caution his face up to look at it. He released a small sigh and straightened the body of the unconscious male on his arms. “It seems that we also have to work around this little predisposition of yours. I can’t exactly let you pass out every time I touch you, after all.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "The Other self" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> How curious... They both feel vexed about each other for the exact same reasons... Anyway, kyaaa! Will you look at that? Kuroko actually passed out because of Akashi XD Now Akashi knows that Kuroko does not only require training on his ability, but also on their little naughty time together~ Better start working on it now, Akashi, or you will continue to feel frustrated for the rest of your life, ahahaha! (I can only wish you good luck, Kuroko - do your best on trying to tame your devilish angel before he eats you all up, because he's trying to do the same thing to you but for the opposite reason XD)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	67. The red pulse is rushing through and I can hear you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> I've been staying at home for three whole days now due to the freaking weather! I wanted to go so desperately to the ice skating rink they set up in my town, but the cold and the wind have been stopping me... Please pray with me for good weather before the end of this month (they will close down the rink on January 1st).
> 
> But well, we've been in a wave of fluffy/smutty chapters, haven't we? Well, enjoy them while they continue :D (and yes, that means angst is approaching once again - it wouldn't be one of my fics otherwise)

_Ah… It’s warm. So, so warm…_ Kuroko was feeling an extremely soothing and pleasant warmth spread through his whole body. It wasn’t the same hot and burning sensation that evaded his body earlier when he was being kissed and touched by Akashi. It was similar, yes, but this particular warmth felt somewhat… different? Weird? No, it simply felt _special_.

 

It made him want to stay asleep forever, even though he hated so much to do so since he knew what it could bring forward. It made him feel extremely tranquil and relaxed, even though he had no reason to feel as such since he had been caught by the “Miracles” almost a month ago.

 

However, if he was already able to think like that, then that meant he was about to wake up. He didn’t want to, though. He wanted to continue basking in this warmth, snuggle in it and just let himself be surrounded by it. He didn’t even mind being fully consumed by it, as long as it would remain with him and continue to thaw his frozen heart and soul. Maybe this warmth would be the one to finally enable him to be in the receiving end of the nothingness. The warmth could just melt him completely and allow him to quietly disappear, leaving no traces of him behind except all the wrong he had done to the world.

 

Maybe he could achieve _forgiveness_ that way.

 

“Nnn…” Rubbing his head slightly against the warm thing where it had been leaned on, Kuroko softly opened a little bit his eyes, peering to his surroundings in his still half-asleep self. He saw the furniture of his bedroom in Fuyu and the light in it seemed artificial so the sun was probably setting or it was nighttime already and the lights had been turned on. Which was weird since he didn’t remember turning the lights on at all.

 

“Good morning,” greeted a voice near his ear. The bluenette quickly fully woke up and took in his surroundings completely. He was on top of his bed, once again using Akashi as a pillow while he sat between his legs, his back leaning in the redhead’s chest. The redhead didn’t seem to be bothered by this position at all, seeing as he was leisurely reading a book while he ate the daifuku… and just nonchalantly hugged him from behind. “Well, it’s almost dinner time, so I should probably say ‘good evening’.”

 

“A-A-Akashi-kun…” stuttered Kuroko when he looked up in the taller male’s direction. His face was immediately covered with a deep red blush as he recalled why he fell asleep in the first place. No, it wasn’t 'falling asleep'. It was pure and plain 'fainting'. Passing out due to overdose of pleasure. The bluenette almost instantaneously tried to get up and move away from Akashi, but a hand readily bumped on his chest and pushed him back to the sitting position. “P-Please release me, Akashi-kun!”

 

“Just stay where you are,” answered Akashi, motioning his hand down to once again circle the smaller male’s waist. He put his book on the bed with the pages down to mark the place where he was and picked a daifuku from the package with his now free hand, moving it afterwards in the bluenette’s mouth's direction. “You’ve been in this position since you passed out. A few more minutes won’t hurt, right? Here, eat a daifuku to restore your sugar levels.”

 

“…” Kuroko averted the taller male’s gaze and looked down at his legs, slowly motioning his hand up to receive the daifuku. There it went his plan on ‘punishing’ the redhead by hiding the daifuku down the drain. “…Thank you.”

 

“Why are you thanking me? I was the one who made you pass out in the first place,” pointed out Akashi, chuckling softly when he saw the smaller male’s ears grow a shade darker in terms of redness due to his words. Though he couldn’t see his face from that angle, he could imagine that it must be housing a similar color all over his cheeks. He lifted slightly his head and looked outside through the window. Dinner was indeed getting nearer and if they weren’t downstairs in the dining room by then, someone would come to call for them. But well, they still had a few more minutes, so waste not, waste not. “Are you feeling okay?”

 

“Y-Yes, you don’t need to worry,” mumbled the bluenette, still doing his best to avert the other male’s gaze. He may have his back turned to him, but he still could feel the redhead’s stare directed at him. And that felt absurdly embarrassing since their last moment together ended up with him passing out in such way. To distract himself he started munching on the daifuku.

 

“I probably pushed you too hard. I’ll be more careful next time,” apologized Akashi. Though he was being honest at the moment, he couldn’t help the slight smirk that appeared in his features at his own words.

 

“T-There won’t be a ‘next time’,” embarrassingly admonished Kuroko, trying to awkwardly shift his body away from the redhead. The warm sensation he had been feeling while he was unconscious was turning out to be Akashi’s body warmth. It somehow felt weird how he could have thought like that about it, even if he was in a pretty much ‘sleeping state’. _He_  felt weird about it.

 

“Tetsuya, you say the same thing every time. But you always end up giving in,” added Akashi, chuckling softly. A pouting bluenette was cute, even if he couldn’t see his face.

 

“It’s your fault that I can’t help it!” ended up blurting Kuroko, motioning his hand up to shyly hide his face, even though he knew that the taller male couldn’t see it from that angle. And why was he being honest about it? He should just continue admonishing the redhead and make him see that what he was doing wasn’t something he should do. At least, not to him.

 

Akashi immediately felt his heart skip a few beats due to the unplanned words of the smaller male. He was expecting to hear another rebuke to his words, not that type of answer. A pouting Kuroko was cute, but a suddenly honest Kuroko was plainly bad for his health. He wouldn’t be able to rein himself in and would wind up pushing the bluenette back to the bed, devouring him whole in the process.

 

The redhead slowly lifted the arm that was circling Kuroko’s waist and tilted the other male’s face upwards in his direction, so he could look at him. “Then, can I take that as you affirming that you enjoy it when I kiss and touch you? That you like when I do so?”

 

“Eh?” interjected the smaller male, not understanding what the other male was saying while staring deeply into his teal eyes. The sudden serious demeanor that took form in the redhead’s face was frighteningly penetrative and unsettling. It somehow tugged at something inside of him and he almost could have sworn he felt one more drop falling to the barely empty glass inside of him. “No… I… It’s not that I…”

 

The way the bluenette’s eyes danced around everywhere except to his heterochromatic ones was a clear proof that Akashi had put him once again at a loss of what do say or do. So cute. Plainly adorable. Akashi shifted slightly his hand and cupped Kuroko’s pinkish face, slowly pulling it to his encounter. He closed his eyes and softly kissed the bluenette, finding funny how the other male’s whole body suddenly tensed up because of it, only to later on relax once again. Causing such reactions on him was starting to take root in his daily necessities, but it wasn’t something he was really that refusing to do since it was quite entertaining.

 

“Tetsuya…” softly whispered Akashi against the smaller male’s lips, motioning forward one more time to continue the kiss, this time with more longing but just as gently and sweetly as before. He slowly let the hand that was cupping the bluenette’s face down and slid it through his chest, only stopping when he put his arm in the same position as when he was circling his waist.

 

“Mmn,” whimpered softly Kuroko, a small shiver accompanying the motion of the taller male’s hand against his body. Sweet... Right now, the redhead’s kiss tasted extremely sweet to him. It probably had something to do with the fact that he had been eating daifuku before and that was making him somewhat hungry for more. For more of the sweetness… and for more of Akashi.

 

He was about to motion his hand towards the taller male’s when he heard something growling. To be more precise, he heard _and_ felt his stomach growling, warning him audibly that maybe it wasn’t just his head that was earning for more kisses – his body also earned for some sustenance in the format of nutrients.

 

The kiss was readily interrupted and, even with their faces extremely close to each other, the redhead stared with a certain curiosity to his teal eyes, a pink blush getting more accentuated in his pale features.

 

“Pffft… Aha… Ahahaha,” started laughing Akashi, first very lightly but steadily growing as he observed the blush in the other male’s cheeks darkening.

 

“I-It’s not funny…” mumbled the bluenette, sulking at the fact that he was being used as a laughingstock right now. And by the heterochromatic redhead – the usually stone-faced, permanently serious and more-often-than-not mischievous dictator – of all people.

 

“I’m sorry, Tetsuya. Did I make you hungry?” teased Akashi, a smirk surfacing in his features as he tried to settle down his laughing. How amusing. How adorable.

 

“You’ve eaten more than half of the daifuku. I only ate one. And it’s almost dinner time,” deadpanned Kuroko, a soft blush still present in his cheeks as he tried to talk himself out of this embarrassing situation.

 

“If you want to think of it that way, go ahead,” teased the redhead, lowering his head slightly to lean his chin in the smaller male’s shoulder. He softly closed his eyes and simply relished on the warm male in his arms.

 

“Um… Akashi-kun?” hesitantly called Kuroko, looking once again to what was in front of him. He lowered slightly his head, trying not to focus on the hugging male behind him or on the warmth that was still slowly infiltrating inside of his body. “Can you please let go now?”

 

“What will you give me in exchange?” asked teasingly the redhead, also wrapping his other arm around the smaller male’s waist.

 

“I’ve already given you the daifuku. And yes, they may be partially yours too, but you ate more than half of them. Which means, you ate from my portion too,” explained Kuroko, interrupting the taller male before he could have the chance to use that argument against him.

 

“Well, I had to entertain my mouth while you were sleeping so it can’t be helped,” added Akashi, giving a slight sigh to fake that he felt troubled by such. He did felt troubled by it, but not as much as he was making it seem – he knew pretty well now that Kuroko would not be able to resist him if he wanted to kiss him again.

 

The redhead chuckled softly when he saw sideway the cheeks of the bluenette inflaming with different shades of red once again. He gave another quick look to the window, and then to the door of Kuroko’s bedroom. He sighed once again, this time for a different reason. Why was it that the time spent with Kuroko went by so quickly? It was truly a pity that his ability didn’t enable him to control time too. It would be quite handy, but he probably wouldn’t be able to use it when with him because of his ability.

 

Not having any other choice, Akashi slowly started to lessen his hold on the bluenette’s waist and then fully released it. Kuroko readily took that opportunity and got out of the other male’s embrace, jumping almost instantaneously out of the bed. The redhead followed his steps and got up from the bed, starting to motion in the other male’s direction, though.

 

Akashi lowered his head slightly and gave a quick peck to the bluenette’s cheek, starting to walk once again, this time in the desk’s direction.

 

“Y… You’re turning out to be a kissaholic, Akashi-kun,” awkwardly deadpanned Kuroko in order to hide his embarrassment, clutching tightly the place where he had been kissed with his hand. His cheek was pulsating with a weird sensation of hotness where the other male’s lips had touched him.

 

“I just can’t help myself when I have this sweet, delicious-looking little thing in front of me,” teased Akashi, picking his phone from on top of the desk and checking the hours. It was indeed already dinner time.

 

“Then would you kiss anyone that you consider a ‘sweet, delicious-looking little thing’?” asked Kuroko, rolling slightly his eyes. He may be smaller in height compared to all five ‘Miracles’, but he didn’t considered himself ‘little’. Actually, he quite disliked it when people pointed that out on his face.

 

Akashi put his phone on his pants’ pocket and turned his head slightly in the other male’s direction, a knowing smirk painted in his features. “Well, I wonder.”

 

“…” The bluenette immediately frowned at the taller male’s answer. For some reason, it had deeply irked him, in a way where he had never felt before. Then again, why should he feel bothered or irked by him? Akashi was free to kiss whoever he wanted to. Just because lately he has been kissing him, that didn’t meant he would not do it with others. Well, he didn’t really think that the redhead would just randomly kiss others whenever he felt like it. However, Akashi was probably kissing him as some sort of manipulation, since, apparently, he was very susceptible to pleasure.

 

Kuroko inwardly clicked his tongue and turned around on his heels, walking with quick steps to the door. He could feel the taller male closely observing him and that only made him walk the fastest. When he reached the door, he lunged his hand forward and pulled the knob, in order to open the door. However… it refused to open. An eyebrow slightly lifted, he tried to turn the knob once again but it didn’t move an inch.

 

“You won’t be able to open it that way,” spoke suddenly the redhead, slowly walking over in the smaller male’s direction. “I locked the door.”

 

“Why? …Wait, this door can be locked?” asked Kuroko, looking to the other male. He didn’t saw any way of locking the door before; it was a simple door, with a knob and no hole where a key could be put or any other mechanism that could be used to achieve the same result. It probably had been made that way on purpose, since it wouldn’t be productive to the ‘Miracles’ if he suddenly decided to close himself in his bedroom, and Murasakibara could easily put another barrier there if they wanted to restrict him from leaving.

 

“Through the means of my ability, any door can be locked,” explained Akashi, eyeing briefly the door and then motioning his hand forward to turn the knob. The door opened like it never had been locked before. “And I didn’t want anyone bothering us. You were sleeping, so I just put it that way.”

 

Actually, he commanded the door to be locked before that, but sometimes ignorance was a blessing. Kuroko didn’t need to know that it was made to prevent anyone from once again disturbing them when they were kissing. Though he could imagine the lovingly red blush that would appear in the bluenette’s face if he said that out loud.

 

 _I would have actually appreciated it if someone had come in and woke me up earlier,_ mumbled inwardly Kuroko as he stepped out of his bedroom while rolling slightly his eyes.

 

Outside in the corridor was a delicious smell of grilled fish coming from the kitchen downstairs. Kuroko immediately felt his stomach grumbling a little bit more, but this time it was made silently and only he noticed (or so he hoped). Both the redhead and the bluenette went down the stairs and stepped inside of the dining room, where Midorima was setting the last bits of the table.

 

“Dinner is ready, I take it?” asked Akashi to the green haired male, walking over to the almost set table.

 

“Ah… Yes, Murasakibara is almost finishing it,” answered Midorima, adjusting his glasses while averting the redhead’s gaze on him. Somehow, he was feeling extremely awkward to be in the presence of both the Head of the ‘Miracles’ and the small bluenette. And the reason was the fact that Akashi had kissed Kuroko without a drop of shame in front of Aomine, to which he also got a free seat to since he was beginning to motion outside of the kitchen at that moment.

 

“Do you know what the food is?” inquired Akashi once again, observing both Midorima setting the last plate on the table and Kuroko silently motioning to the seat he had used that morning. He nonchalantly started walking in the bluenette’s direction.

 

“I only know he was grilling mackerel earlier. Oh and he made some sort of dessert once again. While humming a song, may I add,” explained Midorima, motioning over to the seat he had chosen due to his zodiac sign – the 7th seat to the right counting from the seat that Akashi had chosen as his own.

 

“I see,” acknowledged the redhead, stopping beside Kuroko and grabbing him by the waist, pulling him over once again to the seat beside his. The bluenette fought back a bit but quickly quieted down when he realized that Akashi would probably do worse if he didn’t get what he was after. “Aren’t you happy that you will have dessert once again, Tetsuya?”

 

“Ugh…” softly grunted Kuroko, simply letting himself be lead by the taller male to the seat he had used during lunch time. “Can’t I just use the seat I used during breakfast?”

 

“No,” answered right away Akashi, motioning the chair backwards to have the bluenette sit there.

 

“But there’s—“

 

“Sit,” interrupted Akashi, pointing with his finger to the chair. The smaller male eyed him closely for a few seconds and then unwillingly sat in the chair, crossing his arms over his chest. Satisfied with that outcome, he motioned over to the seat beside the other male and sat there.

 

Midorima closely observed this exchange, only averting his gaze when the redhead suddenly looked over in his direction. Akashi probably was only doing it to be safe and avoid unnecessary trouble, but couldn’t he have left them out of Fuyu? From what he knew and from what Aomine had told him about yesterday, it would only be necessary to have Akashi guarding Kuroko. Though he appreciated the opportunity of interacting with the bluenette, since it could give him a chance of changing his mind on what they talked about earlier, he really wondered if they were needed there at all, seeing as it was only those two flirting with each other almost 24/7.

 

Sighing softly, the green haired male took his phone out of his pocket and started writing a text. Since Takao was so damn stubborn, he needed to certify himself that the raiven haired male would take his medicine like he had been told. He was an idiot by nature (more like, tried to act like one, actually), so if he told him that he would reward him with something, Takao would probably do as he was told.

 

After a few minutes, both Aomine, yawning like a big wolf, and Murasakibara, carrying a few dishes in a tray, entered in the dining room, each one coming from different divisions. The tanned male only quietly sat down at the table and waited for his food to be served.

 

“Kise-chin isn’t here?” asked Murasakibara, putting down the tray on the table.

 

“I had him run a few errands. You don’t need to bother with his food during this upcoming week,” answered Akashi, looking sideways to the purple haired giant.

 

 _He totally got in trouble with Akashi/Aka-chin,_ inwardly mumbled Midorima and Murasakibara, observing the slightly annoyance displayed in the redhead’s face at the mention of the blonde and Aomine’s masked snickering.

 

“Well, I’ll eat his portion then,” acknowledged the purple haired giant, starting to distribute Akashi’s share of the dinner. “Today it’s Saba Shioyaki (grilled mackerel), with Sunomono (cucumber salad), Miso Soup and brown rice as side dishes. There’s also Raspberry Cheese Mont Blanc Shortcake.”

 

“Thank you,” nodded the redhead after Murasakibara had finished both arranging his dishes in front of him and explaining what their dinner was going to be. A quick chuckle exited his throat when he looked over to the bluenette and saw him almost salivating at the thought of the dessert.

 

Murasakibara quickly finished distributing the plates to the other “Users” and then motioned over to his own seat, anxious to eat his food. All of them ate in silence. It wasn’t an awkward silence, but they didn’t have exactly anything to talk about with each other. So they just remained that way, seeing as they felt more comfortable while doing so.

 

“By the way, Aka-chin…” started suddenly the purple haired male, lowering his chopsticks to one of the small plates to pick a slice of cucumber. “Could you two refrain from doing that while inside the barrier? It’s not that I have a problem with it, but it’s weird to feel you and Kuro-chin going at it.”

 

“Ack…!” As soon as Murasakibara dropped those words, Kuroko chocked in the bit of rice that he put in his mouth with the chopsticks. Coughing abruptly to help the food go down the correct way, he simply lowered his head and put his elbow on top of the table’s surface, hiding his face with his hand as he tried to breathe normally once again.

 

Midorima paused the chopsticks he was motioning to his mouth and dropped the bit of fish he was going to eat. Aomine also stopped eating and looked over to the redhead and bluenette, an eyebrow slightly perked up. Murasakibara continued to peer to the two smaller males, munching on the food.

 

The only one who remained completely the same was the recipient to the question, Akashi Seijuurou, who just continued to leisurely slurp the Miso Soup, as if the conversation had nothing to do with him or, at least, it wasn’t that particular subject.

 

“You know very well that I can somewhat sense what others are feeling when they are inside of my barrier, so it’s sort of awkward to sense you two that way,” continued the purple haired male, completely clueless of how much the small bluenette was cringing and admonishing himself in his mind. However, he truly felt awkward – or better yet, jealous – about the whole situation. While Akashi and Kuroko could easily solve their sexual frustration, he could not. “Well, if you intend to continue it, I will eventually get used to it. Though what’s weird will always be weird.”

 

“Then please do so, Atsushi,” confirmed Akashi, lowering his bowl with Miso Soup and motioning his chopsticks to pick a small piece of mackerel. “I have absolutely no intention of stopping.”

 

“Ugh…” Kuroko suddenly lowered his head completely and heavily bumped his face against the table, missing the plates in front of him by a few inches. The only reason why he hadn’t used his ability to erase his presence was because of the barrier around the house… and the only reason why he hadn’t run off of the room was because of the delicious dessert that awaited him after the dinner.

 

He really wanted to taste that type of shortcake, one that he had never tried before. However, Akashi’s words had completely KO’ed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> Kuroko, my sweet baby, that's not feeling irked - it's called jealousy and possessiveness. These two dorks will give me an early permanent visit to my grave, the way this is going. Sugar can kill too if taken in excessive quantities on a weekly basis!
> 
> But yeah, Murasakibara continues embarrassing the shit out of Kuroko with his words and, once again, Akashi dealt the last strike to finish him off XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	68. On nights where I'm tormented by loneliness, I grow tired of waiting for the light of tomorrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> I don't have much to say about this chapter... Just... God, prepare a box of tissues before you read it... And no, it's not for smut, unfortunately... I swear, this chapter was the ultimate masochism on my side :(
> 
> Well, enjoy!

“Do you always need to be so blunt?” sighed Kuroko, motioning up the stairs. He may have slept for a few hours after having passed out, but he was feeling as tired as he would have been if he was awake for days now. He wouldn’t call it tiring, but it was somewhat draining having to deal with the constant bluntness and teasing of the redhead. It seemed that his first priority right now, if he wanted to not die due to embarrassment, was going to be to control those two traits of Akashi. “Why did you even have to put it that way?”

 

“Would you have preferred if I had lied?” asked Akashi, climbing the stairs right behind the smaller male. He hadn’t done it on purpose, but apparently his honest words back then during dinner had half-killed the bluenette with embarrassment, the way he slammed his face against the table and afterwards avoided making eye contact with him during the rest of the meal.

 

“Yes! I mean, no!” Kuroko sighed covertly as he climbed the last step of the stairs and turned around to his bedroom. “I’m not asking you to lie, I’m asking you to measure your own words before speaking. Telling Murasakibara-kun to get used to it is…”

 

“As long as we are inside of his barrier, he will always know what we’re doing or feeling. Isn’t it easier for Atsushi if he gets used to it now? After all, soon enough you’ll get used to m—“

 

“I don’t want to get used to you touching me,” interrupted Kuroko, turning around to look to the redhead directly, a heavy red blush covering his features. “And I don’t want Murasakibara-kun getting used to it either.”

 

“Then what do you suggest we should do?” asked Akashi, a small smirk appearing in his features.

 

“ _We_ won’t be doing _anything_ ,” deadpanned Kuroko, pressing down hard on those two words as he opened the door to his bedroom. “Now if you’ll excuse me, Akashi-kun, I want to finish preparing my things for tomorrow’s classes and then go to sleep. Good night.”

 

When the bluenette was starting to close the door, Akashi readily lunged his hand forward and gripped the side of the wooden surface, stopping its closing.

 

“Can we sleep together again?” asked innocently the taller male, tilting slightly his head as he stared intently to the other male.

 

“Akashi-kun, you have good memory, don’t you? Then remind me of what I told you last night and today about us sleeping together,” deadpanned once again Kuroko, sighing softly as he opened a little bit more the door to look at the redhead.

 

“In between other things, you said it would not happen again,” answered Akashi, a sort of dissatisfied look on his face. Maybe if he pressed the smaller male a little bit more, he would end up giving in once again.

 

“It’s not like I’m going to try to run away. I have no place to go, seeing as you have the keys to my apartment in Seirin. And other places are clearly not an option,” explained Kuroko. He gripped slightly his hand around the knob of the door and started to close it once again. “Now, please go do your own things.”

 

Akashi once again used his hand to stop the door from closing and opened it in a way that enabled him to see the bluenette fully. “You could go take refuge in your friend’s, Kagami Taiga’s apartment once again. He wouldn’t refuse you, would he?”

 

Though it had been him saying those words, Akashi immediately felt irked by even that being a possibility. And a very big one at that. With the clear opposing that Kagami felt towards Kuroko being with the “Miracles”, he would not look back on accepting to shelter him and probably would never let him return to their side.

 

_And that’s something that I will never allow!_

 

“Yes, Kagami-kun would help me. But I won’t do it. I don’t make the same mistakes twice, if I can avoid it,” counterattacked Kuroko. He still didn’t understand what Akashi’s problem with Kagami was, but it sure was getting ridiculous. He really had to wonder what exactly the taller redhead had done to the heterochromatic one to deserve such obvious dislike. From what he understood, they only met for the first time when he went to Kagami’s apartment almost one month ago. Did they have some sort of dispute in the two weeks where he had been in coma?

 

“It doesn’t matter. Even if you don’t plan on running away, I still want to stay. I would regret it if I missed more of your cute acts, after all,” added Akashi, releasing the side of the door and taking a step backwards to start walking forward inside of the room afterwards.

 

“Good night, Akashi-kun,” answered Kuroko, a completely blank expression in his face. Before the redhead could step inside of his bedroom, he quickly closed the door. It only had not hit him in the face because Akashi was quick enough to jump backwards to avoid it.

 

“Ah… Hey, Tetsuya!” Akashi was about to knock on the door when he heard to soft snickering of another male.

 

“Guys who are too clingy aren’t popular, Akashicchi~,” teased Kise, climbing the last step of the staircase and turning around to look at the redhead with a smirk painted on his face.

 

“Are you speaking from personal experience?” counterattacked Akashi, a glare immediately pointed in the blonde’s direction. It seemed that sending the blonde away to Aogashima for one week was not enough and he was in need for some even stricter discipline. “And what are you even doing here? Shouldn’t you have already caught a flight to Hachijojima?”

 

“How mean~! I was only giving you an advice!” complained Kise, pouting slightly at the smaller male’s words. “And there was no flight to Hachijojima today anymore. I’ll be taking an airplane in Haneda to that island tomorrow at noon.”

 

Still sulking, the blonde turned on his heels and started motioning over to his bedroom’s door, which was situated in the opposite direction of Kuroko’s and Akashi’s. He was about to lung his hand forward and open it but came to a sudden halt.

 

“Ah… I must hurry up and make him mine,” spoke Kise out of the blue, peering sideways to the redhead.

 

“…!” Akashi stopped staring to the bluenette’s bedroom’s door and immediately looked over to the taller male, a slight shadow of surprise plastered in his face.

 

“That’s how you’re thinking right now, isn’t it?” asked Kise, a small smirk twisting his lips upwards. However, that expression soon morphed into a soft and gentle smile and he down-casted slightly his look. “I don’t advise you on forcing a relationship between you and Kuroko-kun. Don’t fall in the same mistake of doing to him what I did to Kasamatsu-senpai.”

 

“…” The redhead looked intently at the other male, softening his expression a little bit as he observed the strained look on him. Watching Kise in this way made him remember that it wasn’t just him suffering due to the events of the ‘Bloody Night’. Maybe it wasn’t directly connected to it, but what happened that night was the last drop that made Kasamatsu Yukio’s ability be ‘stolen’ by Haizaki Shougo.

 

“Well, though I can’t say we had a truly ‘happy ending’, I did make Senpai fall in love with me in the end,” smiled brightly the blonde, almost illuminating the entire hallway with his shininess. However, he quickly returned to his serious demeanor and raised his hand, one of his fingers lifted in the air. “But! My and Kasamatsu-senpai’s circumstances were and are completely different from yours and Kuroko-kun’s. It’s all good to be persistent, but don’t take it too far, Akashicchi.”

 

“…” Akashi knew and understood what Kise was warning him about. He understood it oh so well. Whereas Kise and Kasamatsu’s relationship was pretty much based on the new ‘door’ that the older male opened to the blonde and the bond (more like outright clinginess) that it caused, he and Kuroko didn’t have that.

 

Though the bluenette surrendered himself to him most of times, Akashi couldn’t really say that there was a bond between them. The hatred Kuroko felt for him and the other “Miracles” was still present – he may not show it in such an upfront way as before, but he knew it was still there. He knew it because he had felt like that the first few months following the “Bloody Night”. He had somehow turned that hatred to comprehension and affection, but Kuroko hadn’t.

 

How to work around that particular problem was something that had filled his head while he was organizing his belongings in his bedroom.

 

Observing the redhead silently thinking about what he had said, Kise smirked slightly and then finally moved his hand forward to open his bedroom’s door. “But oh well, I’m just your regular next door idiot~ What exactly do I know to be talking like this?”

 

Akashi raised his eyes a little bit and saw as Kise waved his hand to him and motioned inside of the room, closing the door afterwards. He took a last sideway glance to the door of the bluenette’s bedroom and then released a sigh. Slowly, the redhead walked over to his bedroom and entered inside.

 

-.-

 

Kuroko closed his notebook and sighed in a satisfied way. He had completed everything he had to review and it wasn’t even midnight yet (though it was quite close). Giving a quick stretch to his back and arms, he let his teal eyes wander momentarily through his room, only to stop on the window. The curtains were open and from outside entered the shine of the moon. He focused his stare for a few brief seconds in the incomplete yellowish round satellite and then picked up the books he would need for tomorrow and put them inside of his bag.

 

“There will be a full moon in two more days…” muttered softly the bluenette as he got up from the desk and walked to the window, closing the curtains in a single motion. “I guess I should play safe for a while, then. I can’t count on getting a lot of sleep either.”

 

He went back to his desk and finished arranging his things inside of the bag. He wasn’t all that excited to go back to school – it was pretty tough to not be seen by almost anybody throughout the day, especially if it was in a place with a lot of people. However, it was better than staying closed inside of a room. It was _much_ better than being kept under the meticulous and perceptive gaze of the redhead.

 

If there was anything that Kuroko truly disliked, it was to be observed. It wasn’t only because he was running away from the Japanese government and the “Miracles” that he used his ability to erase his presence. He already did that before the “Bloody Night”. It may give him a lot of work to avoid colliding with others, ask for something on stores or borrow books from the library, but it was the only solution that he had that fully allowed him to avoid being observed by other people. He just… didn’t like to be _seen_.

 

He picked up his bag by the strap and put it on the corner of the desk. Then he picked up the book he was reading at the moment and leisurely walked to the bed. The bluenette slowly climbed it and, just like Akashi had pointed out before in his apartment in Seirin, “nestled” in it before opening the book where he had left off. Giving a quick peek in the window’s direction, he started reading the fantasy book.

 

Some minutes passed and Kuroko sighed. He was far too nervous at the moment to be able to register anything that was written in the book so he decided to put the marker in the page where he had started reading and closed it, softly lowering it to beside him.

 

What exactly was he supposed to do right now? How could he avoid that the decisions that he had taken, supposedly by his own free will, would not end up in a disaster as big as the “Bloody Night”… if not in an even bigger misfortune that that night had already been.

 

_“Tetsuya-chan, your wishes are something special. They don’t enable others to achieve happiness – only you. What it brings to others is purely doom. But you can only achieve your own happiness if you do exactly as I say. I promise you… if you do it, I will provide you and him all that you need for the rest of your lives. You know that I speak the truth, right? After all, what he became is a clear proof of everything that I told you right now.”_

 

Kuroko felt his skin crawl as he recalled both the voice and the words of _that man_. He remembered them just as if they had been said a few minutes ago, even though so many years had passed already. And it wasn’t only those words that he remembered.

 

The solemn reason why he had imposed on himself those two _golden_ rules, no dreaming and no remembering, had been because of _him_. He remembered all that _he_ told him, all that _he_ taught him, all the pain _he_ inflicted on him, all the things he was used by _him_ for… all the pain the bluenette ended up inflicting on others because of _him_ , all the victims he had broken because of _him_ , all the people he had killed _before_ the “Bloody Night” because of _him_.

 

Kuroko told himself time and time again after the “Bloody Night” how much he hated all five “Miracles”. But if there was someone he truly hated with all of his being, it was _that man_ and his organization. He would have been completely delighted with himself for having broken all ties with it if the events of the “Bloody Night” and Ogiwara’s death hadn’t soon followed it.

 

He gave a quick peek to the window once again and then looked over to his wardrobe. _God, I really hate the full moon,_ mumbled the bluenette in the back of his mind. Every time a full moon approached, his brain started to be invaded by reminiscing. And the worst part of it was the fact that all the flashbacks that suddenly appeared in his head were bad memories.

 

Memories of his childhood and how much loneliness and detachment from others he felt until he met Ogiwara… Memories of the day when he _awoke_ as a “User” and morphed from being a “freak” to become a “full-fledged monster”…

 

Memories of when he met _that man_ … Memories of how a single mistake on his side made him become dependent of that organization… Memories of how that very same mistake almost cost him the life of his best friend – though, if he wanted to really be literal on that one, it really did cost him his life, since he also made Ogiwara become a monster, just like he was, because of it…

 

Memories of when his family discovered he was a “User” and he was sent to Teikou Academy… Memories of the things he was forced to go through since he joined that organization… Memories of the ghost he had to become while in Teikou…

 

Memories of _that_ day, two years ago, when he put his “spell” on two more people… And memories of the growing disaster that his days became from then on, only to end up in the biggest stain in his entire life – the “Bloody Night”.

 

Kuroko sighed and softly bumped several times his head against the wall he was leaning on, staring off to the ceiling of his bedroom. Why didn’t he turn left instead of right in that street? Why didn’t he say “no” instead of “yes”? Why didn’t he try to take all the burdens on his life all by himself? Why hadn’t he been strong enough to endure his pain, even if just for a little bit longer?

 

If he had managed to answer all those questions in the correct way, everything would be different right now. The world would be different – or at least it wouldn’t be as messed up as it was at the moment. If he had done so… Ogiwara wouldn’t be dead, since they probably wouldn’t have met, and he wouldn’t be but a shadow of his former self.

 

_“You feel as guilty and regretful about the ‘Bloody Night’ as any other person would feel about killing another human being. So you are just as human as any of us is. And you are as deserving of fighting for your life as any of us would be.”_

 

“You’re wrong, Akashi-kun…” softly whispered Kuroko, clutching the covers of the bed with his hands. “I do feel regretful about the ‘Bloody Night’… but not for the reasons you think I do. Because… unlike what you think of me, I’m nothing but a selfish, schemy and rotten-to-the-core person who would do anything to get what he wants.”

 

He released the blankets and motioned his hands up to his face, covering it in his entirety as he continued to look up.

 

“I’m nothing of the sort, to be called ‘cute’ or ‘human’ or ‘deserving of trying to survive’! I mean, the only reason I’m alive and breathing right now is my own monstrosity! And by the looks of it, I won’t stop there! I will make you all become monster too. I will break you even more! And I don’t want that! I don’t want to be the reason why another human being falls into depravity once again! I may hate you, but I don’t want to turn Aomine-kun or Kise-kun or Midorima-kun or Murasakibara-kun into hideous creatures. And I… I don’t want you to think of yourself as even more of a monster as you already do, Akashi-kun.”

 

Kuroko lessened the strength of his hands against his own face and wiped with his sleeves the tears that inadvertently started to overflow from his teal eyes. He gave a quick sniff and took a deep breath. The bluenette was almost screaming when he said all that, so he sure hoped that the walls of this house were as soundproof as they were thick… or at least that everybody was already sleeping by now.

 

Softly pulling up the blankets of his bed, he slipped underneath them and formed a ball with his body, closing tightly his eyes as he fully covered himself from head to toes with the soft blankets. He would not sleep and probably would continue to be haunted by his memories until daybreak, but at least he could find a little bit of comfort on his own body warmth. He couldn’t leave Fuyu to go to Maji Burger and get a vanilla milkshake right now, so that would have to do.

 

Kuroko slowly covered his ears and tried to focus on something… something other than his traumatic past.

 

_I can’t stay. Staying was never an option and after finding about that today, it was fully discarded out of the list. I need to leave and never return or look back._

_And if possible… find out a way to put an end to all of this._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Can Do" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Didn't I told you? Pure masochism!  
> Well, if you paid enough attention to this chapter, you can figure out a lot of stuff about Kuroko's past, can't you? Oh dear God, where are you Akashi!? Your lovely bluenette needs you to hug and cuddle with him right now! Please hurry up and start healing this broken angel - I can't stand the way he underrates himself so badly... *runs off crying*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	69. It should be frustrating, yet I'm getting heated up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> First of all... Happy Christmas Eve! In my country we open our presents in the night of Christmas Eve, so I wanted to give you some sort of present (though we are still very far away from being the correct hour to open them up :P) I hope you have a very good Christmas and eat a lot of good food, receive a lot of yaoi as gift and spend a nice weekend celebrating with your family and loved one ^.^
> 
> Oh, I almost forgot!  
> Warning: NOSEBLEED ALERT! (this is chapter 69, it was just begging for some sort of "action" to happen, right? *winks* - no, now seriously, it was a coincidence, I swear!)
> 
> Well, enjoy XD

The sudden buzzing of the doorbell woke Kasamatsu Yukio up. Lazily, he peeked to the door of his bedroom with only one of his eyes and then let his head drop once again to the pillow, closing his open eye. When he heard the bell ring three more times in a quick succession, the black haired male grunted loudly and clutched his face with his hands. The doorbell rang a few more times, in an even more desperate motion, and Kasamatsu could almost swear he felt one of his veins pop out.

 

 _That fucking idiotic, stubborn dog! I’ll kill him! I swear I will beat him half to death and then throw him out of my apartment!,_ muttered inwardly the black haired male as he got up from his bed and gave quick furious steps to the front door of his apartment.

 

“Are you fucking out of your mind, Kise!? It’s 4 AM right— W-Woah!” When Kasamatsu angrily opened the door with hopes to immediately kick or punch in the gut the blonde, he was suddenly thrown to the floor of the entrance of his apartment. Clutching tightly onto him was Kise, burying his face against his chest while hugging him in an almost suffocating way. “What are you doing!? Release me, you dumbass!”

 

“Senpai… Senpai!” called Kise, rubbing his face against the older male’s sleeping wear. He softly raised his head and stared at the other male, the corner of his eyes glistening with tears. “Senpai…!”

 

“W-What? Did something happen?” asked Kasamatsu, worried about the taller male. He was already used to the blonde’s teary-eyed act but he never once had showed up in his apartment at this ungodly hour while putting it forward. “Are you in pain? Were you hurt or something?”

 

“No…” answered Kise, sniffling a little bit. “I just missed you so much that I came all the way from Fuyu running to see you and some dust went to my eyes while I— OUCH!!! Why did you hit me!?”

 

“Shut up, you fucking moron!” yelled the black haired male, pushing the bigger body of the blonde from out of on top of him. He got up from the floor and sighed while walking inside of his apartment once again. “God, now I feel stupid for having worried about you. Go reflect on what you did back in Fuyu, you stupid dog!”

 

“Ehhh!? Don’t just throw me out like that!” complained Kise, also getting up from the floor to run after his mate. “I was feeling really lonely and wanted to see you reeeeally badly, Kasamatsu-senpai!”

 

“You saw me two days ago! And couldn’t you have waited until morning to do that?” argued back the older male, rolling his eyes slightly at the overbearing spoiled brat that the taller male could be from time to time. No, cross that – he was like that almost all the time.

 

“But I want to see you every day! I hate it when I can’t hear your voice or talk with you or touch y—“ When Kise saw the glare that was immediately sent his way due to his words, he hastily cut off his dialogue and closed his mouth. However, that didn’t last very long. “Anyway! Can I sleep with you tonight?”

 

“Wha—!?” The black haired male’s face was suddenly set ablaze with a deep shade of red at the blonde’s words. “No way in hell! Go sleep by yourself! What are you, a brat!?”

 

“Oh come on, Senpai! I…” Kise suddenly lunged forward and grasped with his hands the smaller male’s arms, so that he couldn’t run off and close himself inside of his bedroom like he usually did to hide from him (also because he didn’t want to be gut-punched again). “Akashicchi has sent me away for one week and I won’t be able to see you or talk with you during that time, since it’s sort of a punishment and I can’t take my phone with me. So I at least want to spend time with you before I leave in a few hours! I… I promise I’ll do my best to stay well-behaved! And you can think of me as a dog sleeping next to you! So let me stay here tonight! Please!!”

 

“…” Kasamatsu looked straight to the earnest gaze in the blonde’s golden eyes and sighed. Why was he so damn weak to Kise’s puppy-eyed stunts? “Fine, you can stay. But you’re sleeping or in the sofa or in the floor of my bedroom.”

 

“Ehhh~!? I know I said you can think of me as a dog, but please don’t make me sleep in the floor!” complained the younger male, exaggeratedly moving his arms in the air in protest. “I want to sleep next to you! Yes? Come on, Senpai! Please~? Hmm? Yes? Will you let me?”

 

“God, you’re annoying!” yelled Kasamatsu, throwing his hand in the other male’s face’s direction to push him away from him. “I would really like it if you were less clingy! 90% less clingy, for example.”

 

“Don’t lie, Senpai~ You love me just the way I am!” excitedly exclaimed Kise, delighted with himself over the fact that he may not have said yes or no to his questions, but the black haired male simply started walking over to his bedroom while every so often  peering over in his direction – which was more than answer enough.

 

“I just got used to it, you blockhead! After dealing with your fucking clinginess almost every day since I entered high school, of course I started to see it as another damn chore I have to deal with,” added Kasamatsu, rolling his eyes slightly as he entered inside of his bedroom. He could see Kise happily following after him while wagging an imaginary tail. He stopped near the bed and looked over to the taller male, a serious demeanor in his face. “Okay, Kise. Listen _very closely_ to what I’m going to say. Do you see the wall where the bed in leaning on? You will be completely glued to it during the rest of the night.”

 

“Ehhh~?” started complained the blonde. He would have complained more if the smaller male hadn’t interrupted him right away.

 

“It’s or that or the floor. You don’t want to sleep on the floor with only one blanket on top of you, do you?” Kasamatsu observed as the blonde slumped his head down, in a demoralized motion. “Okay, now that we are talked, get your ass in the bed! If I feel you moving just one third of an inch in my direction, I will fucking kick you out of my apartment and forbid you from coming in here for one month.”

 

“Ugh… That’s animal cruelty…” grumbled Kise under his breath, climbing the bed and laying down near the wall. When Kasamatsu pointed at him and ordered him to also face the wall with his hand, all he could do was grumble some more and do as he was told.

 

After a few minutes, Kise felt the mattress of the bed slumping down a little bit and the blanket over him being lightly pulled. For some reason, it was only after all of those movements stopped that he started to feel somewhat nervous. His heart was racing madly and, if he was feeling tired and sleepy after having run that whole distance from Fuyu to Kaijou dorm, he was now completely wide awake.

 

The blonde really wanted to know how Kasamatsu was faring in all this. Knowing him, and if Kise himself was feeling like that right now, the older male was probably on the verge of dying at the moment, since he was so easily embarrassed.

 

 _Ahh… I want to touch him. I want to feel his warmth and sleep holding him tightly in my arms._ He really wanted to do all that, but if he did, the black haired male would kick him out and also punish him. He wanted to continue to visit him in his apartment, so he really had to restrain himself, even if right now he really, _really_ wanted to hug his lover.

 

“Kise,” suddenly called Kasamatsu.

 

“I-I-I didn’t do anything! I’m still glued to the wall and I didn’t move at all!” nervously defended himself the blonde, fearing that his inner thoughts had been heard by the older male – which was impossible since he hadn’t made any sound at all… and Kasamatsu didn’t have his ability right now.

 

“It’s not that. You… You can come a little closer if you want…” shyly mumbled Kasamatsu, his voice slightly muffled because of the blanket that was fully covering him, a measure he had taken to hide his embarrassment due to the words he was saying.

 

“Eh?” Kise abruptly turned his head around and looked over to the black haired male (even though all he could see was the form of his body tucked inside of the blankets), surprise written all over his face. “C-Can I really?”

 

“Don’t make me repeat myself, you idiotic dog!” admonished Kasamatsu while pulling the covers even more over his head.

 

In a single motion, Kise turned around and hugged the black haired male from behind, gluing his chest to his hunched back and wrapping his arms tightly around his stomach. He put his chin over the older male’s head (it was more like putting his head over the blankets than on the other male’s head, but he didn’t really care about those little details right now) and sighed with delight.

 

“Hey, Kise… I said you could come closer, not that you could fucking hug me!!! Let go of me right now!” started yelling Kasamatsu, strongly pinching the skin of the back of one of the blonde’s hands.

 

“Owowow! Can’t you just accommodate me for once in your life?” complained Kise, moving his hands slightly so he could grab the ones of the older male and prevent him from continuing to bruise his skin by pinching him. “I promise I won’t do anything. I just want to be with you for a little bit like this before I leave to catch my flight. You won’t hear anything from me for a while, you know?”

 

“Ugh… Whatever!” conceded the black haired male, already starting to regret that he had done so. He couldn’t even see the blonde at the moment, but he could feel from the sound of his voice that he was doing his puppy-eyed trick while being honest about not doing anything more than that. It was sort of weird… He had no way of knowing that right now, since he wasn’t a ‘User’ anymore, but somehow he could understand clearly now if Kise was being truthful or not when he was talking. _I guess that just proves how well I’ve come to know him._

 

Kise softly chuckled and then adjusted slightly his body, so he could hug the smaller male in a more comfortable way. The dishonest side of Kasamatsu could reach levels of cuteness so high that sometimes even the blonde himself got taken aback by it. However, right now he needed to focus.

 

_I can’t do anything. I can’t do anything. I can’t do— Ah, Kasamatsu-senpai is so warm… And he smells nice too~ No! I can’t do anything. I can’t do anything. I can’t do anything. I can’t do anything… but… Shit! Why am I hard already!?_

 

“Damn it, Kise! It’s hard to breathe!” complained suddenly the black haired male, shifting his body uncomfortable against the taller male’s. “And it’s hot!”

 

“Sorry…” apologized Kise, continuing to mentally tell himself that he couldn’t make a move at the moment so he could distract himself from the fact that the older male was currently rubbing slightly his ass on his hard-on.

 

“Ugh… Lessen the strength of your arms a little, will you? It hurts when you hold me like this…” complained once again Kasamatsu, shifting his body against the blonde’s one more time.

 

“Ngh… Just go to sleep already, Senpai,” pleaded Kise. He continued chanting his new found mantra while trying to think about things that would turn him off right now. And having his mate throw him continuously lines that could have very well being said in a porn video were not helping him calm down at all!

 

“How do you expect me to sleep if I’m feeling this hot because of you, dumbass!” pointed out Kasamatsu, uncomfortably moving his body one more time, completely unaware that by doing so he was only worsening the blonde’s current distress.

 

_Ugh… Fuck… Shit… Fucking shit…!_

 

All of a sudden, Kise tugged down the blanket over the older male’s head with one of his hands and gave a soft nibble to his earlobe, erupting from him a sudden yelp.

 

“W-W-What are you doing!?” embarrassingly stuttered Kasamatsu, looking behind to the blonde while clutching his ear with his hand, a deep red blush covering the entirety of his face.

 

“It’s your fault, Senpai!” argued Kise, tugging the body of the other male against his own while lightly rubbing his erection on his ass so he could understand how bad he was having it right now. “It’s because of you that I’m like _this_ right now so… As the older one, take responsibility!”

 

“What the hell are you talking about, you— Hyah!” started Kasamatsu, but he suddenly felt a hand enter inside of his pants, then his underwear and finally grab his member. “What the fuck are you doing!? Take your hands off of me! I’ll kick you!”

 

“You can kick me all you want later, Senpai, but please let me find some relieve right now,” whispered the blonde against the smaller male’s ear, which was colored with a bright shade of red. He started to gently pump his mate’s member while softly rubbing his hardened one against him.

 

“Then go masturbate in the toilet!! Don’t get me involved in your… fucking… perversions… Haa…” admonished Kasamatsu right away, but the movements of the younger male’s hand were starting to affect him in several ways – his breathing was starting to get somewhat pitched, his body trembled slightly and he could feel his cock getting slowly harder with each stroke it received. All in all, he was getting aroused.

 

“You call me a pervert, but aren’t you getting hard too? And look how much you’re leaking right now,” pointed out Kise, a smirk tugging his lips upwards as he rubbed with his index finger the head of the older male’s member. “Your pre-cum has made my hand all wet and sticky~ Aren’t you, Senpai, the real pervert in all this~?”

 

“Shut up…! Ngh… You’re the pervert! Doing this to me when… haa… all I want to do is sleep!” admonished again Kasamatsu, his eyes half-lidded due to the unexpected shockwave of pleasure that was rising in his body. “Pervert! You’re nothing but a… dirty, horny dog… Ahh—!”

 

“Ngh… Senpai… Kasamatsu-senpai…” breathed Kise, giving a long lick to the back of the black haired male’s neck. He continued to stroke the other male’s now hard member while motioning his free hand to his own pants, taking his completely erect cock from inside of it and starting to pump it in the same way he was with his mate’s. Using both hands to make such movements while in that position would probably come as difficult to most people, but by using his ability to copy the motions of his dominant hand and applying it on the other, Kise was successfully being able to pleasure his lover (or so he hoped) while managing to take enjoyment in it too.

 

“Haa… Kise, stop… Ki— Ahh!” moaned Kasamatsu, the trembling of his body getting more accentuated as his mind was drowning in the high of pleasure he was feeling at the moment. “Kise…! Ngh… Ahh—“

 

“Ngh… Yukio-san…” whispered the blonde in the form of a purr, licking and nibbling the back of the older male’s neck. “Yukio-san, are you feeling good?”

 

“Ahh— Don’t… call me by that name… Haa… I told you… that you’re forbidden… from using it… didn’t I…? Haa— Ahhh!” admonished the black haired male, though the moans and gasps that exited his mouth while doing so completely ruined his chances of sounding threatening.

 

“Does that really matter right now?” asked Kise, hastening the movement of both of his hands and giving one more nibble of his mate’s neck. He was feeling really close to cumming, the erotic moans of Kasamatsu making his head spin a hundred miles per hour. Though the blonde didn’t want to force their relationship to advance at a pace where Kasamatsu felt uncomfortable, ‘restrain’ never had been something he was good at doing. “Focus only on feeling good, Yukio-san… Forget about the rest and focus on me.”

 

“How do you… expect me to do that… haa… when I don’t want to do this…? Ngh…” complained the black haired male, using up the rest of his rationality to do so. He was starting to lose himself to the ecstasy and no longer could formulate reasons good enough to make the taller male stop. “Ahh—! Kise… Kise— Ngh!”

 

“Haa… Yukio-san…” whispered Kise, hastening even more the movements of his hands as he was feeling not only his own climax nearing, but also the older male’s. He gave a last lick to the back of his neck and slowly motioned his face to near the other male’s ear, giving a quick nibble to the jelly earlobe and whispering to it once again, “Yukio-san… I love you…”

 

“Ngh… Kise— Ahh—!” Kasamatsu felt his whole body shuddering and then his head blacked out completely, the orgasm hitting him hard enough for him to lose consciousness for a fraction of a second.

 

“Ngh!” gasped the blonde, also shuddering due to his climax that came following the one of the black haired male. He felt his mate’s body slump down, going completely out of strength as his chest moved up and down in quick succession. Smiling softly, Kise gave a quick peck to the smooth piece of flesh behind the flushed ear and snuggled with the sweaty and hot body of the smaller male.

 

“Kise…”

 

“Hm?” hummed softly the taller male.

 

“Since you did this shit after I warned you about the consequences, I take it that you’re ready for what’s about to come, right?” threateningly warned Kasamatsu, slowly motioning his body up in the bed.

 

“A-Ah… Y-Y-Yukio… san?” stuttered Kise, a shiver crawling up his spine at the dark aura around the older male.

 

“I told you to not call me by that name, you idiotic dog!!” Kasamatsu quickly turned around to the other male and punched him in the face.

 

“OUCH! Senpai, I told you – don’t hit me in the face!” whined the blonde, massaging his sore jaw. However, before he could apologize to the black haired male, a bunch of blankets where thrown his way and then his body was pushed out of the bed to the floor. Kise tugged down the blanket covering his head and stared to Kasamatsu quizzically.

 

“Go wash these! Now! Oh, and you’re only allowed to get out of the bathroom five minutes previous to the time you need to leave to go catch your flight to god knows where!” ordered Kasamatsu, pointing with his index finger to the bathroom connected to the bedroom.

 

“Ehhh? But, Senpa—“

 

“Just be glad that I’m not kicking and punching you until your all black and blue, you fucking moron! Now go!!” yelled further the older male.

 

Kise sighed and got up on his feet, clutching the bundle of blankets in his arms as he started walking while grumbling under his breath. When he reached the bathroom, he turn on the lights and peered one more time to his mate, who simply moved his chin up to incite him into continuing. The blonde rolled his eyes slightly, then entered inside of the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

 

Kasamatsu continued to glare to the closed door for a few more minutes until he started to hear water running. Then he just let his body fall backwards to the bed, sighing exasperatedly. He motioned his arm up and leaned the back of his hand in his sweaty forehead, closing his eyes while a deep red blush covered the entirety of his features.

 

“Fuck, I need a shower… All because of that stupid pup…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Sharara Goes On" by Kimura Ryouhei (our horny lil pup aka Kise)
> 
> I have to be honest... I love to brutalize Kise by the means of Kasamatsu XD It's just so damn funny!! I will probably never get sick of doing it. But oh well... I think Kasamatsu in the end doesn't really mind that Kise does that to him, just like Kise, in a roundabout way, doesn't mind that Kasamatsu brutalizes him in such a way (maybe he's a masochist). All in all, they are two lovebirds who show their affection for each other in totally opposite ways - and are totally meant for each other XD
> 
> P.S. My other big fic, "Bullet Proof", will come out of hiatus tomorrow. Check it out when that happens :)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	70. You're not here anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> I have terrible, TERRIBLE news for you... Remember the "earthquakes" I told you about some chapters ago? This is it, guys... stuff starts getting REALLY serious from here on forth. And don't be mistaken if there's some crack in between the next chapters - things weren't made to stay on the happy side until the conclusion of this arc (which is still very far away from being reached). Prepare your hearts and boxes of tissues (for both crying and nosebleeding) because the hurt will begin! *runs off crying*
> 
> Well enjoy :)

Akashi ended the call and lowered his phone back to his pants’ pocket. The car that would drive him to Tokyo Station was already waiting for him in the main gate of Teikou Academy. Once in the station, he would take the Tokaido Shinkansen to Kyoto, in a three and a half hour travel on a green car seat. All in all, it would be the same trip that he did every month to go visit her. The only difference from his past visits there was that he would not spend the night in Kyoto and catch the Shinkansen in the following day. Once everything was done there, he would readily come back to Teikou.

 

Stepping outside of his bedroom, he closed the door behind him and started walking to the bedroom next door to his. The redhead stopped in front of the door and stared intently to it. Knowing (even if barely) the bluenette’s sleeping habits, Kuroko right now should be fast asleep and would most likely only wake up when someone would come to call him for breakfast or when his stomach started to loudly grumble for food.

 

Giving a quick chuckle, Akashi lunged his hand forward and opened the door, already anxious to the see the bird’s nest that would be housed in the blue strands of the smaller male’s hair. Inside of the room, dark due to the closed curtains of the window and the still very weak light of the sunrise, the redhead silently walked over to the bed, where he could faintly distinguish a lump covered by the blankets.

 

“Tetsuy—“ When he motioned his hand forward to softly touch the bluenette through the blankets, a hand suddenly appeared from the mass of fabric and grabbed his wrist, strongly burying the fingertips in his skin to prevent him from getting closer. The now common prickling sensation invaded his body right away. “Tetsuya?”

 

“A-Akashi-kun?” The lump beneath the mass of blankets shifted slightly and the hand softly released the redhead’s wrist to once again withdraw to inside of the fluffy and dark cave. After a few more movements, the messy blue strands of hair of the smaller male came into view, followed by a teal eye.

 

“You’re awake already?” asked Akashi, crouching down his body to the height of the bed so he could look directly to Kuroko. “It’s barely daybreak. Usually you’re still sleeping at this time of the day.”

 

“The sun already rose?” asked Kuroko, popping his head fully out of the blankets to peer at the window. When he saw a little bit of light entering inside of the room through the curtains, he sighed in relief. Now he could feel a little bit safer.

 

“Are you okay?” Akashi lifted his hand and grabbed one of the blankets, softly patting it against the sweaty features of the bluenette. “You’re sweating buckets. I know it’s still cold during the night, but you shouldn’t just sleep underneath all these blankets, covered all the way up.”

 

“Please don’t start judging my sleeping habits again, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, moving his face away from the hand of the other male.

 

“You say ‘sleeping habits’, but it doesn’t look like you slept all that much,” pointed out Akashi, motioning his hand back down, a little bit dissatisfied that the smaller male refused his touch. “Did you have a nightmare?”

 

“No… I just woke up earlier than usual, since it’s an unfamiliar room,” answered the bluenette, averting slightly the taller male’s gaze on him and uncovering the rest of his body from underneath the blankets.

 

“Even though you slept the entire night until almost the end of the morning yesterday when I slept here,” snorted Akashi, in a teasingly manner. When he saw Kuroko stop his movements and glare at him, he cleared his throat and got up into a standing position.

 

The redhead observed Kuroko get up from the bed and walk over to the window to open the curtains. After that, he started to walk to the bathroom. However, “walk” wasn’t exactly the word that would most accurately describe the smaller male’s movements. It would be more “wobble” or “stagger” than straight out walking.

 

“Are you sure you’re okay? You seem quite unsteady on your own two feet,” suddenly voiced out the taller male, quite worried if the bluenette would start feeling bad like it had happened the day before. “If you’re feeling sick, maybe I should postpone my trip to Kyoto for another day.”

 

“I’m not feeling sick. And you don’t need to postpone anything. Please just leave me alone,” rebuked Kuroko, opening the door to the bathroom.

 

“Well, aren’t we in a good mood today?” teased Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched as he observed the other male come to a halt due to his words.

 

“I apologize if I’m sounding quite moody right now, but I don’t feel like having to deal with your sarcasm at the moment. Please come back at a later time when I’m in a truly good mood,” almost hissed Kuroko before entering inside of the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

 

Akashi eyed closely the door that lead to the bathroom. It wasn’t that Kuroko was in a bad mood… he was simply trying to build one more wall between him and the rest of the human population. He didn’t know what was driving the bluenette to start doing that now, after being so cooperative and talkative with him during these past few days, but Akashi had a feeling that it had something to do with the fact that he didn’t get much sleep this night.

 

He walked over to the bathroom and softly knocked on the door. “Tetsuya, I’ll be leaving now, then. I just wanted to tell you something that I forgot to mention yesterday. While you’re in the school section of Teikou, or even when you are here in Fuyu, you can go to that place I took you to the other day whenever you feel like. Just, please don’t mention it to the other ‘Miracles’. I would like to maintain that place the most private it can be, for as long as I can.”

 

Seeing as there was no answer coming from the other side of the door, the redhead was about to knock once again on the wooden surface, but a soft murmur of an “okay” suddenly reached his ears.

 

“See you at night, then,” added Akashi, turning around on his heels to exit the room. Maybe it would be counterproductive to be away from the smaller male right now, even if it would be for only a day, but he also needed to be fair and give space for him to breathe.

 

Like Kise had mentioned last night, forcing Kuroko to do what he wanted would not be the most correct approach, and it would also leave a bitter aftertaste in his mouth. And that was not what he was searching for. If he wanted the bluenette to come to trust him, he would have to let him make his own choices. But, though he was telling himself that, if the choice that Kuroko made would tear them apart, then forget about respecting his freedom. He would not allow the bluenette to leave – not now and not in the future. Kuroko was to become his and there was nothing or anything that would change his mind in that regard.

 

Akashi softly closed the door to the smaller male’s room and started to walk downstairs. The car was already waiting for him and he wanted to catch the first train that he could. Being the Head of the “Miracles”, and one in a close relationship with the Japanese government, had its perks, so even if the Shinkansen was already full, he was sure someone would do something about it and provide him with a seat in the setting that pleased him the most.

 

“Aka-chin…” spoke suddenly a voice coming from the living room in the first floor. The redhead came to a halt due to the call of his name in that so familiar way and motioned over to the room in question. When he looked inside, he saw Murasakibara laid down in the sofa, almost drowning in a sea of candies and snacks’ paper and plastic wraps. “Aka-chin… Good thing that I got to… see you before you left…”

 

“Atsushi, what’s the matter?” asked the redhead, an eyebrow raised high as he closely observed the purple haired giant. He sounded extremely tired and, though he knew how ridiculously huge the stomach of the taller male could be, he never had seen so many snacks and candies eaten in a single night.

 

“I need to speak with you…” explained Murasakibara, covering a yawn with his hand. “Remember what I said before Kuro-chin lost control on his ability for the second time?”

 

“You mean that conversation about someone trying to enter inside of the barrier that was around that room in my building?”

 

“Yeah, that one exactly…” acknowledged the purple haired giant, lowering his hand to the floor to grab another maiubo. “You see, this barrier is much more sensitive about external and internal factors than that one. So I sort of understand things better with this one than the other. And since the attempts to breach in continue to occur, I now know what is trying to enter inside of Fuyu.”

 

“And?” asked forth the redhead, his curiosity once again piqued by that particular subject.

 

“It’s _him_ ,” simply answered Murasakibara, starting to munch on the savory snack. When he got the inkling that Akashi didn’t understand what he was trying to say, he continued. “That ‘User’ that we, or more precisely, you killed during the ‘Bloody Night’. The one who was together with Kuro-chin while he was going out of control and was killing people left and right.”

 

“What?” interjected Akashi, a deep frown appearing in his features. “That’s impossible, Atsushi. He’s dead. I killed him in a way that would be impossible to come back to life, no matter what type of ability he had.”

 

“Yes, I know he’s dead. Even if, for some reason, you hadn’t completely finished him off, he would have died when the accident spot was created, since nobody exited that area after us. We maintained it under very tight surveillance, so we know that nobody ever came out of inside of there,” acknowledged Murasakibara once again, dropping the wrap to the floor after having finished the snack in a languish manner. “Well, except Kuro-chin, of course.”

 

“Get to the point, Atsushi,” warned the smaller male, glaring slightly at the giant.

 

“Ah… Whatever it is that’s trying to enter inside of the barrier only does so when Kuro-chin is there. And it’s mostly done during the night. It’s not exactly the same feeling of a person trying to break inside of it. It’s almost as if he’s trying to come inside of Fuyu while not in this… hmm… reality? Dimension?” tried to explain Murasakibara, forgetting his snacks momentarily to not put the redhead in a bad mood. “Anyway, I can’t call it a human. Maybe it’s a ghost? The only thing I know it’s that that thing is trying to meet with Kuro-chin. And that that thing is the ‘User’ you, Aka-chin, killed in the ‘Bloody Night’.”

 

“Is there any chance of that ‘ghost’ entering inside of the barrier?” asked further Akashi, the frown on his face intensifying.

 

“Hmm… It’s a chance as tiny as a meteorite making a dent on the sun, but if that thing finds the Achilles’ heel of this barrier, there’s a slight possibility of that happening,” answered the taller male. “But I doubt that will happen. Only you and I know about this barrier’s weakness, after all.”

 

“…” Akashi started to run his brain’s engines on the information it had been given to him, motioning his hand to his chin while he closely thought about it. After a few seconds passed, he dropped his hand down once again. “Atsushi, keep paying attention to the barrier and if there’s any change in the situation, call me immediately. Since you said that the ‘ghost’ mainly appears during the night, I’ll still keep my trip to Kyoto and try to return to Tokyo the quickest I can.”

 

“Sure…” acknowledged the purple haired giant, motioning his hand down to grab one more package of caramel chips cookies. He deeply sighed while opening the plastic wrap. “'Guess I can only count on getting some sleep while Kuro-chin is in class… Oh, and I should start preparing breakfast for him, Mine-chin and Mido-chin, too. Ugh, so troublesome…”

 

“You know that nobody is forcing you to cook for us, right?” pointed out Akashi, starting to walk outside of the living room.

 

“I know, but I want to. It helps me focus on things other than Muro-chin’s… situation…” confessed Murasakibara, giving a bite to a cookie.

 

“…” Akashi halted his steps briefly and looked over to the laid down purple haired male. Then he resumed his exit of the room. “Then please continue cooking for us, Atsushi.”

 

“Sure thing…” acknowledged the purple haired giant, waving his hand to the redhead.

 

Akashi continued to walk to the entrance of Fuyu, and once outside of the building, he motioned his hand to his pants’ pocket, grabbing his phone once again. He quickly dialed a number and put the phone on his ear.

 

“I apologize for calling you at this time in the morning, Satsuki,” started the redhead. “I need you to run a little investigation for me. I already did this in the Japanese database for ‘Users’, but find me all information you can on an individual called ‘Ogiwara’. If you have to hack into the secret files being held by other corporations or the government, I don’t care. Just get me all the data you can on him the quickest you can. And for you to not lose your time, he’s probably around our age and it’s useless to check any database on ‘Users’. He doesn’t appear on any.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "MEMORIES" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> The day we just started is probably one of my favorites - be it for the hurt, be it for the other stuff that happens in it (you know, AoKaga secret plan *winks*). And, since we are reaching the end of the year, I've been wondering... Which is your top 5 chapters of "Shattered Miracles"? Please tell me on the comments which are they ^^ (and no, you can't only put smutty ones :P)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	71. I keep saying this and that, but everyone and myself and myself and myself are just deceiving myself skillfully

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> This will be the last chapter for "Shattered Miracles" of this year. So I wish you a good New Year and let's meet again in 2017!
> 
> And speaking of 2017, I will tell you beforehand what you should expect of it. The schedule of "Shattered Miracles" will go back to be every other day from January 2nd onward for an unknown period of time (probably until my internship begins). My little secret project will also begin that day *evil grin* Please wait patiently for it.
> 
> Thank you for all the support you've been giving me throughout these last few months and please continue to do so in the future :D
> 
> Well, enjoy ^^

Kuroko was walking back and forth through his bedroom. His head was so full of things he needed to take care of that he didn’t even know where to begin. When he went downstairs after having dressed his school uniform, the breakfast was being made by Murasakibara. He quickly wolfed it down and then returned to his room, where he started the current back and forth dance.

 

Since he was resuming his classes once again, that meant he would not be in Fuyu or on his bedroom throughout the day. Which meant… anyone could enter there. Someone going to his room while he was absent wasn’t really the problem there – it was what he was hiding in his wardrobe that was worrying him to no end. If someone – _anyone_ – opened the wardrobe for some reason and saw the insides of the box… He was done for. There was no excuse to what he was keeping there and whatever he said about the contents of the letters would only worsen the situation.

 

And it wasn’t like he could just pick the box and take it with him to school to find a better place to hide it. He couldn’t enter inside of his apartment in Seirin either because Akashi was the one who had the key, and he told him that he could only ask him to take him to his apartment, no other ‘Miracle’ could do it.

 

The bluenette came to a halt suddenly and inwardly clicked his tongue. He probably shouldn’t have acted that way with Akashi when he went to his room a couple of hours ago. He should have hid it better that he wasn’t his usual self at the moment. That he hadn’t managed to sleep not even for a second throughout the entire night. And that he was trying to once again create distance between them.

 

Akashi surely was suspicious of him right now and would probably question him once he returned from Kyoto, but… it was better this way. It was better for him and it was better not only for Akashi, but for everyone else. He managed to survive this last year without interacting with anyone nor forging new bonds with human beings, so he was sure he could continue to do it, even if he was now forced to interact with the “Miracles” on a daily basis.

 

He probably would have to do something about Kagami, too. He had quite a soft spot for the taller redhead, but the incoming danger that was interacting with him would probably put Kagami in some sort of trouble in the future, he was sure. Distancing himself from Kagami would also have to be put in the list of things to do, apparently.

 

Kuroko looked around in his room and searched for the time. It was only then that he noticed that there was no clock on the room. The bluenette looked outside through the window and noted that it was already time for him to start going to school. _Will it be necessary to go with one of them or can I just leave on my own?_

 

Since he hadn’t been informed on any of that, the bluenette picked up his bag and started motioning to the door of his bedroom, but came to a sudden halt. He peered one more time to the wardrobe and maintained his gaze in it for a few seconds. Then he dropped his eyes down to the corner of the room near the wardrobe, where he had put his basketball on.

 

“…” Kuroko fully turned around and started to walk in its direction. Once there, he crouched down and took the ball in his hands, feeling with his fingers its rough surface, the weight it had on top of his hands, the desire of starting to play once again that it awakened inside of him. Even though he knew he didn’t have any right to do so.

 

The last time he had played basketball was two years ago. Well, actually he had also played it inside of the “dream realm”, but it hadn’t been by his own choice. He used it as an excuse to entertain himself while he was stuck there and to please _his_ whims. If they were busy playing basketball, they didn’t need to talk with each other, after all.

 

 _But… how strange…_ Why was it that that round object could ignite inside of him such wishes when he knew better than anyone that conducting forth his own desires would only bring about tragedy? For himself, too, but mostly to those around him. The bluenette was about to put the ball once again on the corner when the door of his bedroom was suddenly open ajar.

 

“Hey, Kuroko! Time to go!” called Aomine, entering inside of the room while picking on his ear. He looked around the bedroom, but didn’t saw anyone. “Huh? He’s not here. Did he leave already?”

 

“I’m right here,” answered Kuroko, holding the basketball a little bit more tightly against his body.

 

“Eh?” The tanned male looked to the place where the voice had come from and saw nothing. However, when he blinked and focused his gaze in that direction once again, he saw the smaller male crouched down on the floor, a basketball on top of his lap. “Woah! You’re really here! Why is your presence so damn… low…?”

 

Aomine slowed down his own words and stared quizzically to the bluenette, an eyebrow slightly perked up. Why was it that he had a feeling that that was not the first time he asked someone that? He continued staring intently to the other male and tilted slightly his head, thinking closely about it while he got closer to him with big steps.

 

“A-Aomine-kun?” hesitantly called Kuroko, feeling extremely uncomfortable for being stared at so intently by the taller male. When he saw Aomine stop beside him and lung his hand forward in his direction, the bluenette tightly closed his eyes, already waiting to feel the prickling sensation in some sort of way.

 

“Hm… So you also play basketball, huh?” started the tanned male, taking the ball out of the smaller male’s lap with one hand. “Oh, it’s a good ball! It’s the same label I usually use. You must have taken a lot of care with it.”

 

“…” Kuroko hesitantly opened his eyes once again and looked up in the other male’s direction. He saw him holding the ball, switching it from hand to hand as he looked at it. “Please give it b—“

 

“Ah, but there’s a large burn in its surface here,” pointed out Aomine, stopping the ball in one hand to look at the almost claw like black mark that had been made in one of its sides. “Did you accidentally use your abil—“

 

Kuroko quickly snatched the basketball out of the taller male’s hands and put it once again in the corner of the room, the side with the burn turned in the floor’s direction. He picked up once again his school bag and got up, passing by Aomine without looking at him while walking to the door of his bedroom.

 

“Ah… Kuroko?” called Aomine, looking over to the smaller male as he gave quick steps and grabbed the open door’s side with his hand.

 

“Isn’t it time to go to school?” asked the bluenette, peering sideways to the other ‘User’.

 

“Well, yeah, it is. But…” Aomine briefly scratched his head and then started walking over in the bluenette’s direction. He probably was thinking too much right now. Kuroko was wearing the same expressionless face as always – so he couldn’t have seen such sense of loss and hate in his teal eyes some seconds ago when he snatched the ball away from his hands. “When I didn’t see you in your room, I thought you had left already.”

 

“I was about to, actually,” confirmed Kuroko, closing the door behind him after both exited his bedroom. His hand hovered above the knob for a fraction of a second and then he continued walking. “Nobody said anything about how I should go to school, so I thought I would be able to go by myself.”

 

“Well, I don’t think there’s anything stopping you from going to school alone,” added Aomine, trying to remember if Akashi had mentioned anything about it. “But since I have things to discuss with Ka— Ah, I mean, since I was going to leave for school now, I thought I would drop by your bedroom and if you were there, we could walked there together.”

 

“…”

 

“Ah! But if you don’t want me to do that… Well, I guess I won’t,” continued the tanned male, a little bit abashed to say that to someone who was being kept under surveillance against his own will. “It’s not like I usually go to school, so… Argh, forget it!”

 

“It’s not that I mind it, but…” interrupted Kuroko, stopping the rumbling of the male walking beside him. During all of these years he has spent in Teikou, the only person he had ever walked to school with (well, actually _from_ school) had been the person he was currently with. And it just felt so wrong to do such once again after what happened two years ago. He slowly increased the strength of his grip on his school bag, always staring to what was in front of him while walking. “I don’t mind, but I prefer to walk alone to school.”

 

“Umm… I see…” hesitantly answered Aomine, once again scratching his head while averting slightly his eyes from the smaller male. “Then I’ll just warn Kise about it. I doubt that Midorima or Murasakibara would pester you about it, after all. But I won’t be able to do anything about it if it’s Akashi that wants to go with you to school.”

 

“…Why are you being so kind…?” softly murmured the bluenette, lowering his head slightly to the floor. He clutched even more his bag.

 

“Eh? I’m not going out of my way to be kind to you, if that’s what you’re trying to say,” answered Aomine, putting his hands behind his head and stretching slightly his back. “I’m just acting the way I usually do with people who sort of pique my interest.”

 

_I know… It’s because I know it that it hurts so much…_

 

The rest of the path that connected the restricted area to the high school division of Teikou Academy was made in silence. In around ten minutes, they stepped inside of the building where the first years had their classes.

 

“Oh, I guess we managed to arrive on time,” suddenly pointed out the tanned male, looking inside of one of the classroom. He then looked over to the smaller male, a shadow of a smirk surfacing in his features. “You’re in the class next to mine, right? Oh, and you’re also in Kagami’s class, isn’t it?”

 

“Yes, I am,” acknowledged Kuroko, giving a small but quick nod with his head.

 

“Then I’ll go say hello to Bakagami too!” added Aomine, a huge grin in his face as he started to walk in the smaller male’s classroom’s direction. He wanted to go see the redhead, especially after the way their conversation ended the day before, but he was also itching to get their plan started, even though he had a feeling he would really pay for it on a latter time.

 

 _B-Bakagami…?_ , repeated the bluenette in the back of his mind, tilting slightly his head as he observed the tanned male readily opening the door to his classroom as soon as he got there. He released a quick sigh and started following him.

 

“Yo, Kagami!” yelled Aomine as soon as he stepped inside of the classroom. The redhead only turned his face on his direction and stared at him. However, he suddenly got up and started running in his direction. “Oh-oh~ Were you this anxious to see me~?”

 

“Kuroko!” yelled Kagami, ignoring completely the tanned male by passing by him and walking straight to the bluenette that was entering inside of the classroom. “How are you? Did that bastard Akashi do anything bad to you after we left that room? Woah, Aomine really wasn’t kidding when he said you had bite marks on your neck! …Oh yes, hi to you too, Aomine. And what happened to your hair? Did that asshole cut it?”

 

“Kagami-kun, if you make so many questions at the same time, I won’t be able to answer any,” deadpanned Kuroko, skirting around both the redhead and the tanned male to go sit in his seat.

 

“Oh, right. Sorry…” apologized Kagami, following after the bluenette and sitting in his seat too, the one in front of the smaller male.

 

“Hey, how come you’re ignoring me, Kagami!?” asked Aomine in a blunt manner, feeling irked that the redhead was paying more attention to the bluenette than to him. Though it was comprehensible, since Kagami had been worried about him since he left that room in Akashi’s building. However, just because it was comprehensible, it didn’t mean he had to like it. “He’s the one who can become the invisible man, so why did you see him first than me!?”

 

“Dude, calm down. You almost sound jealous,” half joked Kagami, after releasing a soft sigh. “And I said hi, didn’t I?”

 

“Argh, whatever! I only came to say hello anyway, so…” _So, put the plan on motion already, you idiot!,_ continued inwardly the tanned male, trying to pass the message to the redhead telepathically as he gave quick glances to the smaller male disguisedly.

 

 _I’m on it!,_ answered Kagami in the back of his mind, giving a short nod with his head when he understood what all those disguised glances to the bluenette meant. He cleared his throat and turned around to Kuroko. “Oh, actually, it’s a good thing that you came here, Aomine.”

 

“What is it?” asked Aomine, entering in the non-planed dialogue where he already knew all the lines that would exit both his and the redhead’s mouth.

 

“I was thinking of inviting Kuroko to have dinner in my house today,” continued Kagami, switching his gaze between the two ‘Users’ near him. “What do you think, Kuroko? Wanna taste some more of my delicious food?”

 

“Um…” started Kuroko, but the redhead readily interrupted him before he could continue.

 

“Yeah, I know, I know. You probably can’t go outside of Teikou without permission or without one of the ‘Miracles’, right?” added Kagami, sensing that it was that that the bluenette was going to point out. “That’s where this idiot comes in! If Aomine comes with us, there’s no problem. So, will you?”

 

“…” Kuroko switched his gaze between the two taller males, who were looking intently at him. The most correct choice would be to decline that offer. He had decided to start distancing himself from others, after all. But he just couldn’t refuse the invitation that way – he had to find another excuse. “I’m sorry, Kagami-kun, but I don’t think that’s possible. Akashi-kun doesn’t want me to go to the dorms with anyone except him, and I don’t want him to hurt you again. Nor you nor Aomine-kun.”

 

“Ah…” Kagami peered down at his still bandaged and slightly swollen hand, and then looked right back to the smaller male. “Oh, you don’t have to worry about this! It’s almost healed. Two more days eating like a horse and my hand will be like new! My ability is enhancing my body, remember?”

 

“And Akashi’s not a problem at the moment, is he?” added Aomine, picking on his ear. “He’s in Kyoto right now and will only return at night. As long as we return to Fuyu before he arrives, there won’t be any problem whatsoever. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Or us, in this case…”

 

“Even so… I don’t think it’s…” continued Kuroko, but Aomine suddenly lowered his head and started whispering in his ear.

 

“C’mon, Kuroko! This will probably be the only opportunity I have to sneak inside of Kagami’s house and see if he has any porn magazines hidden somewhere,” said Aomine in a soft whisper, a leering smirk on his face. “I also want to try his food. So do me this lil’ favor, will ya?”

 

“…” Kuroko stared with a blank face to the tanned male as he straightened his stance once again, the mischievous grin still present in his face as the redhead looked at them with a questioning expression on his face.

 

The bluenette knew he had to keep acting the same way as before, even if he had to put more distance between him and others. So, continuing to try to refuse Kagami’s invitation would start to lift some suspicion that he was planning something. The “Miracles” could even start to think that he was planning on running away and would once again restrict his movements to only Fuyu or, worse yet, put him under constant surveillance one more time.

 

And Aomine was right. If Akashi didn’t know he had gone to Kagami’s apartment once again and returned to Fuyu before the heterochromatic redhead arrived from Kyoto, then they would only need to keep the dinner a secret and there would be no chance of someone coming hurt out of it.

 

“…” Observing the other two ‘Users’ looking over at him while they waited for his answer, the bluenette released a quick sigh. “Okay, I’ll go have dinner at your house, Kagami-kun.”

 

 _Though it will be the last time,_ mumbled Kuroko inwardly as he continued to silently observe the other males animatedly chatting about what they would prepare for dinner.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Start it right away" by Hyadain.
> 
> And so the angst continues :(  
> But damn! Bakagami and Ahomine are the best to lighten the heavy mood. And now their little plan is fully set on motion. Muwahahahaha!
> 
> Oh and I'll give you a warning beforehand. Start strengthening your hearts for the next chapter. writing it made me momentarily enter inside of a depressing mode (one sort of similar to the emo mode of Bokuto in HQ!! but less dramatic). It broke my heart and I know it will break yours too. But we'll survive it! (I hope... *sniff*)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	72. I was torn to pieces in my collapsing world, my consciousness wandering aimlessly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> I hope you had a good New Year :D I spent it writing and eating sweets :P (which I probably won't eat for a while... ugh...)
> 
> Anyway... It highly pains me that this chapter in particular will be the first one of 2017... Please prepare yourselves. I advice that you have a video of cats falling or a very funny comedy episode ready to watch afterwards because... Oh god... *runs off crying*
> 
> Well, enjoy! (if it's even possible to do such...)

Akashi had lost count of how many times he had climbed that hill. Lately, he had only been coming here once or twice a month, whenever his always busy and never-ending working schedule as the Head of “Miracles” and Student Council President allowed him to. However, there was a time when he came here every week, sometimes even more than once. He would just forget his sleep, get inside of the Shinkansen and come to Kyoto to spend a little bit of time with her.

 

And every time he did so, carrying the same bouquet of dark crimson roses that he handpicked personally from a local flower shop, his head was flooded by memories. All of his regrets came bubbling in from the depths of his mind and flashed inside of his brain, one by one. Luckily, they weren’t a lot, but the weight they had in him and how they radically changed his life were more than enough to devastate him at times. He was used to them already, seeing as he had been carrying some of them for almost half of his life, others since the day he was born… but that didn’t stop him from being slowly corrupted by the anguish that they represented in his life.

 

And so, plagued by his memories, Akashi continued to climb the hill. Each step he gave, each sound he heard, each movement around him that his heterochromatic eyes captured made him remember something.

 

Sometimes having a good memory could be a curse. He didn’t know how Momoi felt about her ability, perfect memory, but his own very good one was already a chore that he would gladly give away if provided with the chance. He was sure he could do his work just as well if he didn’t have it. Maybe do it even better than he already did, since it would mean he would not be constantly reminded of his past in such a precise and descriptive way.

 

Suddenly, he heard something break beneath his foot. When he looked down, he saw that a small twig had been broken in two underneath his weight. His skin crawled slightly at the sound it had made. It resembled so much the sound of human bones being broken in half.

 

The sound the twig had done made him recall _that_ night, so many years ago. The hollow sound of bones being crunched, the wet sound of organs being ripped from the insides of another human being’s body, the joints being twisted one by one, the dribbling of the surprisingly large amount of blood that an adult had stored inside of their body… All of it felt as sickening as it had felt _that_ night.

 

The scenario in Tokyo during the “Bloody Night” had reminded him a lot of the events of _that_ night, though the amount of blood that had been shed was much bigger. The suffering that the victims of the “Bloody Night” had felt probably hadn’t been bigger than of his own victim, but the fear must have been crippling. Whereas his victim hadn’t planned on dying _that_ night, the victims of the “Bloody Night” knew from the very beginning that their chances of surviving such horrid spectacle were extremely slim, if not completely null.

 

‘It was to protect her.’ ‘It was to protect my own life.’ ‘It was for the best, since we lived happily afterwards.’ ‘I had no other choice than doing it.’

 

‘He made me do it.’

 

Akashi had repeated those words, those _excuses_ , time and time again. However, the guilt and regret he felt for his own actions never alleviated, much less disappeared. His nights and dreams were still coated by memories of the life he had lived before his _awakening_ and the events of _that_ night. What happened in the “Bloody Night” only was added years later, but it also become one of the most regretted events of his life.

 

Not the “Bloody Night” itself, but what he lost because of it.

 

With two more steps, the redhead reached the top of the hill and his heterochromatic eyes immediately stopped in his goal. Before him was a small, private graveyard, only used by those who had enough money to guarantee the small amount of that privileged land that the grave would occupy.

 

He passed through the big iron gates and followed the same path that he was used to cross, the big trees in between the graves shading him. After walking for a few minutes, the bouquet still tightly held in his hands, he came to a stop in front of a medium construction of several stone blocks, the name “Akashi Shiori” craved in the front side of the biggest block.

 

“Hello, Mother,” greeted Akashi, giving a quick bow with his head. He lowered his body and softly distributed the bouquet of roses on the two side flower pots, removing the old and dry ones. Taking a group of incense sticks from a small pouch he was carrying with him, the redhead lighted them and put them in their respective place. “I apologize for this being all that I can bring you today, but as you should be aware of, I don’t have a lot of time in my hands today.”

 

Akashi got up once again and softly closed his eyes, clasping his hands as he recited some prayers in his head. After a few minutes of silence dedicated to send his greetings to where his mother’s soul rested, he lowered his hands and opened his eyes, a soft smile on his features.

 

“Once again, I apologize for taking this long to come to visit you, Mother,” started the redhead, observing the smoke of the incense surrounding both his body and the grave. “You see, Tetsuya brings nothing but trouble, unfortunately. I guess in that aspect he’s nothing like me. Though there are some similarities in that regard with my other self, as you know so well. And I don’t really want to leave him by himself. His skin may be all perfect and pretty, but inside he’s full of nasty cuts and scars. That must be our biggest similarity. However, I have a feeling that he went through much more than I did. Probably much more than any of us two went through. Well, I may be talking about him like this, but you met him under completely different circumstances, didn’t you? After all... Tetsuya was the one who killed you.”

 

A sudden gust of wind coursed through the entirety of the cemetery, scattering the leaves that were in the ground and the smoke of the incense, almost as if wanting to carry those words to a faraway place. The redhead motioned his hand forward and straightened the rose that was almost knocked outside of the pot due to the wind.

 

“I’m sorry, Mother. I couldn’t carry out my promise with you until the very end,” apologized Akashi, returning his body to the same position he was in. He softly chuckled and then a serious demeanor appeared in his features. “Yes, I know… I always say the same thing whenever I come to visit you. However… this time I won’t fail. I won’t let anyone else die, be it for whatever reason it may be. I won’t lose anyone else in my life, much less Tetsuya, who I want to protect, even if at the cost of my own. After all… letting you die in the ‘Bloody Night’ was my first and last mistake.”

 

Akashi gave one more lingering look to the grave and the red roses now displayed there and closed his eyes, sending one last prayer to Heaven, where surely the soul of his mother was resting in peace, watching over him.

 

“Well then. I must leave now, Mother,” added the redhead, opening once again his eyes. “I’ll try to visit you again when I have time on my hands. Though I can’t say things are completely calm at the moment, there aren’t a lot of urgent matters that I must give priority to. Maybe next time I’ll bring Tetsuya with me. I’m sure you want to properly meet the person I’m in love with, after all. Though he probably won’t be very happy of coming to visit the grave of someone he killed. It may take some time until that happens. Please be patient until then.”

 

Akashi took a step backwards and gave one more bow to his mother’s grave. He then turned around and started walking the same shaded path he had taken to arrive there.

 

He tightly closed his eyes and clenched his fists, the recurrent memory of the weight of his mother’s cold, bloodied and lifeless body on his arms while he crossed that destructed street of Tokyo during the “Bloody Night” flashing inside of his brain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "DOUBLE CORE" by Kamiya Hiroshi - our grieving Akashi-kun :'(
> 
> Well, the things that were revealed in this chapter are... Maybe some of you had already considered such a thing, right? But even so... WHY DO I DO THIS!? WHY MUST I MAKE MY LOVELY KNB CHARACTERS SUFFER LIKE THIS!? Ugh... This fic is the ultimate sadism and masochism on my behalf...
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	73. I don't need you to tell me that, I get it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> So now that we experienced heart-break with the last chapter, let's lighten up the mood a little bit. But just a liiiiiiiiitle bit! Because.... AoKaga plan is really starting with this chapter! Yay XD
> 
> Well enjoy :D

“Ugh, why are classes such a bore?” complained Kagami, stretching his arms above his head. After dropping them again, he started cracking his neck, releasing all the tension that had accumulated there due to being in the same position for a long period of time. “This school is for ‘Users’! Shouldn’t they give classes more… I don’t know, more physical and less theoretical? I mean, why do I care about what Date Masamune and Tokigawa Ieyasu did some centuries ago!?”

 

“It’s To _ku_ gawa, not Tokigawa,” corrected Kuroko, giving a quick chuckle. After having spent the entire day with the redhead and having talked with him through all breaks between classes and lunch time, he now understood why Aomine had called him ‘Bakagami’ when they arrived to the high school section of Teikou. _Though, well, Aomine-kun is also an idiot, so it’s sort of funny how he nicknamed Kagami-kun in that way._

 

“I don’t give a rat’s ass about how he’s called! …Oh, there’s the dirty old man.” Spotting Aomine leisurely spinning a basketball in his fingers while absentmindedly staring up to the sky, Kagami raised his hand and started waving it to the tanned male. “Hey, Aomine! Are you ready to go?”

 

“Yo!” greeted Aomine, motioning the ball up in the air and catching it afterwards with one hand. After putting it underneath his arm, he started walking over in the two smaller ‘Users’ direction, a bored expression on his face. “I’ve been ready for hours now! Why did you take so long?”

 

“We go to classes like we are supposed to, Aomine-kun. Not like a certain someone who just skips them to go play basketball,” deadpanned Kuroko.

 

“They are too boring. I prefer to move my body in the basketball court instead of staying stuffed inside of a classroom hearing about things that will be of no use to me in the future,” pointed out the tanned male, picking on his ear as they all started to walk through the path that lead to the main entrance of Teikou Academy.

 

“I so agree with you,” added Kagami, sighing in a tired manner as he once again cracked his neck sideways. “Aren’t you a member of the Student Council? Can’t you do something about the classes?”

 

“I’m a ‘Miracle’. I can skip whatever classes I want and they won’t tell me anything against it. So why should I try to change them?” answered Aomine, looking sideways to the redhead. “And I may be a part of the Student Council, but the ones who deals with most of the work there are Akashi and Midorima. Murasakibara, Kise and I mostly do other types of jobs, if you get my drift. Besides, after the old man Shirogane-san died, I haven’t met with the new headmaster yet. I don’t even know who it is.”

 

“You sure do your work in a half-heartedly way…” sighed Kagami, raising slightly an eyebrow at the taller male’s words.

 

“Shut it!” barked Aomine, glaring slightly at the other male. “I do what I’m told and don’t cause a lot of trouble while I’m at it. And I only hear others complaining when I’m slacking off while on duty.”

 

“Uwah… Do you even notice what you’re saying?” pointed out Kagami, a part of him baffled that the tanned male hadn’t noticed that what he was telling him wasn’t exactly positive any way he looked at it. “Oh, wait! Is Kuroko still here? I haven’t heard him speak for a while.”

 

“I’m here,” answered the bluenette, suddenly popping up in the two taller male’s field of view.

 

Both Kagami and Aomine yelped in surprise at the smaller male’s abrupt appearance, jumping slightly.

 

“Do you really have to do that all the time?” complained Aomine, trying to calm down his quickened heartbeat due to the slight scare that the other male gave him. “I already know you don’t talk all that much, but at least keep giving signs that you’re around and haven’t disappeared to god knows where. I really don’t wanna face Akashi if you run away while under my watch…”

 

“…I don’t plan on running away…” softly added Kuroko, down-casting slightly his gaze. He wanted it to be truth, but he knew that his lie would one day be applied. The bluenette felt that the time was slipping between his fingers, so as soon as he managed to control better his ability, through the means of whatever training Akashi would come up with, Kuroko would secretly leave Teikou for good, taking with him the ticking bomb that he was as well as those life threatening letters. _It’s not like I have any other choice._

 

“I have to agree with Aomine that you’re not the chatty type, but you’ve been way too quiet today,” pointed out Kagami, an eyebrow slightly raised while he looked intently at the bluenette. “Is there something worrying you?”

 

“…”

 

“Well, they do say that distance makes the heart grow fonder, right?” teased Aomine, a sly smirk tugging his lips upwards as he peered sideways to the smaller male. “You haven’t seen Akashi all day. Are you missing having that guy constantly around?”

 

“…” Kuroko gave a quick sideway glance to the smirking ‘User’ and then returned his gaze to the path that lead to Seirin Dorm, which he knew so well that they could ask him to do it with his eyes closed and it would be like he had them open. “No, I’m not.”

 

Kuroko couldn’t really say he was missing Akashi, but it was slightly strange not having him around after his perpetual presence during weeks. Besides, he was regretting slightly having behaved in that way when the heterochromatic redhead came to his bedroom that morning. All Akashi did was worry about him and allow him to go to that paradisiacal place whenever he wanted. And what was that he gave him in return? Harsh words and a door almost slammed in the face.

 

“Man, aren’t you a cold one?” continued Aomine, starting to feel a tinge of pity towards the heterochromatic redhead. “You lead him on and then _bam!_ , you cut him off cold turkey! What are you exactly after, Kuroko?”

 

“…” The bluenette continued to walk, always keeping his eyes on the road. “I’m after something that I can never obtain while with you: freedom.”

 

“Freedom is such a subjective thing,” started Kagami, putting his hands behind his head, his school bag hanging in one of them and softly bumping in his broad back with the motion of his body. “Even caged birds are free, in a way. They are free to sing, to eat and drink the food and water their owner gives them, and, most important of all, they are free to continue to live.”

 

“…” Both Kuroko and Aomine looked at the redhead with a surprised look on their faces. None of them had expected to hear from Kagami’s mouth words that defended and acknowledged Akashi’s method of ‘safe-keeping’ the ‘User’ known as ‘The Phantom’.

 

“What? Don’t go thinking that just because I said all this I agree with what that bastard is doing to Kuroko,” defended himself the redhead, a frown surfacing in his features. “Not only he kept Kuroko in almost complete isolation for weeks, he does… that… type of… Argh, I just don’t like his methods, okay!? And I’m in no way defending him on it!”

 

“Okay, okay. I see that the dislike is mutual, then…” sighed Aomine, trying to calm down the almost raging mad male.

 

“Yeah? But I wouldn’t try to break his wrist, even if I don’t like his guts,” continued fuming Kagami, dropping his hands down from behind his head in an angry motion. “I bet he’s constantly forcing Kuroko to do whatever he wants, not respecting his space at all. I can imagine that, wherever he goes, he follows him like a wolf salivating to take a bite of the little rabbit that is walking leisurely in the forest, going about on its life.”

 

“Akashi-kun doesn’t force me to do anything,” suddenly pointed out Kuroko. When he noticed that there wasn’t any sort of reply coming from the two taller males, he turned around and looked over at them, an almost flabbergasted expression in their faces. The bluenette softly cleared his throat and turned around once again, continuing to walk to Seirin, the building already in sight. “Well, he did force me to answer his questions for a period of time, but now he doesn’t. And he gives me choices to make, even if they are probably a manipulation on his side. The rest is just…”

 

 _Just…?,_ repeated Aomine and Kagami inwardly, anxious to continue listening to what the smaller male was going to say in regards of the time and space he shared with the heterochromatic redhead.

 

“It’s just his dictator-like personality, where he’s only satisfied when he gets what he wants. And when he doesn’t, he sulks and starts looking at me all puppy-eyed, thinking that I will change my mind and give in to what he wants. The biggest problem is that his puppy-eyed act works,” continued Kuroko, a completely blank look on his face as he stepped inside of Seirin dorm.

 

“…” Both Kagami and Aomine just continued staring to the smaller male as he disappeared inside of the dorm, their jaws dropped almost to the floor. “I think that’s the first time I’ve heard Kuroko talk that much in one go.”

 

“You know him longer than me, Kagami, so if you say so, I’ll fuckin’ believe you…” acknowledged Aomine, still in stupefaction. “And didn’t he almost sound like…”

 

“Like someone bragging about the lovey-dovey moments they spend with their other half?” interrupted the redhead, completing the sentence of the tanned male.

 

“Yeah, that,” acknowledged Aomine again. Both of them suddenly looked at each other, their eyes almost popping out of their sockets as reality came sinking in. “Holy shit! Kuroko just now sounded like he’s—“

 

“In a freaking love relationship with Akashi, the asshole, and that they—“

 

“Actually get along with each other, even though they are arguing non-stop when others are around.”

 

After finishing each other sentences in an almost planned out away, Kagami and Aomine turned around to the dorm in a hasty manner and started running in its direction, their heads still spinning one hundred miles an hour as they thought of how exactly such miracle had happened.

 

-.-

 

“Okay, before I open the door to my apartment…” started Kagami, his big body in front of his apartment’s front door. He immediately looked over to the tanned male and pointed his finger to him. “If you want to eat, you will help in the cooking! You too, Kuroko.”

 

“Eeeh… I don’t wanna…” started complaining Aomine, picking on his ear. “You were the one who invited us, why should I need to help you cooking?”

 

Kagami lifted his bandaged hand and got it closer to the taller male’s face, an eyebrow slightly raised as he looked over at him with an expression that said ‘Because it’s your buddy’s fault that my hand is like this’.

 

“Ugh… Okay, I get it! I’ll help you!” conceded Aomine, releasing a tired sigh. “But I’ll let you know beforehand – I have close to zero skills in the kitchen!”

 

“What? Are you a mama’s boy who still doesn’t know how to take care of himself?” teased the redhead, a small smirk surfacing in his features.

 

“…” Aomine immediately glared at the other male due to the words that exited his mouth, making him flinch just the slightest. Then he motioned his hand up and started scratching his head, averting his eyes from him. “Every time I thought of preparing my own meals, Satsuki would interrupt me and make the food herself. I didn’t want to die from food poisoning, so I gave up on cooking.”

 

“Huh? Food poisoning?” asked Kagami, completely lost on the conversation. If he understood the relationship between Aomine and Momoi Satsuki correctly, they were childhood friends and knew each other even before coming to Teikou Academy. So why would Momoi try to poison him?

 

“Don’t worry, Aomine-kun,” suddenly spoke out Kuroko, a proud glint in his eyes as he looked at the tanned male with his expressionless face. “I also don’t know how to cook. But nobody makes better boiled eggs than me.”

 

“That doesn’t make me feel any better, you smartass!” growled Aomine with a grin on his face, lunging his hand forward to ruffle the smaller male’s blue locks of hair.

 

“That hurts, Aomine-kun. Please don’t touch my head like that,” complained Kuroko, a dissatisfied look on his face as he motioned his hand up to move the other male’s hand out of his head, ending the prickling sensation on the process.

 

“Yeah? It’s your own fault, you lil’ prick! Think twice next time you want to tease me!” added Aomine, skirting his hand around the bluenette’s so he could continue to ruffle his hair, this time with even more strength.

 

“Please stop, Aomine-kun. My hair is already hard to tame as it is. Please don’t make it harder on me,” continued to complain Kuroko, moving his other hand up to fight against the tanned male’s ministrations on his head, the shadow of a smile starting to pull the corner of his lips upwards.

 

“No can do! I need to teach you how to behave around me, Te—“ Aomine suddenly took his hand off of the smaller male’s head and moved it to his own head, a bold of electricity striking inside of his brain once again. His face twisted with pain, he turned around and took a deep breath. “Ah… Well, we should start preparing dinner, right? Unless we want to eat at midnight. And by that time, Akashi will already be back to Tokyo so we’ll be in danger if that happens.”

 

“Yeah, better hurry up,” acknowledged Kagami, nodding his head in agreement. He turned around and took the key out of his pants’ pocket to unlock the door. He readily stepped inside, followed by Kuroko, who threw a quizzical look at the tanned male on his way inside. “Well, come on in. And try not to make a mess of my place.”

 

“…” Aomine stayed in the same place, his hand stuck to the side of his head as his heartbeat was in a total frenzy. But it wasn’t only the odd behavior of his heart or the pain that was being inflicted on his brain that were bemusing him.

 

_What was I going to say? “Te”? What was I going to say before this fucking pain started again?_

 

“Damn it!” Exasperated, Aomine dropped his hand down violently, a deep frown on his face. Things were starting to go awry once again. He really wanted to refrain himself from being looked at by Midorima or any other doctor in the hospital, but if the pain persisted and it started to affect his daily life once again, he would have no other choice than doing it. Both Momoi and Akashi wouldn’t give him _any_ choice other than doing it.

 

“Aomine? What are you doing, dude? Come inside already!” called Kagami from inside of his apartment, waking up the taller male from his thinking.

 

The tanned male took a deep breath and relaxed the frown that had installed itself in his features. He grabbed the side of door and stepped inside of the apartment, slowly closing it behind him. Just like he shut down his own thoughts on that matter for now.

 

_For some reason, when I’m around Kuroko I feel those bolts of pain more frequently. Does his ability interfere with my body in some way?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Start it right away" by Hyadain.
> 
> Hehehe~ Kagami and Aomine are starting to understand a lot of things about our AkaKuro, aren't they? XD However... Aomine!!!! *sob* Please hurry up and remember Kuroko!! I miss hearing you call him Tetsu! And Kuroko obviously misses it too, seeing that he almost fully smiled when you were tousling his hair. T.T
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	74. I can't say for sure yet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> Decision making was never one of my strong traits. But if we are faced with two choices and one of them enables you to finally be able to achieve an old dream of ours... I don't think there's a lot to think about anymore, right? And it's as I usually say - keep your eyes on the future ahead, because the past won't matter anymore once you get there.
> 
> Anyway, I'll stop my grumbling now. Let's move on to some bromance, shall we? And things will start to heat up in the chapters following this one~ (in both the good and bad sense of the word...) Use this upcoming weekend to stock up on tissue boxes, because starting Sunday you'll need them - for the two reasons that you know so well ^.^
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

“Okay, guys. The mission is the following,” started explaining Kagami to both Aomine and Kuroko, all of them inside of the kitchen area of his apartment. “I will deal with the stove. I don’t trust any of you with it. Kuroko, you will start with the vegetables since you don’t seem all that bad while dealing with kitchenware… and you said you knew how to boil eggs, so vegetables won’t be all that hard to do. Aomine, you will season and prepare the meat according to the instructions I will give you. I don’t have the correct ingredients to make Teriyaki Burgers, like you requested, but we can at least make hamburger steaks.”

 

“I’m on it!” answered Aomine, motioning his hand up to teasingly salute the ‘orders’ he was receiving. “Let’s start cooking already. All the talking we had to decide what we would do made me hungry as hell!”

 

All of them went over to their respective positions in the small kitchenette and started working on their own tasks. Kagami, peering sideways to the bluenette, noted that he seemed to be faring well in the washing of the vegetables so he turned around to start giving the instructions to the tanned male.

 

“Aomine, I’ve written here the measuring of the ingredients,” directed Kagami, giving a small piece of paper to the taller male. “You basically put the panko in this bowl, add milk to it and then stir. After it’s well mixed, you add the meat, the onion that Kuroko is preparing right n— Woah, Kuroko, what the hell are you doing!?”

 

“Eh? I’m going to cut the onion,” answered the bluenette, looking up from the vegetable to the redhead with a kitchen knife in his hand.

 

“The way you’re holding the knife, you almost look like you’re going to murder someone cold blooded!” yelped Kagami, staring at the hand of the smaller male that was holding the knife, in a way that almost seemed he was going to stab something and not chop an onion. A sudden shudder ran down his spine and he quickly started to walk in his direction, taking the knife immediately out of his hand. “You know what? I think you should just set the table and let me and Aomine deal with the cooking.”

 

“Eh? Why?” asked Kuroko, tilting slightly his head while he looked over to the redhead.

 

“Because if you lose a finger or worse while cooking with me, I think a certain someone would put me inside of a meat mincer and then feed me to lions,” added Kagami, a cold sweat already covering his hands as he softly pushed Kuroko away from the kitchenette.

 

“Oh fuck, kick him out of here! Now!” yelped Aomine too, realizing how much of a danger it was to put Kuroko, a completely rookie in the kitchen arts, preparing dinner with them. They would experience an extremely slow death by Akashi’s hands if even a scratch appeared on his skin. “Kuroko, just stay far, faaaaar away from the kitchen for now and entertain yourself with the TV or something.”

 

“I’m _not_ a child,” pouted Kuroko, crossing his arms over his chest while skirting around the counter and stopping there to continue staring at the two taller males. “Why is it that everyone treats me like this? Akashi-kun is the same. I’m 15 years old and I’ve lived by myself since I was—“

 

Hearing the bluenette suddenly cutting his own dialogue, Aomine and Kagami looked backwards in his direction and saw him looking intently down to the counter, a strained expression on his face. They exchanged glances and turned back around to the ingredients they were going to prepare.

 

“Kuroko,” called the redhead, fiddling with the vegetables that the smaller male was supposed to prepare for their dinner. He lifted one of his hands and pointed to the fridge with his thumb. “There’s a vanilla milkshake in there. It was only supposed to be for after dinner, but since you’re not doing anything right now, entertain yourself by watching us cooking while drinking it. You may learn how to cook, or at least how to not mutilate yourself while doing so, by observing us, right?”

 

“…” Kuroko lifted his head once again and stared to the back of the redhead for a few seconds, softly smiling while walking to the fridge afterwards. “Thank you, Kagami-kun.”

 

“No need to thank me,” grumbled Kagami under his breath. He had invited the bluenette to have dinner at his apartment with plans other than feeding him, so as to not feel even guiltier, he could at least have the other male’s favorite drink at his disposal. “Here, Aomine. The onion is ready. Add it to the mixture you already did. And now here it comes the dirty part of cooking. You have to mix it with your hands.”

 

“Ehh… No way…” complained the tanned male, looking over at the redhead with a dissatisfied expression on his face. “Mixing it with a spoon is okay, but touching on minced meat with my hands after what you said earlier will make me lose my appetite for the next few weeks.”

 

“Stop whining and do it!” admonished Kagami, lunging his hand in the other male’s direction. He grabbed his wrist and put his hand inside of the bowl with the minced meat and other ingredients.

 

“Ah! You bastard! What do you think you’re doing!?” roared Aomine, looking over to the redhead one more time, his face painted with half anger, half repugnance at the feeling of the moist and squashy meat. “Ugh… This is disgusting in so many levels…”

 

“Oh c’mon, don’t be a baby about it! Just mix that already. The quicker you do it, the quicker you get to take your hands off of the meat,” retaliated Kagami, rolling slightly his eyes at the tanned male’s reaction.

 

“I will, I will. But… ugh… so weird…” complained Aomine one more time, starting to mix the minced meat with the other ingredients, first in an hesitant way, but quickly gaining rhythm to it as he got used to the contact with the mixture.

 

“…” Kuroko intently observed the two taller males as they continued to cook while leisurely slurping his milkshake from behind the counter. “Aomine-kun and Kagami-kun sure look like a newly-wed couple while cooking.”

 

“Wha—!?” yelped Kagami at the bluenette’s innocent comment, almost letting the knife he had on his hand slip from his grip when looking backward to him, his mouth almost dropping to the floor with the shock those words caused in him.

 

“Oh-ho! Kagami, try saying this! ‘Which would you like first, Daiki-san? A bath? Dinner? Or m~e~<3’,” teased Aomine, using an extremely girly way of talking while saying the quotation.

 

“While wearing the same apron you used to cook for me before,” also teased Kuroko, hiding his growing small smirk by putting the straw once again in his mouth.

 

“Eh~ So Kagami usually uses an apron to cook, huh?” continued the tanned male, the smirk on his features widening considerably as he exchanged his glance between the two smaller male. “Damn, I really want to see that! Kagami, go put it on.”

 

“No way!” complained the redhead, his face starting to heat up with the slight blush that appeared in his cheeks.

 

“I’ll go get it for you, Kagami-kun. Where do you keep it hidden when other people are in your apartment?” asked Kuroko, a completely innocent expression on his face even with the continuation of the teasing exiting his mouth.

 

“Will you two stop ganging up on me already!?” yelled Kagami, his blush even more accentuated. “I will _not_ put any apron on! And I will kick you two out if you continue this conversation! Without eating your hamburger steaks, Aomine, and without finishing your vanilla milkshake, Kuroko!”

 

“Ugh… Okay, we’ll stop,” conceded Aomine, rolling slightly his eyes while looking back to the bowl with the minced meat mixture. However, when he looked sideways to the redhead, a soft smile appeared on his features when he saw him grumbling under his breath with his cheeks still flushed. “Anything you wish, darling~”

 

“Shut up with it already, Aomine, or I will really kick you out!” roared Kagami one more time, trying to glare threateningly to the tanned male while still blushing.

 

“Well, I said that, but Kagami-kun is already promised to someone, right?” suddenly pointed out Kuroko, returning once again to slurp on his milkshake. When the two taller males looked backwards with surprise written in their faces, including the redhead, the smaller male took the straw out of his mouth and continued. “You always wear a ring on a necklace around your neck, don’t you?”

 

“Ah… This?” asked Kagami, taking from the inside of his shirt a silver chain that was around his neck, securing a ring in the middle of it. “Oh no, no! This was a gift from my brother, not from a lover or something like that.”

 

“Brother? I didn’t know you had a brother, Kagami,” pointed out Aomine, his body relaxing once again as an unexpected wave of relieve flooded his insides starting from the moment the redhead explained who the ring had come from.

 

“Well… he’s not my brother per se… We were just raised by the same teacher after we both lost our parents,” explained Kagami, focusing once again in the cooking after having put the chain inside of his shirt again. “But I haven’t seen him in years. We are kinda having an argument right now so we are not even on speaking terms. He’s probably still in America, so my probabilities of seeing him until I graduate from Teikou are very slim.”

 

“I see…” murmured Aomine, shaking his hand slightly to take the small pieces of meat that were stuck to his skin. He then looked over to the redhead and, instead of asking for more about his past, he decided to continue to focus on their dinner. “What’s the next step?”

 

“Oh… Divide the meat into different patties and put them on that empty plate,” explained Kagami, a little bit surprised that there were no more questions directed his way about him or his brother. “The rest will be done by me. You can go wash your hands now.”

 

“Ugh… No need to tell me that twice,” acknowledged Aomine, sticking his tongue out in disgust while quickly motioning over to the sink to take the moistness of the minced meat out of his hands. “Do you need a hand on anything else? Well, except on minced meat, of course. I won’t touch any raw meat in the next few months, that’s for sure…”

 

“Heh! No need,” proudly stated Kagami, a smirk erupting on his features as he looked backwards to both the tanned male and the bluenette. “Now it’s time to really get the cooking showdown started! Watch how pros do it!”

 

Even with one of his hands damaged due to the heterochromatic redhead, Kagami quickly and masterfully put all the necessary ingredients in the frying pan and made dish after dish, not even one second wasted in between handling the prepared ingredients, the plating and switching to finish the next dish.

 

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to cook like that…” expressionlessly pointed out Kuroko to the tanned male, who stopped next to him behind the counter, while intently observing the movements of the redhead.

 

“Yeah, he probably will make a better wife than you ever will,” teased Aomine with a smirk, also peering over to Kagami, who was plating one more side dish.

 

“…” Kuroko sideways glared to the taller male and then shifted his gaze once again to the cooking display in front of him, continuing to drink the little bit of milkshake still present in the plastic cup. “Don’t let Kagami-kun hear you say that. His food is delicious and I’m hungry. I don’t want to be thrown out of his apartment because of your big mouth.”

 

“Too late, I already heard him saying that,” suddenly spoke Kagami, continuing forth with the frying. Aomine immediately straightened his back at his words and, seeing that when peering slightly to the other two ‘Users’, the redhead gave a quick chuckle. “What did you expect? My ability is enhancing my build so my hearing sense is as good as a tiger’s. I’m constantly hearing what my neighbors are watching on the TV, which sucks when I want to sleep. Though I have absolutely no complains about Kuroko. I didn’t even know that his apartment was being used.”

 

“I will take that as a compliment, Kagami-kun,” deadpanned the bluenette, his slurping coming to an end as the drink inside of the cup also finished.

 

“Really? He sure made a lot of noise last night,” pointed out the tanned male, raising slightly an eyebrow as he switched his gaze between the small bluenette and the redhead. “Kuroko gave me a huge scare when I was starting to drift off on my sleep and he just suddenly decided to start yelling.”

 

“…”

 

“Yelling? Were you arguing with someone, Kuroko?” asked Kagami, putting one more plate on the counter and then turning off the stove. The bluenette was usually so quiet and spoke so softly that he was having some difficulties picturing him yelling in the middle of the night without any reason for it.

 

“I don’t know what Aomine-kun is talking about. I went to bed and slept through the entire night,” lied Kuroko, playing with the straw of the plastic cup on his hands. “Weren’t you dreaming or something like that?”

 

“Ah… Hmm? Yes, maybe I was,” agreed the taller male, starting to think about what he had heard during the night. “I don’t really remember what you were yelling about. So it was probably me dreaming about it and waking up all on my own suddenly or whatever it was that happened.”

 

“You’re hopeless…” added the redhead, shaking slightly his head as he turned around and grabbed two plates with his hand. “Now let’s focus on eating. Everything is ready so let’s take the plates to the table and eat. You two! Get your asses moving and help me carry this to the table!”

 

“Okay,” acknowledged Kuroko, picking up two dishes filled with mountains of food. He readily turned around to take them to the table, but came to a sudden halt. “Ah… The table is not set yet, though.”

 

“What? Didn’t I told you to set the table, Kuroko?” asked Kagami in an admonishing tone while walking out of the kitchen area with the plates on his hands.

 

“But you told me to observe you two cooking. I can’t do two things at the same time,” deadpanned the bluenette, peering over to the taller male with an innocent glint on his teal eyes.

 

“Aren’t you quite the smartass…” sighed the redhead, rolling slightly his eyes. “Well, let’s just set the table real quick, then. If I don’t start putting food on my stomach soon, I’ll start having troubles with my ability.”

 

They put the plates back on the counter and started taking the tableware out of the cabinets in the kitchen. While the smaller male was entertained distributing the tableware through the seats in the table, Aomine got closer to Kagami.

 

“I’ve just texted Midorima and Murasakibara to warned them that I’m here at your apartment with Kuroko,” whispered Aomine, faking being busy adjusting some things on the cabinet to not raise suspicion on the bluenette. “From the looks of it, Akashi still hasn’t returned. And I used a little favor that I had in stock with Murasakibara, so as soon as Akashi arrives to Fuyu, he will know where Kuroko is.”

 

“God, now I’m starting to get worried,” whispered back Kagami, closing the cabinet. “I don’t know Akashi at all, but every time I was in his presence, he continuously glared at me like I was some sort of trash that he quickly needed to get rid of. I almost feel like he’s just searching for the right excuse to kill me. And all because I’m friends with Kuroko.”

 

“What about me?” suddenly asked Kuroko, appearing in front of the two taller males magically (actually, he had normally walked over in their direction – they simply didn’t notice him approaching them).

 

“Woah!” yelped the two ‘Users’ at the same time, jumping slightly at the bluenette’s appearance.

 

“Damn it, Kuroko! Stop scaring the shit out of me!” started admonishing Aomine, supporting his hand on the counter as he tried to control his thundering heart. “I have lost count of how many years you have shaved off of my life in the last few days…”

 

“It’s your fault you didn’t see me,” pointed out Kuroko, picking two plates with food from the counter and walking leisurely to the table to put them there. “If you two weren’t busy whispering with each other and were actually helping setting the table, you wouldn’t have had a few more years shaved off of your life.”

 

“I don’t care! Stop sneaking up on other people, you little ghost!” continued admonishing the tanned male, also grabbing some plates and motioning over to the table. Once there, he put the plates down and sat down on one of the chairs, crossing his arms over his chest in a sulking motion.

 

“Okay, okay, children. Stop the arguing already and let’s eat,” interrupted Kagami when Aomine was about to continue with his sulking dialogue about the bluenette’s ‘invisibility’. “Sit in the table after taking this, Kuroko.”

 

Kuroko silently picked two more plates and took them to the table, sitting in front of Aomine afterwards. Kagami soon joined them and started distributing the food for everyone.

 

“Kagami-kun, you’re putting too much food on my plate,” pointed out the bluenette, lifting his hand to stop the taller male from putting one more spoonful of vegetables stir-fry on his plate.

 

“You’re just so tiny that you need food in your body so you can grow taller,” teased the redhead, a smirk appearing on his features. “People will continue treating you like a brat because they think you are one when they see you.”

 

“My body was simply not made to become a muscle head like you or Aomine-kun,” pouted Kuroko, picking up his chopsticks and quickly delivering a thank you for the food. “I mean, what’s the problem of being of my height? I never had any trouble with it before. But, apparently, people are continuously reminding me that I’m smaller than them. As if I didn’t know that already. Akashi-kun is always teasing me about it too. Saying things like I need to eat all of my food or calling me cute or—“

 

“Ack—!” The moment Kagami finished chewing a chunk of hamburger steak and started swallowing it, he interrupted the bluenette, coughing desperately so he could unblock his trachea once again and breathe normally. In desperation, he lunged his hand forward and grabbed a glass with water, drinking it in one single gulp. “Kuroko… We’ll get there later… Let’s just eat now and talk about things that won’t kill me due to choking, okay?”

 

“Eh? O-Okay…?” answered Kuroko, completely lost in the conversation due to the redhead’s words. He tilted his head slightly when he put a little piece of shiitake mushroom on his mouth and chewed it with delight. _But why would we talk about this later?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "The Other self" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> LOL Kagami and Aomine's reaction when they discover that when Kuroko said he didn't knew how to cook he REALLY doesn't know how to and what possible dangers it might bright... priceless XD Our AoKuro duo teaming up to tease Kagami was nice to see too, wasn't it? Especially with the last chapter...
> 
> Oh, some of the things written in his chapter are foreshadowing (no pun intended) some events in the next few chapters~ I wonder if you can guess which ones, hehehe~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	75. You receive a written challenge from behind your eyelids

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> So, are you ready to get the show started? I sure am, fufufu~ Hehehe... Muwahahahahaha! *clears throat* Okay, I think I went a little bit into psycho mode myself -.-'
> 
> Well, enjoy ;D

Akashi was opening the door of the car that had gone to fetch him from the train station when his phone started to vibrate. He got out of the vehicle, closed the door and made a sign to the driver to allow him to leave. After the car was at a considerable distance, the redhead motioned his hand down to his pants’ pocket and took the phone out, pressing the button to answer the call without even looking to the name of the caller. He already knew who it would be.

 

“Satsuki, you’re calling right on time,” said Akashi almost immediately, entering inside of the school grounds through the main gate. “I just arrived to Teikou and I’m now going back to Fuyu.”

 

_“Oh! I hope you had a good trip to Kyoto,”_ cheerfully answered Momoi, a light background sound of a keyboard being pressed at an astonishing speed accompanying her voice. _“Was the Shinkansen full when you boarded it?”_

 

“Well, yes. But they opened an exception for me, like it usually happens, so there was no problems whatsoever,” added the redhead, walking in the almost desert grounds of the academy. “Anyway, I take it that you already finished what I asked you to do, correct? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have called.”

 

_“Ah, y-yes, I did,”_ hesitantly answered the pink haired girl, a slight tone of hesitation on her voice.

 

“And?”

 

_“Ah… Um… I-I obtained the same results that I had when I run that investigation on the mysterious student during the first week of school, which means, when I investigated Tetsu-kun,”_ started explaining Momoi, her voice extremely nervous. She was probably feeling awkward for failing in this mission that had been handed over to her, since her main function in Teikou was to gather information on other ‘Users’, humans and corporations by the means of her ability. _“However, I did find someone that matches the requisites that you gave me. Even though all I could find was a copy of an old family registry. Aside from that… it was almost like he never existed in the first place.”_

 

“…” Akashi already knew that whenever Kuroko was concerned, things never went the way he wanted them to. But the constant mystery that surrounded literally everything regarding the bluenette’s past was something that could still surprise him at times. If he managed to put Kuroko trusting him and he told him all of it himself, it would be an extremely good thing; however, it could take months, even years for that to happen. And time was probably something that was running against him, not on his favor. “Then what was the data you got on him?”

 

_“His name is Ogiwara Shigehiro, born on August 10 th of the same year as us. So he’s 15 years old,”_ continued Momoi, talking in a concise and easy to understand way, almost as if she had known this information since the day she was born. _“I contacted the family members that were appointed in the family registry, however… ‘I’m sorry but we don’t have anyone in our family with that name. There must be some sort of mistake’ was the answer I got from the parents. The rest of his family said the same thing. It was just… creepy. They almost seemed to have been programmed to answer that way if someone asked them about Ogiwara-kun.”_

 

“…”

 

_“Akashi-kun… Does this involve Tetsu-kun?”_ suddenly asked the pink haired girl.

 

“Why do you ask?” asked back the redhead, an eyebrow slightly raised for having been made such a question. He knew Momoi was sort of interested in Kuroko since the time she took almost one week gathering data on him and all she got out of it was two pages of outdated information. And it was no wonder. If she did research on something, she easily gathered all the data on it in a matter of hours, sometimes even minutes.

 

_“Because…”_ Momoi suddenly stopped speaking and Akashi could understand that she was going to drop some sort of bad news, the way she was hesitating this much about it. He patiently waited for the pink haired girl to continue speaking, always walking in the path that would lead him to the restricted area of Teikou and, evidently, to Fuyu. After a few seconds went by, Momoi deeply sighed and continued explaining. _“Because of a photo that I managed to dig up when I hacked into the DIH.”_

[DIH – Defense Intelligence Headquarters]

 

“A photo?” asked immediately Akashi, a deep frown surfacing in his features at that information. It sure didn’t sound like good news at all, seeing as Momoi mostly hacked into the Japanese government's files only in urgent requests made by him or Nijimura Shuuzou.

 

_“Yes. I’ve sent it to your email, together with the other data that I gathered on Ogiwara Shigehiro-kun. The photo is quite damaged, probably because of a fire or something, but one of the individuals there can be easily recognized as a younger version of Tetsu-kun.”_

 

“How did a photo of Tetsuya went to the files kept on the DIH?” inquired the redhead right away.

 

Yes, seeing as Kuroko had caused a catastrophic accident of such dimensions known as the ‘Bloody Night’, it was obvious that the Japanese government would have some sort of file on him. However, he knew that such thing didn’t exist. Akashi had with him, since the moment the ‘Bloody Night’ ended, all the information and reports done in that regard, seeing as he was the representative of all Japanese ‘Users’ and the Head of the ‘Miracles’ and the incident had been made by another ‘User’. Every time a new discovery or report was done in that particular topic, he was also given a copy before everyone else. And _none_ had ever housed a single word regarding Kuroko.

 

_“It was a shared file,”_ simply answered the pink haired girl.

 

“Shared file?”

 

_“Yes, with the CIA,”_ explained Momoi, clearing her throat as she began recalling the data she had on it. _“Apparently, all the other people in that photo are wanted fugitives in the secret top 10 list of the CIA and other secret agencies in America. Though there’s no data regarding Tetsu-kun whatsoever.”_

 

“And that was linked to Ogiwara Shigehiro in what way?” asked further the redhead, the frown on his features becoming even more noteworthy.

 

_“Ogiwara-kun was one of the people in the photo. He was beside Tetsu-kun and they seemed quite friendly with each other, though none of them seemed all that relaxed in the presence of the other people in it.”_

 

“…” Akashi halted his movements and took a deep breath.  The ground underneath his feet was trembling just the slightest, but he needed to keep his ability on check. Letting it run free when his mood was starting to turn sour never ended well and he already had a hefty bill to pay because of the damages that the running-out-of-control bluenette caused in the street outside of Teikou Academy. Making rebuilding works inside of Teikou wasn’t something that he could afford right now. “Then there must be some sort of data about them in the CIA, right?”

 

_“Yes, there should have been,”_ acknowledged Momoi. _“However, their database was hacked one year ago and all the files on that case where stolen. I have to say… Nor me nor any other member of the Department of Abilities and ‘Users’ would have done such a perfect and clean hacking. It was almost as if a ghost had stolen the data.”_

 

“A ghost, huh…” mumbled Akashi, resuming his walking as he quickly stepped inside of the restricted area of the academy.

 

One year ago corresponded to the time where the “Bloody Night” had occurred. Was it a coincidence? Or had Kuroko done something in regards of that? He knew for a fact that the bluenette had some skills on self-defense and treating wounds. Could his knowledge go as far as being able to hack into the super-computers of a foreign organization, one that even Momoi Satsuki, the “User” with perfect memory, had had trouble accessing when she first began working with the “Miracles”?

 

_No, it’s impossible,_ thought Akashi in the back of his mind. Kuroko had said he couldn’t touch electronic devices due to his ability since they would crash and cease to work almost immediately. So it was impossible that he touched a computer and used it for enough time to hack into the CIA files.

 

“Satsuki, you already sent all the data to my email, right?” asked the redhead, halting his movements once again and leaning his back on the wall surrounding the total area of Fuyu. If he stepped inside of the walled area, he would be inside of Murasakibara’s barrier, and if he accidentally activated his ability once again, he may destroy it completely, so it would probably be better if he stayed outside of it until the phone call was over. “I’ll take a look at it right now, since I’ve arrived to Fuyu. Meanwhile, continue to gather more information on it.”

 

_“Yes, Akashi-kun,”_ acknowledged the pink haired girl with a determined voice. Akashi was about to end the call when Momoi started to hesitantly speak once again. _“Ah! Umm… Akashi-kun, please protect Tetsu-kun. If all of our childhoods weren’t pretty… I don’t think Tetsu-kun’s was all that better. Please don’t let anything bad happen to him anymore.”_

 

“Yes, I don’t plan on letting anyone hurt Tetsuya anymore,” confessed Akashi, a soft smile appearing on his features. “But why are you asking something like that of me?”

 

_“Eh? Ah… I-It’s just… Somehow I feel like I owe something to Tetsu-kun… I’ve never met him before or talked with him all that much, but… I don’t know how to explain it, but there’s something about him that… umm… tugs at something inside of me? B-B-But it’s not what you’re thinking!! Ah, umm… I have to go now! I have reports to give to Nijimura-san and the others in the department. I’ll call you again as soon as I have more information about Ogiwara Shigehiro-kun.”_

 

The pink haired girl ended the call even before Akashi could give her a reply on what she was saying. He just released a quick sigh and put the phone back on his pants’ pocket, starting to enter inside of Fuyu.

 

When he closed the main door to the house and passed by the living room, he noticed that both Murasakibara and Midorima were there, the purple haired giant simply munching on some snacks while watching TV and the green haired male reading a book while sipping on some coffee. Seeing as they were both entertained doing their own things, Akashi continued to motion to the second floor, so he could check on both Kuroko and the data that Momoi had sent him.

 

Akashi was quite anxious to see the bluenette once again, but he decided to drop by his room first and check the photo Momoi had told him about. He threw a long glance to his bedroom’s door and then opened his own door, entering inside of the room and walking right away to the computer on top of his desk.

 

He started the electronic device and put down his own things on top of his bed, waiting until the computer was fully operational to check his email. Once it was ready, he quickly entered on his inbox and went over to the message sent by Momoi. It was a report constituted by the conversations she had with the people appointed in the family registry, a copy of the family registry and then the photo.

 

When Akashi opened the photo that was inside of the file, a new frown surfaced in his features. The photo was indeed with a lot of damage, most of the corners of it completely eaten by fire. There was a group of people in the photo, with a younger version, probably during middle school, of Kuroko in the center, being pretty much hugged by an also younger version of the “User” he had killed during the “Bloody Night”.

 

All the other people in the photo were too damaged to get a clear vision of them. It appeared that the photo didn’t only survive from being burned, but it had been submerged in some sort of liquid for a long period of time, one that left it with a reddish coloring. However, he could faintly distinguish that the man right behind Kuroko had blonde hair and had a tribal tattoo on the left side of his body, covering part of his neck and upper arm. Beside him was an extremely large dark-skinned male, one probably taller than Murasakibara.

 

Akashi put his hands on top of the desk and stared intently to the photo displayed in the screen of his computer. Who were these people? He knew the male hugging Kuroko was Ogiwara Shigehiro, one of the two people who were killing in a completely random way the residents of Tokyo during the “Bloody Night”. However, he had absolutely no idea who the others were. And he probably would never find out, seeing as their files had been stolen from the CIA database.

 

He could always take the photo to Kuroko and question him about it. However… that would be too dangerous. The two times Ogiwara had been mentioned in a conversation ended with them having an arguing session or making the smaller male lose control of his ability once again. It probably wouldn’t be a good idea to ask him about it this early in the game. He didn’t have a lot of time (or so it felt like), but he could wait for a few more weeks and get Kuroko to trust him a little bit more.

 

Which brought him to his current problem. Kuroko was once again trying to distance himself from others and that would make the bluenette harder to approach. So… how could he get Kuroko to give up on his idea of building another wall between them?

 

Akashi straightened his back once again and started walking to his bedroom’s door, opening it right away and exiting the room. Once in the hallway, he quickly walked over to the room next door and knocked on the door.

 

“Tetsuya, can I come in?” asked the redhead right away. He waited for a few seconds, but no answer whatsoever was heard. He raised slightly an eyebrow and knocked on the door one more time. Since he continued to not receive any sort of answer, he lunged his hand down and opened the door. “Tetsuya?”

 

The room was completely void of human life. The lights were off, the bed made and the bluenette’s school bag was missing. He looked over to the bathroom, but the lights were turned off too. _Could it be that he’s still on school grounds?_

 

Akashi turned on his heels and started going downstairs, turning immediately to the living room where the other two “Miracles” were.

 

“Murasakibara, you’re covering the sofa with crumbs! Can’t you eat in a less dirty way?” admonished Midorima, peering to the purple haired male with a dissatisfied look on his face. He would have continued yapping about it but he saw the redhead coming inside of the division and looked over to him. “Akashi, you arrived already.”

 

“Yes, I arrived just now,” acknowledged Akashi, motioning further into the living room. “Where’s Tetsuya? He’s not in his room.”

 

“…” Midorima observed attentively the smaller male as he went further into the room and grabbed one of the glasses that were in the table, picking up the jar with water near it and pouring a little bit inside. He had a feeling that answering would be a bad idea, but he had no other choice. “Kuroko went out with Aomine.”

 

“Where did they go?” asked further the redhead, looking over in the green haired male’s direction while sipping on the water.

 

“…” Midorima simply averted the heterochromatic gaze peering intently at him and adjusted his glasses. He readied himself to answer, already having thought up a way of putting it into words without causing a lot of damage on anything or _anyone_ , but the purple haired male suddenly answered the question… probably in the worst way possible.

 

“Mine-chin took Kuro-chin out to have dinner at Kagami’s apartment,” simply answered Murasakibara while eating a cookie, not even bothering to turn his face away from the television.

 

“…” Akashi frowned deeply at hearing those words, the glass on his hand shattering into tiny pieces with the strength of his grip. The lights above their heads also blew up and the television screen blacked out completely, a small cloud of smoke rising up in the air coming from it. _So it isn’t that Tetsuya is trying to create distance between him and others – it’s just between me and him._

 

Hesitantly, the two taller males looked over to the raging mad redhead and silently observed him starting to exit the room, his golden eye shining threateningly. It was only when they heard the front door being slammed shut that they could breathe once again.

 

Midorima gulped hard and motioned his hand sideways, taking his phone from the pocket of his jacket. “I think I should call Aomine and warn him about the incoming surprise that will show up on Kagami’s door in a few minutes.”

 

“Yeah… I’ll call Nijimura-chin, just in case we have to get rid of corpses tonight…” added Murasakibara, shaking off a few shards of the lamps that Akashi’s ability had broke from on top of him.

 

“Why did you even answer that way?” asked Midorima, looking over to the purple haired male with an eyebrow slightly raised.

 

“Well… Mine-chin asked me to tell Aka-chin about it in that way if he asked me where Kuro-chin was when he returned from Ky— Ah… My phone isn’t working… Did I run out of battery?” explained Murasakibara, interrupting suddenly his own words when all that his phone showed was a black screen.

 

Midorima sighed and looked down to his phone too, preparing himself to also make the call to the older male. “I’ll call him too… That is if my phone was also working. And I definitely didn’t run out of battery.”

 

The green haired male and purple haired giant exchanged glances and felt their skin crawl slightly.

 

“I guess it was nice knowing Mine-chin and Kagami…” ominously pointed out Murasakibara, adding a silent prayer in the back of his mind for the two males that were currently with the bluenette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "CATALRHYTHM" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> So we got a little bit of background information on both Ogiwara and Kuroko, didn't we? You probably still don't know what they were doing, but you should know with who they were with~
> 
> But well... You know what to expect in the next chapter, right? Hehehehehe~ Muwahahah-- *clears throat* Sorry, I'll try to control myself -.-' (But Akashi won't ;D)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	76. I want to be able to speak honestly about things I treasure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> I don't really have anything to say about it for now. Only this... FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Well, enjoy ;D

“Ahh… That sure hit the spot,” sighed Kagami in delight while leaning his head on the back of the sofa he had sat down on. “I have to go restock on ingredients tomorrow or I won’t have enough food for the rest of the week. And today it’s only Monday.”

 

“I know you’re a big guy and such, but damn! You really eat like a horse, Kagami,” pointed out Aomine, sitting beside the redhead. He then looked to the sofa on the opposite end of the room and snorted. “While on the other hand, you eat like a bird, Kuroko.”

 

“Shut up… Ugh… I don’t want to see food in the next 48 hours or I feel like I will throw up everything I ate tonight…” slowly complained Kuroko, his face covered by his arms as he remained laid down on the sofa, feeling his stomach almost bursting at the seams. He softly turned his head to the side and stared to the snickering taller males, a forced blank look on his face to stop the indisposition to show even more clearly. “And I eat like any other human being. You two just have the appetite of a Jikininki.”

 

“J-Jikininki?” repeated the redhead, the word sounding completely unknown in all of those he had learned since he returned to Japan from staying in America for a few years.

 

“Believe me, you don’t wanna know,” added Aomine, shaking his head with mild disgust on his face. “Way to go, Kuroko… Now I really won’t be able to eat meat for the next few days.”

 

Kuroko chuckled softly and motioned his upper body up to a sitting position, the movement occurring as slowly as he could to not start feeling his stomach turn again as it digested the monumental amount of food that he had ate. “I think that if Kagami-kun shared the same opinion, then all cows, pigs and other types of animals that we eat would be thankful. I’ve never seen anyone eat so much in one meal. Oh god…”

 

The bluenette quickly lunged his hand to his mouth and tried to think about another thing… anything that wouldn’t remind him of food. The two other “Users” simply started laughing at the reaction the smaller male had at his own words.

 

“I can’t help it, you know?” started Kagami, putting his arms backwards on top of the back of the sofa. “It’s food for my stomach, but mostly to my ability.”

 

“You’ve said something similar a couple of times now, Kagami. What does the food that you eat have anything to do it your ability?” asked the tanned male, peering over to the male sitting beside him with a questioning look on his face.

 

“It’s just something that happened when I become a ‘User’,” explained Kagami, releasing a soft sigh. “They said that since my ability manifests itself on a physical level and I wasn’t born a ‘User’, my body can become slightly affected by it if I don’t give something in exchange to fuel it. And it seems that the best fuel is food. Lots and lots of it.”

 

“I see,” acknowledged the tanned male, nodding softly his head. “Well, it happens to a few ‘Users’ out there. Not everybody can be perfect like me, right?”

 

“Hah! Aren’t you a smug bastard?” teased Kagami, snorting at the taller male’s confident way of speaking. “I bet a dirty old man like you has a pretty big defect due to being a ‘User’ too.”

 

“…” Aomine immediately frowned at the redhead’s words and faintly showed a strained smile because of them. “I guess so…”

 

“…” The bluenette felt a sharp pain pierce his chest, the sad expression housed in the tanned male’s face being the cause. Well, technically, it was his fault on the whole, not Aomine’s – the decisions and actions he took in the past were totally to blame and Aomine had been one of the collateral damages caused by them.

 

Feeling the tense atmosphere in the room, Kagami cleared his throat loudly and looked forward, staring straight to the smaller male seating in the sofa in front of him. “Kuroko, can I just came out straight with it and ask you something?”

 

“…What is it, Kagami-kun?” hesitantly asked the bluenette, an eyebrow slightly arched due to the serious tone that suddenly become the voice of the other male.

 

“What are your exact thoughts about the crazy basta— Ah, I mean, about Akashi?” asked right away Kagami, adjusting his body slightly on the sofa so he could ready himself for the conversation.

 

Aomine simply looked over his way with a surprised face. That hadn’t been what they had discussed on the phone yesterday – they had agreed to go about in a disguised way, not to just ask about it to the subject of the question in such a clear way. However, considering that some circumstances have changed since then, he could understand why the redhead was taking such an upfront approach right now.

 

“Eh? Akashi-kun? Why?” asked once again Kuroko, a deep shadow of suspicion appearing on his features and making the arching of his eyebrow even more accentuated.

 

“You know that I really don’t like the things he does to you,” started explain Kagami, a serious demeanor written all over his face and body. “You are a human being and, even if you are ‘The Phantom’, you should still be allowed to live like one. Being closed down in a room for weeks, being interrogated about things that you most likely don’t like to talk or even think about every day, being surrounded almost 24 hours a day by people you don’t trust and have been running away from… I don’t agree with any of your circumstances at the moment. Even taking into consideration that you are a ‘User’ and can still attend school, I don’t think you are living the life a 15 years old boy should. Well, I say all that but I can’t do absolutely nothing to change any of those things. And that’s why I’m asking you this. What’s your true opinion about Akashi?”

 

“A-Akashi-kun is a ‘Miracles’. And just like I dislike all ‘Miracles’, I dislike him too,” answered Kuroko, averting slightly the attentive stares directed at him from the other males. “They may not have been the direct cause of the ‘Bloody Night’ or of… what I did that night… and all they wanted to do was prevent it from becoming even worse, but I… I will never be able to bring myself to forgive them for what they did that night. Especially what they did to _him_.”

 

“I’m not asking what is your opinion on the ‘Miracles’,” interrupted Kagami. “I’m asking what is your opinion on Akashi as an individual, not as a ‘User’ or as a ‘Miracle’.”

 

“…” Kuroko intently stared back to the redhead looking straight at him. What was he searching for exactly with this conversation? What was it that he wanted to know or hear him say? “Akashi-kun is a roadblock on my path to leave Teikou Academy and achieve the freedom that I was never allowed to have. He’s constantly around, manipulating me into doing what he wants and planning out his way to achieve his goals through the means of whatever it is that he thinks that I will be useful for. Taking all of this into consideration, what exactly do you expect me to think of him? Of course I disl—“

 

“And is that your true opinion on him or what you want to believe it is your opinion?” interrupted once again the redhead, keeping the smaller male continuously under his serious gaze.

 

“…!” Kagami had hit the nail exactly on the head. Kuroko had been continuously telling himself those words, every single day since he crashed against Akashi on his way to the school gym during the opening ceremony. If it was repeated one hundred times, even a lie had a slight chance of becoming truth, after all.

 

A part of him deeply feared the heterochromatic redhead. Not because he was a “Miracle”. Not because he had killed his best friend, Ogiwara, right in front of his eyes in such a cold blooded way. Not because he would make his escape from Teikou Academy hard to accomplish. It was simply because of himself. Because of himself and the growing change that Akashi was bringing to his self. Because of the almost overflowing glass with the unknown liquid inside of him. Because of the things he was making him hope for.

 

Kuroko suddenly dropped his gaze and noticed that he had unconsciously motioned his hand up to his neck and was softly trailing with his fingertips the bite marks and hickeys Akashi had left in him. Before Kagami and Aomine would get aware that he had done such (or at least get aware that he had done so without realizing), he quickly dropped his hand back to his lap once again, averting even more the watchful gaze directed at him.

 

“A-Akashi-kun and I are constantly arguing with each other,” hesitantly started Kuroko, dancing his eyes around through the floor of the redhead’s apartment in an obvious display of discomfort. “The things we have agreed on are so little I could probably count them with one hand. He’s a 15 years old student who shoulders the roles that should be taken by adults and he does it well and without complaining, even with the personality of an overbearing brat who thinks that whatever he says is always right and that whatever he wants he will always get. However… I don’t know why, but he’s probably the person who’s closest to understand what I have felt throughout my entire life. The way he thinks of himself is similar to the way I think of myself, if not even the exact same. He should be the person I fear the most, since my life is pretty much dependent of his reports to the Japanese government. However, I feel the safest when I’m with him. He should be the person I loathe the most in this world, since he was the one who killed Ogiwara-kun in the ‘Bloody Night’.”

 

“…”

 

“However… Each day that passes by and I spend it with him, I find myself losing all my will to carry on with my hate for him. He’s constantly throwing my head into disarray with his illogical actions and I have a feeling I won’t live for much longer, because when he’s around, I’m perpetually experiencing semi-heart attacks. I really hate the feeling of the prickling sensation I feel all over my body when any of the ‘Miracles’ touch me, but I no longer seem to feel it when it’s Akashi-kun touching me because my head is so busy thinking that it’s Akashi-kun the one touching me that the prickling sensation doesn’t even register inside of my brain.”

 

 _Kuroko… You’re telling all of this to the wrong person…_ mumbled both Aomine and Kagami in the back of their minds at the same time, deeply amazed at how much the bluenette had to say about the heterochromatic redhead.

 

“Aren’t you in love with Akashi, then?” interrupted Aomine, feeling extremely embarrassed about hearing a love confession that was supposed to be heard by the smaller redhead solemnly and not by him or Kagami.

 

“Eh?” Kuroko suddenly looked up and stared with his eyes fully open from shock in the tanned male’s direction.

 

“How do I say this…?” continued Aomine, scratching the back of his head as he thought about how he was going to explain it to the smaller male. “What you do with Akashi isn’t arguing – it’s bickering. When he teases you into doing what he wants, it isn’t him trying to manipulate you – it’s him flirting with you. And everything you said just now, it wasn’t you giving your opinion on Akashi – it was you confessing to him using us as a disguise.”

 

“Eh? I’m… in love with Akashi-kun? That’s… impossible,” softly denied Kuroko, shaking his head while switching his gaze between the two silent taller males in front of him. “No… I… I hate— He killed— So I can’t be—“

 

 _It’s impossible… right?_ Just because he enjoyed the time he spends with Akashi, that didn’t meant he was in love with him. Even if he could sleep like a baby and not dream at all when it was done with Akashi, even if his heart beat madly when Akashi was around, even if when he wasn’t around all he could think of was the heterochromatic redhead, even if he liked it when Akashi touched him… Even if…

 

“…………….Eh? No way!” Kuroko felt his whole face being ignited with fire and he could imagine it was covered in a myriad of shades of red at the moment, so he just lunged his hands up to cover it, in a clumsy and desperate attempt to not let the two taller males see him in such a hopeless way.

 

Seeing the adorable attempt of the bluenette to hide his current embarrassment, both Kagami and Aomine blinked a few times while continuing to stare at the blushing madly male and then looked at each other, thinking in the back of their minds that they could understand why even Akashi, a usually serious and detached from others person, could have fallen in love with Kuroko.

 

“W-Well,” started Aomine, scratching his head slightly as he averted looking at the smaller male while wanting to take a peek once again. “If you just tell the same thing you told us to Akashi, I think that half of your problems will disappear.”

 

“N-No, I can’t…” mumbled Kuroko from behind the hands covering his face. “B-Because I… I’m not someone who has the right to love another person…”

 

“Huh? What’s that supposed to me—“ asked the tanned male, completely lost on what the bluenette’s words meant, when he was interrupted by the sudden crawl of his skin. When he looked over to the other two males, he could tell right away that they had felt the same. _This doesn’t look good…_

 

Suddenly, the front door of Kagami’s apartment came crashing inside of the room, its straight surface completely deformed. A few seconds later, the raging semblance of Akashi showed up, both of his eyes set ablaze by the current anger he was feeling.

 

 _Okay, we’re done for…!,_ internally screamed Aomine, feeling that maybe this time he really stepped over the line with the plan he formulated with Kagami. One thing was having the inner beast angry at them… but having both the inner beast and Akashi furious at them at the same time was a one-way ticket to Hell.

 

Focusing his glare on the two taller males, who were completely frozen to the sofa they were sitting on, Akashi addressed to the bluenette with his words. “Tetsuya, we’re leav—“ However, he had to interrupt  his own words when he shifted one of his eyes in the smaller male’s direction and saw the deep red blush on his face while he stared completely motionless in his direction. It was an expression that he had never seen Kuroko doing and, if he was feeling angry while entering inside of Kagami’s apartment, he was now completely wrathful.

 

He readily started to walk in his direction, but his path was blocked by the big body of the taller redhead, who put himself in front of the smaller male.

 

“Get out of my way,” threateningly warned Akashi, glaring daggers to the taller male.

 

“If I do, what will you do with Kuroko?” asked Kagami with an imposing voice, even though, deep inside, he was trembling like leaves at the terrifying glow of the heterochromatic eyes glaring at him.

 

“Before worrying about Tetsuya, you should be worrying about yourself… Kagami Taiga,” ominously warned once again the heterochromatic redhead, shifting his head slightly up to look direction to the red eyes of the taller male. “I show absolutely no mercy to those who oppose me, whoever they may be.”

 

“Kagami, dodge!” suddenly yelled Aomine, watching a knife lunging forward from the kitchenette at an astonish speed.

 

“…!” Kagami immediately tried to move his body or at least look in the sharp object’s direction, however, his whole body refused to obey his brain’s orders. He was stuck in the position where he could only stare down to the smaller male in front of him. Kagami gulped down hard and awaited in a terrified manner for the incoming pain.

 

However, he never felt any sort of pain in his body. All he saw was Akashi suddenly grab the knife which was flying in his direction half an inch away from his face. His body trembled with fright. If the heterochromatic redhead had grabbed the knife one second later, he would have died.

 

“Don’t think that I’m forgiving you for having disobeyed me for the third time. The only reason why you are both alive right now is because I promised Tetsuya that I wouldn’t hurt anyone else again,” suddenly added Akashi, dropping the knife to the floor.

 

One more metallic sound was heard from behind the tanned male and Aomine had to wonder when exactly a knife had been lunged his way too.

 

“However… I only allow those who obey my orders without questioning me to speak with me without changing their line of sight,” warned one more time the heterochromatic redhead, starting to walk forward once again as he observed from the corner of his eyes as the taller redhead fell down on his knees. Akashi stopped in front of the bluenette and motioned his hand forward, softly grasping Kuroko’s to pull him over in his direction. “I will warn you for the last time, Kagami Taiga. Get close to _my_ Tetsuya again and I will have to break my promise with him. _I will drag your lifeless corpse to the doors of Hell personally and observe as you burn for all eternity there from the other side of the closing doors. I’ve done it once and I won’t mind doing it again._ ”

 

Kagami felt his skin crawl, a shudder go down his spine and a cold sweat coat his entire body – all of it at the same time. He could tell that Akashi’s threatening words weren’t empty. He wasn’t lying about the part of killing him or about having already done so to someone. And the taller redhead also had a feeling that when he mentioned the doors to Hell, he wasn’t being metaphorical about it.

 

“Tetsuya, we’ll be leaving now,” softly said Akashi while pulling the bluenette closer to his body. He immediately felt the prickling sensation since the moment he grabbed his hand but… Was it only him or was the tingling on his body much more noteworthy and stronger than before? When he saw the lost expression on the smaller male’s face, he understood it wasn’t only his imagination after all. The redhead tightened his grip on him and started motioning both of them to outside of the apartment. “Let’s go.”

 

“Ah… No, wait…! Akashi-kun!” called Kuroko in half panic, struggling slightly against the other male’s touch and the new type of prickling sensation he was feeling at the moment. The redhead suddenly came to a halt and looked intently in his direction. “A-Akashi-kun? Eh? Ah… Wait! What are you—“

 

“Be quiet for a while, Tetsuya,” ordered Akashi, grabbing the bluenette by the waist and pulling his body upwards so he could carry him to outside of the apartment. However, before resuming his leave, he threw one more glance to the two other ‘Users’ present in the room. “Once again… come closer to Tetsuya, try to even breathe the same air as him, and I will end you, Kagami Taiga. He’s mine and I will _not_ share him with anyone else. And Daiki… if you pull any more of these stunts, I will make playing basketball a crime punishable by death in Japan. Also expect to have your one-week vacation cancelled and workload tripled. Ryouta isn’t here, so you will also have to do his share.”

 

After finishing speaking, Akashi then resumed his walking while carrying the silent Kuroko against his body, leaving the taller redhead and tanned male behind. Once they stopped hearing his steps and heard the door next door opening and then closing, Kagami and Aomine finally started breathing once again.

 

“I-I guess it went better than I expected…” sighed Aomine with relieve as his body slid through the sofa.

 

“If we forget about the fact that my apartment doesn’t have a door now and we were almost stabbed by knifes who fly by themselves, not to mention the little threats that we are under from now on… Yes, it went pretty well,” acknowledged ironically Kagami, relaxing his body now that the major threat to his well-being had disappeared.

 

“Hey, at least we have all of our body parts intact _and_ we’re still breathing,” pointed out the tanned male, running his hand through his hair as he tiredly adjusted his body against the sofa once again. “And we got all the answers we needed.”

 

“Well… that’s true, I guess…” conceded the redhead, throwing a sideways glance to the wall of his apartment, in the bluenette’s old apartment’s direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "We're just moving" by Ono Kenshou (the lovely bluenette who confessed to the wrong person :P)
> 
> So now Kuroko knows!!! It was about time, my lovable fool! Now try to soothe down the beast and enjoy some hot and steamy moments with Akashi, okay? (and yes, that my cue to say there will be smut in the next chapter - ready your tissues, minna-san, because Akashi is about to turn up the temperature XD)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	77. A passion that's forced is not nonsense

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with one more chapter :D
> 
> I know you are extremely impatient so I'll cut to the chase...
> 
> Warning: NOSEBLEED ALERT! Please only proceed with this chapter when you have a hefty amount of tissue boxes with you and have the 911 (or whatever emergency number it's on in your country) ready to be dialed because this chapter once again breaks the smut scale AND is the biggest chapter I have ever wrote for this fic (almost twice the size!!)
> 
> Well~ Enjoy~

“…” It was certainly becoming a daily occurrence since one month ago, but it still bothered him. So, right now, Kuroko was doing his best to keep a neutral semblance while averting sideways the intent heterochromatic gaze directed at him.

 

They have been in that silent position, Kuroko with his back pressed against the wall of his apartment with Akashi staring deeply into him while stopping the bluenette from moving away from him by cutting his escape routes with his arms, for several minutes now.

 

“Why did you went to Kagami Taiga’s apartment again when I clearly warned you to not come to the dorms without me?” finally asked Akashi, scratching lightly the wall with his fingertips due to the anger that only voicing those words out caused in him.

 

“K-Kagami-kun invited me and Aomine-kun to have dinner at his apartment,” hesitantly explained Kuroko, averting even more the other male’s stare. “It was simply that – a dinner at a friend’s house.”

 

“And you accepted the invitation even though you would disobey me by doing so?” asked once again the redhead, closing their distance slightly while doing so. “Or did you think that since I wasn’t in Tokyo at the time, I would never find out about it?”

 

“…” Kuroko simply lightly bit his lower lip at the taller male’s words. The second case was closer to the truth than the first one and it had apparently failed miserably in the worst way possible.

 

“You will _not_ approach Kagami Taiga ever again, Tetsuya,” demanded Akashi, closing their faces even more. “I will not allow you to continue to get closer to him.”

 

“Kagami-kun is my friend. And we are in the same class. You can’t forbid me from interacting with my classmates or my friends,” protested the bluenette while gluing his body to the wall even more as he tried to restore the distance between their faces and bodies.

 

“I can and I will, if things continue to go this way,” answered the taller male almost right away. He knew it was unreasonable of him to stop Kuroko from having friends, but he just couldn’t tolerate that friend in particular. He was free to befriend whoever he wanted – everyone but Kagami Taiga. “And if the fact that you are in the same class as him stops you from following my orders, I can easily make you transfer to my own.”

 

“You are not being fair here, Akashi-kun,” exasperatedly pointed out Kuroko.

 

“Fairness has nothing to do with this. I don’t want him near you and that’s final,” simply declared the redhead.

 

“…” Kuroko hesitantly started to turn his face in the taller male’s direction and shyly peered to his heterochromatic eyes. “Akashi-kun… Are you… jealous of Kagami-kun?”

 

“So what if I am?” answered right away Akashi, satisfied to finally be able to look directly to the teal eyes of the smaller male.

 

It was true, though. Every time Kuroko mentioned the taller redhead in any way, even if it was only to say his name, he was readily invaded by a strong feeling of jealousy. Kagami was a constant threat that he needed to get rid of the quickest he could. But it had to be done in a safe way since if he hurt the taller male in some sort of way again, he doubted that Kuroko would forgive him a second time.

 

Kuroko just couldn’t help himself and softly chuckled at the half-proud look on the redhead while confirming his suspicions. “As I’ve said time and time again, Kagami-kun and I are friends. Simply friends. Why would you need to feel jealous about it?”

 

“Then what are we?” suddenly asked Akashi, the serious demeanor on his features becoming more accentuated as he once again closed their distance. “What is our relationship exactly?”

 

“…” Kuroko once again averted the gaze of the redhead and gulped down. Having realized that his feelings towards Akashi weren’t just that of hate not even half an hour ago was making it extremely awkward for him to answer. He wasn’t sure if it was really true that he was in love with him or if it was just a misunderstanding on his side due to the sense of safety that the taller male’s presence provided in him but he knew it would hurt to give him an answer. It was better to say it now, though, so that he could have enough time to heal the gaping wound in his heart that his next words would cause. The bluenette shifted his head once again and looked directly to the other male. “We don’t have any relationship, Akashi-kun. I’m with you right now because it’s necessary for my survival. However, the moment that is no longer a requirement for it, I will leave.”

 

Akashi got momentarily taken aback by the bluenette’s answer. So the feeling he had been having recently about time running against him and not on his favor wasn’t simply a delusion; it was the actual truth. And when Kuroko asked him for help in regards of controlling his ability, it was all part of his plan to leave Teikou for good. However, the thing that was fazing him the most at the moment was how much his words had hurt him. It was almost to the degree of being a physical type of pain, the way each beat of his heart brought torment to his self and his stomach was being clutched inside out.

 

Scratching the wall even more strongly with his fingertips, the redhead continued staring to the smaller male, his serious demeanor softened by the recurrent pain he felt at the moment. “Should I create one, then?”

 

“…” Kuroko lowered his gaze slightly and then dropped his head completely, hiding with this movement the pained expression twisting his face. “I do not want to have a relationship with you. With _anybody_.”

 

“…” Akashi continued to stare at the down-cast semblance of the male in front of him, the hurt striking with even more intensity. He was feeling double the pain now – his own pain and the pain of the bluenette. The redhead may not be able to see his face due to his current shrunken stance but he knew Kuroko was forcing himself to say that.

 

Kuroko was trying to surround himself with razor-sharp barbed wire, in a hopeless attempt to distance others from him and his heart. Or maybe it was to warn them of the possible danger they would be under if they got too close. What the bluenette hadn’t noticed yet, however, was that the one who was getting more damage out of the wall he imposed on others was he himself.

 

It was useless though. No matter how many times Kuroko would wrap his self-defense mechanism around himself, Akashi would just get a pair of pliers and pull that barbed wire out of him, even if that meant he would get cut or wounded while doing so. Kuroko was worth the pain and the blood it would be shed. He was worth that and much, much more.

 

“Why are you lying, Tetsuya?” softly asked Akashi, departing his hands from the wall and motioning them upwards to cup the smaller male’s face, pulling it up so he could look directly to his eyes. “Right now, you are on the verge of breaking into tears because of your own words.”

 

“…” The smaller male gritted his teeth and lunged his hands up, gripping immediately the wrists of the redhead in hopes to pull them away from him. However, he wasn’t able to do it. He simply clutched tightly into them, hoping to not come even more undone than he already had at the moment. Hoping that the warmth being given to him through the hands of the other male could somehow help him keep the tears closed deep inside of him.

 

“Stop lying to yourself,” continued Akashi, closing their distance even more by leaning his forehead on the bluenette’s. “Stop lying to yourself and just become mine, Tetsuya.”

 

The redhead pulled the smaller male fully to him and gently kissed his trembling lips, taking great relish on the fact that Kuroko did absolutely nothing against it. He clutched him closer and deepened the kiss, but treaded about it in the most sincere and tender way that he could at the moment.

 

And feeling such, what option other than reciprocate in the same way did Kuroko have? He softly started to lighten his grip on the taller male’s wrists and fully closed his eyes, allowing himself to just go with the flow of his feelings for once in his life.

 

After a while though, the kiss started to grow hungrier, more desperate, and Kuroko simply dropped his hands to clutch at the redhead’s clothes while shivering slightly at the motion of the other male’s hands sliding through his face down to his neck.

 

“Mhm… Akashi…kun…” softly whimpered the bluenette against the taller male’s mouth in between kisses, the warm fingers of the other male still lingering on the base of his neck.

 

Akashi’s lips were tugged slightly upwards to form a smirk at the soft purr of his name and he motioned his body forward, pushing Kuroko fully against the wall. He dropped one of his hands down slightly and softly started to tug at the other male’s necktie, skillfully sliding it out of him. Kissing him continuously, he fully motioned his two hands down and took a hold of the scrawny wrists of the bluenette, tugging them disguisedly away from his clothes. Then, he just had to once again depart the other male’s back from the wall and push his arms to behind his back, quickly tying up his wrists with the necktie he had removed from the bluenette.

 

And Kuroko noticed all this when it was already too late. Abruptly breaking the kiss, he looked down and quickly looked up once again, staring completely flabbergasted to the redhead. “W-What are you doing!?”

 

“I think you are in need of a little punishment,” simply answered Akashi, a sly smirk on his features accompanying the glint of amusement running through his red and golden eyes.

 

 _Why is it that he’s unable to do anything in a normal way?,_ mumbled Kuroko inwardly while trying to suppress the strong urge he had to just roll his eyes at the redhead’s words. “What have I done wrong to deserve to be punished by you?”

 

“First of all, you went somewhere without telling me. And it was to Kagami Taiga’s apartment, out of all places,” started explaining Akashi while unbuttoning the smaller male’s white school jacket.

 

“Again, Kagami-kun is my friend and there’s absolutely no rule saying I can’t go to a friend’s apartment,” pointed out Kuroko, this time fully giving in to temptation and rolling his eyes at the fact that the redhead was still holding a grudge in that regard.

 

“Secondly, you continue to stubbornly defy me and, for as amusing and entertaining as it may be, it’s quite vexing,” continued Akashi, ignoring completely the smaller male’s argument as he opened fully the jacket and started tugging at the blue shirt, also slowly undoing the buttons.

 

“I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who feels that way because of your sudden and illogical actions,” deadpanned Kuroko, shifting his arms to try to lessen the necktie holding them together on his back. It wasn’t hurting him in any way, but apparently it was tied well enough to be impossible to stretch the knot. “On that note, please stop taking my clothes off.”

 

“And lastly…” finally announced the redhead, opening the last button of the shirt and departing the fabric fully from the front side of the smaller male’s torso, the smirk on his features widening considerably as he once again looked straight to the teal eyes of the tied up male. “Because I want to.”

 

“You sure talk like a selfish king from time to time…” deadpanned Kuroko once again, releasing a soft, but exasperated, sigh. He disguisedly started to inch sideways away from the taller male, but a hand came forth and grabbed him by the waist, stopping fully his attempt to escape.

 

“Not, not a king… An emperor,” corrected Akashi, the amused glint on his eyes becoming more noteworthy as his head was running through all the things he could do to the delicious plate on full display in front of him right now. “And just like the name implies, I will conquer everything I set my eyes on.”

 

Before Kuroko could start rebuking his words, Akashi lunged forward and kissed him, sliding his tongue teasingly through the other male’s. He motioned his hands up and run his feverish hands through the hot pale skin that had been bared by him and delightfully swallowed the moan it caused on the bluenette.

 

“Try not to pass out this time, Tetsuya,” added the redhead, breaking the kiss momentarily. “If you do, I’ll take it as an invitation and I will do more than I have planned.”

 

“That’s just… so unfair…” panted Kuroko, his cheeks painted with a bright shade of red.

 

“This is a punishment. It’s not supposed to be fair to the one in which it is being inflicted,” pointed out Akashi, chuckling softly as he lowered his head just the slightest to slowly lick the length of the other male’s neck. He then bit into the supple pale flesh and noted how that made Kuroko try to motion his hands up to cover his mouth, even though he knew full well that he would not be able to move them at the moment.

 

The redhead continued to slide his tongue through the bluenette’s exposed skin, leaving wet traces as he continued to go down and his hands continued to climb up.

 

“Ngh… Akashi-kun… Please stop…” begged Kuroko, his breathing starting to get more raged as his body temperature continued to rise up. “Please don’t do this here…”

 

“Well, I don’t really have any other choice, do I?” teasingly asked Akashi, his hand stopping right below of one of the smaller male’s pinkish nipples. “If I do this in Fuyu, you will complain about the barrier, won’t you? So your apartment here in Seirin is the only option we currently have.”

 

“Then don’t do… this type of thing in the fir— Hiya!” yelped suddenly Kuroko when the redhead decided to pinch his rosy bud. He hesitantly looked down to the taller male and saw him smirking devilishly while peering up at him, his mouth slowly opening as his face grew steadily closer to his chest. “A-Akashi-kun… P-Please don’t do th— Ahh—!”

 

The moment Akashi surrounded the pink areola with his mouth and teasingly licked the nipple with the tip of his tongue, the bluenette moaned loudly, his body shuddering as it struggled to remain in a standing position. He pushed the smaller male’s body against the wall more strongly to help him retain his stance but still deeply enjoying the fact that he had made him weak enough in the legs for that to be necessary. He continued peering up to the erotic mess that it was Kuroko’s expression as he tried to control both his raged breathing and moans while he continued his ministrations on the erogenous area. The redhead played with the nipple in his mouth, switching between licking, biting and sucking on it and feeling it steadily harden while doing so. However, it seemed that the smaller male’s nipples weren’t the only part of his body that got harder with the teasing foreplay.

 

“Akashi-kun… Haa… Please stop… Ngh…” begged once again Kuroko, trying to suppress his moans by biting into his lower lip. The redhead, however, completely ignored his pleads and proceeded forward with his pleasurable ministrations, sinking his canines into his nipple. His body shuddered for the hundredth time and he strongly sank his own teeth on his lip to stop his voice from coming out in the form of an erotic yell of sexual arousal. “Nghhh—“

 

“Don’t be stubborn and just let your voice out, Tetsuya,” suddenly spoke Akashi, departing his mouth from the erect nipple, which was wet from his saliva and redder than before due to all the sucking and nibbling he had done to it. When he saw the bluenette strongly shake his head in denial to his words, he straightened his back and stared directly to his teal eyes, another mischievous smirk tugging at his lips. “Then I guess I just have to make you give up on it.”

 

“Eh…?” The redhead suddenly motioned his hands down to the front part of his trousers and readily started to unbuckle his belt. Forgetting once again that they were tied up behind his back at the moment, Kuroko tried to lung his hands forward to stop the taller male’s undressing of him. “No, wait! Akashi-kun! Don’t— Ahhh!”

 

Without hesitation or taking any heed to the bluenette’s pleads, Akashi put his hand inside of the underwear and wrapped his fingers around the hardened member, feeling it throbbing due to the sudden touch. He slowly started to pump it and he felt the feverish body leaning on both his body and the wall shaking with pleasure, but Kuroko continued to suppress his voice by desperately biting into his lower lip.

 

“Why do you refuse to let your voice out? There’s no one in the apartment except us,” pointed out Akashi as he peered sideways to the smaller male, who had dropped his head against his shoulder. It was when he looked in front of him and eyed the wall he was using to support some of the bluenette’s weight that he understood why he was acting so stubborn on that regard. “Ah… Now that I think about it, the walls of the dorms aren’t like the ones in Fuyu. And both Daiki and Kagami Taiga must still be on the apartment next door, right behind this wall. Their abilities have changed their bodies slightly and gave them a better sense of hearing, isn’t that right? So they can most likely hear every sound you make, if it’s made loudly.”

 

“…” Kuroko tightly closed his eyes and cursed inwardly, still doing his utmost to keep any moan from escaping his throat while the rubbing and stroking of his erection continued with more persistence. “Ngh… Haa… If you have… realized that… then stop…!”

 

“No way,” answered right away Akashi, peering sideways to the smaller male once again. “Actually, these little circumstances make it even better. It will be killing two birds with one stone. So stop suppressing your voice and moan loudly. Let them hear the erotic sounds you make due to the pleasure I give you.”

 

Saying that, the redhead started pumping the smaller male’s hard cock even faster, rubbing the leaking tip in a teasing manner. His bottom lip starting to bruise due to the strength of his teeth against it, Kuroko hesitantly opened his mouth and sank his teeth once again, this time however in the taller male’s shoulder.

 

“Ngh!” Akashi flinched at the sharp pain felt on his skin and motioned his free hand up, pushing softly the bluenette’s face away from his shoulder. “Biting is not allowed, Tetsuya. At least not at the moment.”

 

“You’re… awful…” panted Kuroko, his eyes half lidded and watery while he stared to the taller male.

 

“And what does that make you, the one who’s getting this turned on by the awful me?” teased the redhead, sinking his fingertip into the smaller male’s overflowing with pre-cum tip. “A pervert? No, maybe a masochist?”

 

“Ahh—! Ugh… Ngh!” started moaning Kuroko, but he quickly closed his mouth once again and painfully buried his teeth on his bruised lower lip.

 

“Like I said, stop biting into your own lips,” softly admonished the redhead, motioning his free hand once again to the smaller male’s face. He slowly treaded with his fingers the bruised lip and pushed them forward, forcing Kuroko to open his mouth and inserting his fingers there. “Now if you bite or try to suppress your voice again, there’s a chance that you might bite my fingers off. What will you do, Tetsuya?”

 

 _You’re so mean… awful… despicable…!,_ admonished Kuroko inwardly as he closed his watery eyes once again to try to stop his voice from coming out. But the moment Akashi came forth with his ministrations on his body even more strongly, he started to slowly lose control on the entirety of his body, his voice included.

 

All the bluenette wanted was to get this over with – not the act itself, but he just needed to desperately climax or he really would end up passing out once again. He didn’t want to let both Kagami and Aomine hear his needy whimpering and lewd moans though. They were most likely still there, since he couldn’t really imagine Kagami leaving his apartment unattended when the front door was currently inexistent.

 

“Haa… Agaji-gun… Shtop…” tried beckoning Kuroko one more time, the rubbing of the redhead’s fingers on his tongue making it hard for him to speak correctly some of the syllables.

 

“After you start to let your voice out like you should and we both get our releases, I will,” acknowledged the taller male, delivering a quick peck to the bluenette’s cheek. “Let’s try to accomplish all of that before you have the chance to pass out, okay?”

 

That being said, Akashi returned once again to his persistent ministrations on the smaller male’s body, avidly licking and nibbling on his neck while pumping the hard cock on his hand. And he knew that now Kuroko had absolutely no choice other than moan at the pleasure he was providing him with.

 

“Ahh— Agaji— Ngh… Ahh—!” moaned Kuroko, still fighting to keep his voice down. However, the fingers in his mouth prevented him from managing to seal his moans and so all he could do was writhe in rapture.

 

“Okay, now we’re getting there,” teased the redhead, licking his lips as he smeared with his fingers the dribble of saliva flowing down the smaller male’s mouth. “If I take my fingers out, will you continue letting your voice out?”

 

“Haa.. Haa…” Panting heavily, Kuroko hesitantly nodded his head in agreement, staring at the taller male in front of him with tears already skirting down his cheeks.

 

Akashi slowly removed his fingers from the inside of the hot and wet cave, sliding them through the slippery tongue of the bluenette on the way out. He then motioned his arm down and started to once again tease his nipples with his fingers, twisting and pulling at the sensitive buds.

 

“Ahhh— Akashi-kun…! I can’t, anymore…! I’m—“ Kuroko’s whole body shuddered and he threw his head backwards,  moaning lustily while spilling his release on the redhead’s hand.

 

With a satisfied smirk on his face, Akashi took his sticky hand from inside of the bluenette’s underwear and took a step backwards, observing Kuroko’s knees buckling down immediately and his body slide down to the floor through the wall. He kept staring intently at Kuroko while he panted heavily and tried to restore some of the strength in his body, if he still had any at all.

 

“…” When the smaller male shyly looked up in his direction, Akashi motioned his hand up and gave a slow lick to the white and creamy substance covering most part of his skin, his eyes a mixture of lust and expectation for what was still about to come. “Well, not as sweet as the vanilla you like so much, but it’s not as bad as I would expect it to be.”

 

“…!”

 

Akashi had never seen a shade of red as endearing as the heavy blush that covered the sweaty features of the bluenette, all the way from the tip of his ears to the back of his delicate and sensitive neck.

 

“However…” started once again Akashi, crouching down near the bluenette’s inert body and lunging his hands forward. He pulled him in his direction and started to undo the knot on the necktie that was tying his hands up. “You can’t rest just yet, Tetsuya. It’s not over, after all.”

 

“…Eh…?” hesitantly interjected Kuroko, peering sideways to the taller male. “Didn’t you say… you would stop… after I…?”

 

“I said I would stop after both of us had done so,” corrected Akashi, dropping the necktie to the floor and picking the bluenette up by the exposed sides of his torso. “I have yet to cum, though.”

 

“Eh!? No, wait!” protested Kuroko, wiggling his body to try to escape from the redhead’s hold on him. “Akashi-kun? What are you going to do? Akashi-k— Uff!”

 

Kuroko’s body was suddenly dropped on the sofa’s soft cushions and the redhead readily lunged forward, straddling the small hips of the bluenette while taking off his upper body’s clothes. Kuroko did try to get out from underneath of him while he was busy undressing, but the weight pressuring his waist made him unable to move his torso more than a few inches.

 

“And where do you think you’re going?” asked teasingly Akashi, dropping his clothes on the floor and lunging forward once again, putting his hands in the cushions beside the head of the bluenette. “I said your punishment is not over yet. And I’ll tell you right away, if you cooperate with me, it will be easier on you.”

 

“Please wait!” yelped Kuroko, lunging his now free hands in the redhead’s direction when he started pulling down his trousers. However, even by clutching at his arms, the bluenette was nowhere stronger than Akashi, much less in his currently completely drained self. The taller male was right now in a position where he could, and most likely would, do anything he wanted to him. “What we’ve done is enough. Please stop now.”

 

“Weren’t you preaching about fairness earlier?” asked Akashi, motioning his body a little bit up to pull the bluenette’s pants and underwear fully down. “I’ve made you feel good and cum. Wouldn’t it be unfair if it was only you enjoying it? Also, the quickest you get me to cum, the quickest your punishment will end.”

 

“Ugh…” grunted Kuroko, averting his eyes from the taller male as he started unbuckling his own belt, a noticeable bulge on his crotch’s area.

 

“However, Tetsuya…” continued the redhead, freeing his erection and putting it near the slightly limper member of the smaller male. “My stamina doesn’t enable me only a greater physical prowess. I can probably hold it in much longer than you will ever be able to.”

 

Akashi wrapped his fingers around both of the aroused members and started to lightly pump them together, suppressing a groan in the back of his throat at both the warmth of his hand and the wetness of the bluenette’s cock against his own throbbing one.

 

“Ngh… Ahh— Akashi-kun…” gasped Kuroko, burying his fingers in the cushions of the sofa while strongly gripping into them. He was completely lost on where to look to right now. If he looked up, he would see the heterochromatic eyes of the redhead, which intently looked at him full of want and lust. If he looked down, he would see his hard cock being stimulated against the also hard one of the redhead. If he closed his eyes, however, he would be able to focus his hearing even more on the slippery and wet sounds of the double handjob being currently performed. “Haa… Akas—“

 

“Shall we make this a little bit more interesting, Tetsuya?” teasingly asked Akashi, his breathing labored as he continued to move his hand up and down. “Let’s have a little quiz. And by each correct answer you give, I’ll make you feel even better.”

 

“Ngh… I don’t… want to…” answered Kuroko in between heavy pants. “Just… hurry up and cum… Haa—“

 

“And what have I said earlier?” asked once again the redhead, motioning his upper body down slightly to peer more closely to the smaller male. “This is a punishment. You have no choice whatsoever in it. And if you make me happy with your answers, there’s a chance that I may let my self control slip a little and climax faster than expected.”

 

“…” Kuroko stared at the redhead for a few more seconds and then closed his eyes. If Akashi’s ministrations on his body wouldn’t make him pass out once again, he would most likely die from embarrassment at any moment.

 

“Silence gives consent,” teased Akashi, a mischievous smirk tugging his lips upwards. “Oh and you can neither lie nor nod your head. Well then, first question. Does it feel good when I touch you?”

 

“Ngh…” Kuroko closed his eyes even more strongly and continued to silently chant inwardly that he would absolutely headlock Akashi given the smallest of chances. He continued thinking about how he should deal with this situation, but he was suddenly forced to open his eyes. The movements of the redhead’s hand suddenly slowed down considerably and then halted completely. When he peered over to the other male, he saw him looking straight at him with an expression on his face that said he would only continue if he gave him an answer. He exasperatedly let his head fall back to the sofa once again. “…Y-Yes…”

 

“Yes what? And you have to speak louder, or I won’t hear you, Tetsuya,” added Akashi, softening his grip on the two members being held on his hand.

 

“Uhh… Y-Yes, it f-feels good…” embarrassingly stuttered the bluenette, motioning one of his hands up to hide his face.

 

“Okay, I’ll accept that,” acknowledged the taller male, resuming the motions of his hand, this time even faster. “But your voice has to be even louder next time, okay?”

 

“Ahh… Ngh!” The bluenette’s body shuddered at the pleasure coursing through his nerves and he was about to sink his teeth on his arm to muffle his moans when he remembered that Akashi would probably do worse if he tried to suppress his voice again. He stared with his teal eyes back to the taller male, tears streaming down the sides of his face due to all the pleasure that his body wasn’t being able to fully process.

 

“Question number two: do you like it when I touch you?” proceeded Akashi, continuing with the fast pace movements of his hand.

 

“Ngh… Haa… I—“ started Kuroko, motioning his other hand up to try to cover even more his bright red features. He took a shaky deep breath and hesitantly opened his mouth to answer. “Yes, I l-like it…”

 

“You like what?” asked further Akashi, once again leaning his body closer to the smaller male.

 

“I l-like it when y-you t-touch me…” answered the bluenette, his voice slightly muffled by the hands covering his face.

 

“I’ll accept that, but this will have to move away so I can give you your reward,” acknowledged Akashi, grabbing with his free hand one of the wrists of the other male and pulling it down to the sofa. He fully motioned his upper body down and hungrily kissed Kuroko, first pushing his tongue to the insides of the smaller male’s mouth and then pulling the bluenette’s tongue to his own mouth, leisurely slurping and sucking on it.

 

“Ngh… Mhm—!” Kuroko felt his body be struck by a strong and sudden discharge of pleasure and his head blanked out, involuntarily climaxing one more time and splattering his creamy release all over his own stomach.

 

Akashi gave a last suckle to the smaller male’s tongue and separated their lips, a knowing smirk appearing on his features once again. “I guess you really weren’t lying about both feeling good or liking it, the way you just came from me kissing you.”

 

“Haa… Haa…” The bluenette peered at the taller male through half-lidded eyes, his breathing pitched as he swallowed the mixture of both of their saliva that had pooled down in his mouth. “Stop… Let’s… stop here…”

 

“Hmm? But I haven’t finished yet, Tetsuya,” pointed out the redhead, straightening his back to a straddling position once again. He started moving his hand again, stroking this time only the other male’s sensitive cock due to his climax until it reached a standing up position one more time.

 

“Ahh— Enough… Please, Akashi-kun… I can’t anymore…” begged Kuroko, his body shivering at the touch on his anew hard member.

 

“If _this_ is standing up and ready to go once again, then it means that you still haven’t had enough,” corrected the taller male, teasing sliding one of his fingers through the length of the bluenette’s member, feeling it twitch at the touch. “Seeing as you’re up for it, let’s continue. Third question: who do you belong to?”

 

“Ngh! Ahh—“ Akashi once again put their members together and started stroking them up and down, first very lightly, but quickly resuming the rhythm he had used before, making Kuroko desperately squirm his body as he tried to control his breathing and voice, but failing completely on the latter. “I… belong to… haa… no one…”

 

“Wrong. Who do you belong to, Tetsuya?” repeated the redhead, stopping once again the movements of his hand and dropping it to the base of the smaller male’s cock, tightening his grip slightly more around it.

 

“Hyaah!” yelped Kuroko, his body convulsing upwards against the sofa as the hold on his member made a small volt of pain flash through his most sensitive and delicate organ. “Akashi— Let go—!”

 

“Answer the question and I will. So… who do you belong to?” asked one more time Akashi, softening a little bit his grip. He simply wanted to make Kuroko admit that much and he had absolutely no intention of hurting him needlessly. Forcing him into saying it for the first time wouldn’t really feel as good as it would if it was done willingly, but they were currently under this particular circumstance and he probably wouldn’t have a better chance of proving to a _certain someone_ who was the only person allowed to have the bluenette.

 

“Ugh…” Some more tears flowing from his eyes, Kuroko closed them briefly as he inwardly cursed. He shouldn’t have stayed silent and consented to this ‘little game’ that the redhead decided to play. He should have resisted more. He should have been stronger concerning the taller male’s advances. However… even though Akashi was being quite cruel with him right now, he was holding nothing against him. He simply wanted to continue to be touched by him, be kissed by him, to feel the exhilarating beat of his own heart as his body melted with pleasure. But there was a limit to what he consented. The bluenette opened his eyes once again and looked straight to the other male’s heterochromatic eyes. “’I belong to you’… That’s what… you want me… to say, isn’t it? Haa… I won’t, though.”

 

“…!” Akashi stared at the smaller male with a surprised expression on his face, quite taken aback by his answer. He released his grip on the other male’s member and motioned his hand up, hiding his amused laugh with it. “I’m seriously starting to grow a certain attachment to your stubbornness, Tetsuya. It’s probably one of the traits that I like the most on you.”

 

Kuroko suddenly felt his whole body ignite on fire, heating up much more than it already was as he observed the redhead’s laughing and processed the words he had said. Gaping his mouth open and closed in quick succession like a fish out of water, his face was readily painted in a myriad of shades of red, his mind spinning out of control.

 

“But well… Let’s put this question to the side for now and move on to the next one,” added the redhead, still chuckling a little bit. He gave a small thrust with his hips and rubbed his hard member against the smaller male’s, his body shivering briefly. He had told the bluenette that his stamina was good but even he couldn’t hold on that long if he was being continuously stimulated in so many ways. “And I will make this question the last one. What is our relationship?”

 

“…!” That question was the last thing Kuroko wanted to give an answer to at the moment. Akashi’s words earlier made him more confused than he had ever felt before. And most of his confusion had came from the fact that the little mention of the word ‘like’ that exited the redhead’s mouth had made him feel more aroused that he had ever felt in his entire life. If right now he tried to rationalize what their relationship was, he would probably end up saying something that he would absolutely regret later. And the bluenette couldn’t afford to have any more regrets in his life – especially not when the full moon was approaching. “I-I don’t know…”

 

“That’s not an ans—“

 

“I don’t know what our r-relationship is or what name I should give it,” hesitantly continued Kuroko, motioning his arm up to half-hide his face while averting the gaze of the taller male. “A-All I know is that I want you to continue touching me and get this over it. Touch me, kiss me, do whatever you want and need to cum and end this ‘punishment’ once and for all. You’re… You’re driving me insane with all this pleasure, so please just hurry up and cum, make me cum and stop messing with my heart!”

 

“Fuck…” cursed Akashi, lunging his hands forward and pulling the bluenette’s body upwards to a sitting position by tugging at his arms. He softly bumped his forehead against the other male’s and looked straight to his teal eyes. “I know I said you could try to give an answer that would make my self control slip… but you just pushed the wrong button, Tetsuya.”

 

Before Kuroko could ask what he was talking about, Akashi moved his face forward and hungrily kissed the bluenette, trying to not succumb even more to temptation and devour him whole in one go. Now was not the right moment to go that far, seeing as they were still too far away from each other in terms of feelings, even if they were slowly starting to emotionally bond with each other. Besides… he definitely didn’t want to have an audience when they went over that particular step. Actually, Akashi was already starting to slightly regret the fact that he had let them hear the erotic and delicious whimpers and moans of the smaller male in the first place.

 

“Mhm… Ngh—“ Kuroko felt his entire body tingling with the updated version of the prickling sensation as the redhead started to once again pump their erections together while passionately exploring his mouth with his tongue. An arm suddenly circled his waist, touching his skin directly as it pulled his body closer to the taller male’s.

 

He softly motioned his hands up but then noticed. What was he supposed to do with them? What was he supposed to do in this whole situation? Somehow, letting Akashi take all the initiative in this just didn’t sit all that well with him. He didn’t know what to do, however. He had literally zero experience touching other people, be in whatever way it may be. He had kissed someone before but… If the bluenette compared it to the kisses he had shared with Akashi, then he couldn’t really call that kissing anymore.

 

“…” Sensing that the smaller male was currently agonizing about some sort of thing, Akashi softly opened his eyes and peered sideways, where he saw the bluenette’s hand hovering in mid air. He couldn’t help the soft chuckle that formed in his throat and slowly departed his lips from the other male’s, lunging his hand sideways to clasp the lost floating member. “Tetsuya, let’s just do it like this…”

 

“Eh?” Kuroko followed with his eyes as Akashi opened his palm and lead his hand down to their crotches, wrapping his pale fingers around their hardened members and then clasping his own hand on top of his. “Eh!? Wait— Ahh!”

 

The redhead suddenly started moving his hand up and down, forcing the smaller male’s to do the same motions against their slippery cocks. Visually and audibly speaking, stroking someone’s erection already seemed embarrassing – but Kuroko now knew that being on both the giving and receiving end at the same time of such was one hundred times more embarrassing.

 

“Akas— Ahh! Please wai—“ gasped Kuroko, feeling a new climax start to creep up in his insides. Shivering madly, he motioned his free hand up and clawed at one of the taller male’s upper arms. Both his embarrassment and pleasure were mixing inside of his brain and the resulting concoction was making his head all cloudy and prevent his brain from working like it should. “Haa… Akashi-kun…”

 

“Ngh… Tetsuya…” softly groaned Akashi near the smaller males’s ear, opening his mouth slightly to give a small bite to the jelly earlobe hidden behind the blue locks of hair. He felt the other male’s body shuddering at the action and it erupted another moan out of him, but the hand clutching at his arm was losing strength at each stroke he gave to their cocks. Kuroko was probably at the very last drop of his stamina. _I guess I will have to make do with only cumming once today._

 

“Ahh— Ngh… Akash— I can’t anymore… I have to— Ahh!” moaned Kuroko in between his raged breathing, the shuddering of his body escalating by a tenfold.

 

“Don’t worry… Ngh… I won’t last much longer either…” acknowledged the redhead, giving a quick peck to the smaller male’s lips. He would have kissed him hungrily once again, but he wanted to hear him scream in ecstasy as he climaxed.

 

“Haa… Akashi-kun… Ngh!” Kuroko gave a last squeeze to the upper arm of the taller male and he felt a major shiver run through his body from head to toes, all of his nerves and cells tingling with pleasure. “Ahh— Seijuur—!”

 

“Ngh!” Akashi felt the bluenette climax on both of their stomachs and chests, his own creamy release following right after so it could be added to the sticky mess that their bodies were at the moment. He really had not expected that Kuroko would moan his given name in such a deliciously honey dripping voice in the exact moment his release came bursting out.

 

“Haa… Haa…” Panting heavily, Kuroko let his hand drop to the sofa and his body slumped down against the taller male. He softly closed his eyes and let his body enjoy the afterglow of having climaxed so many times in a row. His chest housed a quick rhythm of inflate and deflate and he noticed that the chest where he was leaning on was going through the exact same motions. Somehow… he couldn’t contain the soft smile that started tugging his lips upwards at such realization.

 

“Tetsuya…” called Akashi, slowly motioning his hands forward and pulling the bluenette’s face upwards in his direction. He lovingly stared at the tired teal eyes that looked right back at him and softly smiled at him. The redhead pulled the smaller male’s face closer and slowly licked the small dribble of the white sticky substance that had apparently reached as far as his features, kissing him afterwards in a gentle manner.

 

“Mhm…” The bluenette felt one more shiver climb up his body, but he was currently too tired for it to bring anything more out of him. When the taller male slowly departed their lips once again, he couldn’t help the half-disgusted expression that appeared in his face. “Ugh… That’s just nasty…”

 

“Ahahaha. Well, it’s yours. Or mine. I have no idea,” laughed Akashi, the soft smile on his lips stretching a little bit more. He peered down at their bodies and saw the state their torsos were at the moment. “Ahh… Look at this mess. We are in a dire need to have a bath.”

 

“Eh?” Kuroko softly followed the redhead’s gaze and looked down at his own body. He twisted his nose a little bit at the sight and then hesitantly peered up at the taller male. However, when he saw the mischievous glint in his heterochromatic eyes, he had a very bad feeling about it. “Wait, you don’t mean—“

 

The redhead suddenly lunged his hands forward and wrapped his arms around the smaller male’s waist, pulling his body up to on top of his shoulder and motioning out of the sofa at the same time. “I’ll make your body all squeaky clean again.”

 

“Eh!?” interjected Kuroko right away, twisting his body against the bare shoulders of the taller male so he could look at his face directly. “But didn’t you say that the punishment would be over once the both of us had cum?”

 

“This has nothing to do with punishments,” explained Akashi in a matter-of-factly tone, carrying the bluenette to inside of his former bedroom and walking to the bathroom attached to it. “It’s a matter of taking responsibility over my own actions.”

 

“N-No, thank you. I appreciate the sentiment but I politely decline. Please put me down,” complained the bluenette while wiggling his body more strongly.

 

“No can do. Deal with it,” simply answered Akashi, opening the door to the bathroom and turning the lights on.

 

“No, wait… A-Akashi-kun!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Future Line" by Ono Kenshou (our sucked-dry lovely bluenette :P).
> 
> Well, I did say that Kuroko would be punished too~ But damn, if all punishments were like that, I would misbehave more often XD  
> And about what they did in the bathroom... well, I'll leave that little bit to your imagination~ Hehehe~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	78. Having the strength to recognize that my weak self is just a façade

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> With this chapter, we are in the middle of the second arc (in terms of events). Starting next chapter, we will sort of enter an arc inside of an arc~ I guarantee you, guys... this week being portrayed right now will be best ever~ And it will certainly end in an even better way XD But you will need to wait until the next chapter to understand what I'm talking about, hehehe~ (I know, I know~ I like to see you squirming with anticipation *evil grin*)
> 
> Anyway...
> 
> Warning: slight TRIGGER ALERT! Yes, I know. I decided to put it here anyway, since some of the things in this chapter are a little bit... well, triggering, in a way. So, PLEASE be careful while reading.
> 
> Enjoy ^.^

“Ugh… I’m so tired…” groaned Kuroko as he let his body fall on top of his bed. No, tired couldn’t even begin to describe how he was feeling at the moment. He was utterly exhausted. All of his energy had be sucked and drained out of him due to the earlier ministrations of Akashi on him.

 

After he made him climax multiple times, they spent one hour closed in his old apartment’s bathroom where the redhead really put his words to good use – he washed every single spot of his body and the tiredness he was feeling prevented him from stopping Akashi on any of it. To add to all that had been done already, he spent half an hour persuading the taller male on sleeping on his own bedroom and _not_ on the bluenette’s.

 

He really didn’t know how he should deal with Akashi’s persistence about almost anything that concerned him. Especially now that he had somehow come into terms that maybe Aomine was right on what he had said earlier – he was in love with Akashi.

 

“God, what am I supposed to do now…” softly murmured Kuroko as he turned his body around on the mattress and buried his face on his pillow.

 

He had absolutely no idea on how he should face Akashi from now on. Kagami and Aomine too, since he had a very strong feeling that they heard everything that went on inside of his apartment. The redhead was already a problem since the beginning of this school year, since he was discovered by him in the exact same day that classes started once again. But now… Now Akashi was an imminent danger.

 

Kuroko wasn’t a human being that was born to love. Everyone he had loved, even if not in the romantic sense of the word, had been destroyed in some sort of way by him.

 

His family – even with the clear rejection that they showed him when they discovered that he was a “User”, he still deeply cared for them. Due to his connection with _them_ however, he had been forced to permanently erase all of their memories of him. It had been so hard to do it, though; he lost his entire family in a matter of seconds and the blame was all on him. Now, there was nothing that connected him to them, since he got rid of his own family registry, of all of the photos they had of him, of literally every single thing that tied him to his parents and grandmother.

 

Aomine and Momoi – the tanned male had been one of the biggest God sends to his life and the time he spent with both him and the pink haired girl were a little piece of heaven that he got to enjoy for far too little time. However, things fell apart, like it usually happened when it concerned the bluenette, and he had to _force_ both of them to give up on the lost cause that his life was. If he hadn’t, Aomine and Momoi would be dead right now, killed by _them_ in the night _they_ decided to make a _surprise visit_ to _pick him up for work_. And so two other people were forced to withstand his “little spell”.

 

And finally…

 

Ogiwara – his best friend, the family he gained after losing his real one, and, most of all, the light that guided a shadow like him through the times where he thought that the only way out of all the mess he had caused to the world was by ending his own existence. And it had been because of all of that that Ogiwara paid the ultimate price for him.

 

If someone was supposed to die during the “Bloody Night”, it was only him. None of the humans or “Users” who died in that night were premeditated deaths, much less Ogiwara’s. If someone should have been killed by Akashi and the other four “Miracles”… it was him.

 

All in all, him coming to love someone was a tragedy. Kuroko was simply _something_ that wasn’t born or created to love others. He wasn’t even allowed to love himself.

 

And yet… a part of him, right on the core of his heart, had hopes to be loved?

 

Kuroko was a _monster_. Monsters weren’t loved; they were hated. Monsters couldn’t enjoy a normal life; they had to keep on hiding if they wanted to continue breathing. Monsters weren’t supposed to live happily; they had to perpetually live until the day they died in agony and torment. And monsters shouldn’t be allowed to love because they contaminate and dirty that which they love and turn it into the same thing that they are.

 

And Akashi already thought of himself as a monster. The bluenette didn’t want to worsen the situation even more. The monsters he had created in the past were more than enough to haunt his already very guilty consciousness – he couldn’t afford to put the first person he had been in love with in that list. Having Ogiwara in it was already a very heavy cross to carry; any more of the same type of weight on his heart and he would surely fall into madness once again.

 

“Ahh… Why did I even fall in love with him…?” mumbled Kuroko, his voice muffled due to the pillow he was resting his face on.

 

Akashi and he were constantly arguing with each other (or bickering, as Aomine had called it). Their opinions painfully diverged on almost everything but well, Kuroko had to agree with the redhead when he said that they sometimes shared the same way of thinking when it concerned solving some problems. However, Kuroko had a feeling that it was that difference between them that first started to make him curious about him.

 

He knew virtually almost nothing about Akashi, much less his past, and the information he had on him where the things that he had learned for the three years he had spent in middle school observing all of the “Miracles”. He had never managed to make any sense of the things that the redhead did, but, curiously, all of them worked for the best and, most of all, in his favor. He was the most unpredictable out of all the people he had ever met (though not as unpredictable as he was, apparently) and that had only came to be confirmed in this past month he has been interacting with him.

 

Even with the observation that he kept doing on the “Miracles”, he never truly got to figure out Akashi. And that somehow fascinated him. So… was it possible that even before he got to talk and spend time with him like he now did… he was already starting to fall for him?

 

“Ugh… Forget it… I’m too tired to think right now…” Kuroko motioned his body slightly up and opened the blankets of his bed so he could cover himself and snuggle against the warm fabric. The best thing he could do right now was sleep all of his confusion off. If he got a restful night, then maybe in the morning things would seem clearer to him.

 

He slowly shifted his body around in the bed and when he was about to close his tired eyes, he realized that he was forgetting an extremely important detail right now.

 

Kuroko got up to a sitting position almost immediately and stared to the window of his bedroom, where an almost completely full moon was illuminating the sky. He clicked his tongue loudly and, even while remaining sat down on the bed, he pulled the blankets over his head and covered his body with them, tightly gripping into them.

 

_So I’m not even allowed to sleep all of my concerns off right now, huh…_

 

The bluenette readied himself for one more completely sleepless night and closed his eyes tightly, covering his ears with his hands at the same time. It would completely exhaust him, but maybe… maybe if he continued to think about Akashi and the things that made him fall in love with him… maybe he wouldn’t be as haunted by his terrifying memories as he had the previous night.

 

_“Kuroko… hurry up and come over here. I miss you. I want to see you.”_

 

“…!” Kuroko closed with even more strength his eyes and clutched his ears until they were hurting.

 

It wasn’t going to work. No matter what he did or who he thought about… he had no escape from _him_ or from the “dream realm”. And most certainly not from his memories or his past.

 

Kuroko was bound to live the rest of his life suffering for his past actions and holding himself back from actually pursuing happiness for his future. That was what _that man_ had told him countless times… and that was the actual truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Can Do" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Me at the moment: *drowning in a pool of tears* ToT
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	79. Go on and try taking my love, drive me crazy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> It's coming a little bit early because I'M DEAD TIRED RIGHT NOW... I was so nervous about the meeting I was going to have Saturday that I didn't sleep a wink that night and it apparently broke down the sleep schedule I had maintained recently. Now I need to compensate -.-'
> 
> But well~ Let's start with the mini-arc I mentioned last chapter, shall we? >.<
> 
> Enjoy!

Akashi woke up early, like it was usual, still sulking over the fact that it wasn’t being done beside the sleeping form of the bluenette. Even though he continuously tried to convince Kuroko to sleep with him once again throughout all the way from Seirin back to Fuyu, and even after spending a little bit more of time inside of the building working his way around to make him surrender to his insistence, Kuroko refused all of it and told him to sleep on his own bedroom.

 

He ended up doing so, but Akashi made it very clear to the smaller male that it would be done unwillingly and that next time he wouldn’t give up as easily as this time (to which Kuroko simply rolled his eyes and closed the door).

 

After getting his school uniform on, the redhead gave a last check to his email inbox, which he finished going through after Kuroko had denied his request, and then put all the data that Momoi had sent him the day before in a pen drive so he could take it to his office in the Student Council Building and store it together with all the other information he had safely kept there.

 

Akashi motioned afterwards to the door of his bedroom, putting the computer to sleep while doing such. When he closed the door and started walking over to the bluenette’s bedroom, he saw Aomine coming out of his own bedroom.

 

Aomine noticed him right away and quickly averted his gaze. Was Akashi really seeing a light shade of pink painted in his tanned cheeks? As such, all these actions came to confirm his suspicions. Aomine and, obviously, Kagami had listened to everything that went inside of Kuroko’s apartment last night (or at least had listened enough to cause such rare reactions on the tanned male).

 

“Daiki,” started Akashi, peering sideways to the taller male while in front of the bluenette’s door as he walked towards the staircase. When Aomine came to a halt due to the calling of his name, the redhead continued speaking. “Have the damages that I caused to Kagami Taiga’s apartment already been solved?”

 

“Ah… Um… Yeah…” hesitantly started the tanned male, scratching his head while peering sideways to the redhead. “Kagami went to talk with the dorm leader after… you and Kuroko left… and the guy said they’ll put a new door in his apartment by the end of today.”

 

“Is that so?” acknowledged Akashi, a slight smirk surfacing in his features. “You can go now. Good luck in trying to conciliate your workload with your classes.”

 

“What!?” Aomine fully turned around to look at the smaller male, who was about to turn the knob to the bluenette’s bedroom. “I also have to go to classes!?”

 

“But of course. You are a student and _all_ students must go to classes,” added the redhead, peering once again to Aomine. When he saw that the other male was going to start to object, he continued. “The ‘Miracles’ are only exempted from their duties as students from Teikou when they are out on official missions. And you have already abused of that little rule to the max. So, as I said, good luck, Daiki.”

 

Akashi fully lunged his hand forward and opened the door in front of him, hearing Aomine cursing under his breath from behind as he continued to go down the stairs to, probably, eat his breakfast.

 

When he looked around the room, the redhead found it yet again empty. The bed was made and his school bag was missing, so Kuroko most likely was already downstairs eating breakfast or, worst case scenario, had already gone to school. And he wanted to leave to school with the smaller male.

 

They were in different classes and they weren’t even next door to each other, so he wanted to spend a little bit more of time with him, seeing as going to his classroom every break would be counterproductive (Akashi would most likely get the urge to spend even more time with him if all he got were a few minutes in his presence). He also wanted to have breakfast and lunch with him, so he could observe his fascinating expressions when he ate something that he really liked (mainly vanilla-flavored sweets). Then they would return to Fuyu together, where Akashi would have to drop by the Student Council building first to see if there was anything that he needed to solve. Afterwards they would enjoy another meal together and then he would resume with his plan to convince Kuroko on letting him sleep with him again.

 

 _What was it that Shuuzou called me before?,_ started thinking Akashi as he once again motioned outside of the bluenette’s bedroom and closed the door. _Ah yes, a ‘love-struck maiden’, wasn’t it? I guess a part of me likes to fantasize like one._

 

Once the redhead arrived to the dining room, he saw both Aomine and Murasakibara having breakfast (though it almost seemed a full-fledged lunch or dinner with the huge portion of food that the purple haired giant was ingesting). He immediately looked to the chair where the bluenette usually sat on when not in his presence and found it empty.

 

Already expecting that the bluenette had left for school, he still decided to ask the other two males. “Did Tetsuya already left for school?”

 

“Hm…? Kuro-chin?” started Murasakibara, lifting his eyes from his plate while chewing his food. “If you’re looking for him, he’s—“

 

Before the purple haired giant could answer his question, the door that connected the dining room to the kitchen was open and from there came out the searched-for bluenette. Akashi had to control his facial muscles to the extreme, since they wanted to move on their own and put a bright smile on his features. After all, he could still follow with his “fantasies” forward.

 

“Good morning, Tetsuya. Are you leaving for school now?” asked right away the redhead, walking immediately over to near the smaller male.

 

“Good morning, Akashi-kun. And yes, I am about to leave,” answered Kuroko, halting his steps when the taller male stopped in front of him. When he saw that Akashi was about to start to speak once again, he lifted his hand up and prevented him from doing so. “No, I don’t want to go to school with you nor will I wait until you have finished eating breakfast.”

 

“…” With a dissatisfied look on his face, the redhead observed Kuroko resuming his steps, Aomine snickering lightly while eating his breakfast. However, he knew how to change the smaller male’s mind on it. “Really? Then the little something that I wanted to tell you, about a certain two-days event they will do in Sumida this weekend, doesn’t seem to be something that would interest you to know about. Even though it’s a pastry competition to which I received an invitation to since I helped them out last year.”

 

“…!” Kuroko abruptly stopped his steps and gave a quick peek to the smirking redhead from above his shoulder. No, he would not fall for it. Definitely not fall for it! The bluenette looked to in front of him again and continued walking.

 

“Ah, and if I’m not mistaken, Pierre Hermé will be participating in it with a new version of his famous macarons,” continued Akashi in the precise moment Kuroko was going to cross the door to outside of the living room. “One of them is with… hm… yes, vanilla.”

 

“…!” The bluenette once again came to a stop, just below the frame of the door. He peered one more time to the redhead, the smirk on his face even wider than before. Akashi was probably thinking that he had won if he managed to convince him into walking with him to school by using his vanilla addiction in his favor. Well… he was very mistaken if he thought he was going to succeed in it.

 

“And the invitation that I got includes tasting all the sweets that the participants make,” added finally Akashi, starting to walk over to his seat in the table and pulling the chair to him. He did the same with the chair beside him and sat down on his own. “I don’t really see them saying no if someone wants to taste one of the pastries more than once, either.”

 

“…” Kuroko’s mind continued resisting the idea of submitting to Akashi’s clever strategy to make him do what he wants but… his body had fully given in to temptation and when he noticed, he was already sitting down in the chair beside the redhead.

 

“Why are you sitting down again, Tetsuya? I thought you wanted to go to school alone,” teased the redhead, lunging his hand forward to grab the teapot near his seat that had been placed there by Murasakibara a few seconds before he had sat down on the table. He leisurely started filling his cup with the piping hot liquid, one of his heterochromatic eyes peering sideways to the bluenette. “Oh, could it be that I made you curious about the event?”

 

“…” Right now, Kuroko was at his limit with the current manipulative game of the taller male, but he still suppressed the bubbling anger that he was currently feeling due to it. Pierre Hermé and his heavenly macarons were worth it. “Y-Yes, you did.”

 

 _Ah, he got him hook, line, and sinker,_ mumbled inwardly both Aomine and Murasakibara as they continued to enjoy both the breakfast and the amusing show being displayed in front of them.

 

“I see. Then, I’ll tell you more,” acknowledged Akashi, motioning his teacup to his mouth, which still displayed a small smirk. “While we’re walking together to school.”

 

“Ugh…” Kuroko dropped his head down in a demoralized motion and started resigning himself that Akashi had won this round… again. Winning against the redhead seemed to be an impossible mission, but it wasn’t going to be the fact that he had never managed to score a point with him that would make him give up on trying to.

 

Akashi continued to look over in the bluenette’s direction while drinking his tea, chuckling softly as he saw Kuroko inwardly admonish himself in regards to his addiction to vanilla and weakness against it when it was possible to achieve in divine flavors.

 

After he filled his second cup of tea, however, he motioned his hand forward and softly pulled Kuroko’s face closer to him.

 

“Did you have trouble sleeping once again?” asked the redhead almost immediately, looking intently to the smaller male’s face. “You look extremely tired.”

 

“After all you did to him yesterday, what would you expect…?” softly mumbled Aomine in between bites of his toast. When he saw Kuroko looking over in his direction, a completely scandalized look in his pale-turned-to-red features, he readily averted his gaze and continued to munch on his food in silence.

 

“I-I think I should do as I was advised to and abstain from vanilla and sweets for the next few decades, after all,” stuttered Kuroko as he suddenly stood up from his chair. “E-Enjoy yourself in the pastry competition.”

 

“Wait.” Akashi motioned his hand forward once again and grabbed Kuroko’s wrist, pulling him back to him. He pulled the bluenette with a little bit too much strength though, and he ended up falling straight on his lap. And the redhead wasn’t known for wasting any chance that was provided to him. He readily circled the other male’s waist with his arms and held him closer to him.

 

“A-A-Akashi-kun!?” yelped the bluenette right away, lunging his hands down to clutch and try to pull away the arms of the taller male.

 

“I still haven’t finished my breakfast, Tetsuya, so we can’t leave yet,” explained Akashi, departing one of his hands out of the smaller male and motioning it to the table so he could take the teacup on it and drink the rest of the hot liquid. “Since you are with such haste to go, let’s start talking about it now.”

 

“Okay, but please let go of me,” requested the smaller male, still tugging at the other male’s sleeve.

 

“The invitation is for two people, so I can’t exactly show up in the event alone,” continued the redhead, slurping leisurely on the tea while ignoring both the pleads and fight of the bluenette currently sitting on his lap. “Showing up alone would make it seem that I’m taking them light-heartedly and that I’m only supporting this event as a mean to publicly support ‘Users’ and prove that we are no different from other human beings, even though there are such clear distinctions between both.”

 

“Akashi-kun, I’m talking to you…” called once again Kuroko, rolling slightly his teal eyes.

 

“I don’t want others to think that just because we are superior to the rest of the human population in some regards, we think of ourselves as such,” proceeded Akashi. “Teikou Academy wasn’t created to reign over the country, it was made to protect ‘Users’ from those who want to use them for their own dubious goals. As such, I need to put on a good show. So I want to take you, Tetsuya, with me.”

 

“Eh? Can you please repeat that again?” asked Kuroko, slightly flabbergasted with all that the taller male had just said.

 

“I want you to come with me to the pastry competition,” simply repeated once again the redhead while putting his now empty cup on the saucer once again.

 

“You want to take _me_ , ‘The Phantom’, to an event where you need to pass a good message?” asked skeptically the bluenette, putting aside the fight he had been having against the other male’s hold on his waist. “Are you… out of your mind?”

 

“No, I’m not,” answered right away Akashi, putting his other hand also around Kuroko’s waist and clasping his hands together as he stared intently to him. “You see, I don’t have anyone else to take with me. Atsushi would probably really enjoy going, but unfortunately he will be busy this weekend.”

 

“Eh? I’m totally free, actually,” corrected Murasakibara, tilting slightly his head as he tried to remember if there was something he had to do. And there was none that came to mind.

 

“Like I said, he’ll be _busy_ this weekend so he _won’t_ be able to go,” corrected Akashi, eyeing sideways the purple haired male while his golden eye flickered briefly. “Ryouta isn’t here at the moment and will only arrive next week. Shintarou has virtually no interest in sweets that don’t have sweet red beans paste. And Daiki… well, he probably would only create trouble if he went.”

 

“Hey!” complained Aomine right away, dropping his hands against the table loudly.

 

“So the only person left is you, Tetsuya,” pointed out Akashi, giving a light squeeze on the hold around the smaller male’s waist to pull him slightly closer.

 

“B-But… what about Momoi-san?” insisted the bluenette, his eyes dancing around through the room.

 

“Satsuki is busy with her work and her investigations for both me and the Department of Abilities and ‘Users’,” softly explained Akashi, the fact that Kuroko was giving it a thought while trying to refuse but not wanting to refuse amusing him slightly.

 

“Don’t you have anyone else to take to the event? I’m sure you have friends other than the ‘Miracles’ or those working in lieu with the Student Council,” continued insisted Kuroko, his eyes starting to settle down on the redhead once again.

 

“I do but I don’t want to take them if I can take you,” pointed out Akashi, chuckling softly.

 

“B-But… the Japanese government and your higher-ups won’t like it…” hesitantly added the bluenette, his gaze slightly downcast. “They probably want to avoid putting me in places where there are a lot of people. And in an event where the media is around even less.”

 

“And that’s one more reason why you should go, Tetsuya,” interrupted the taller male as Kuroko was going to continue to enumerate even more reasons why he couldn’t possibly go. “Prove them that you are not a threat to the country and that you can go to wherever you want without causing any trouble. Prove that to them and to yourself.”

 

“…”

 

How could Akashi be so certain that nothing wrong would happen if he went? His ability was completely unpredictable. And didn’t the redhead say that there was someone currently going after him, a “User” by the name of Hanamiya Makoto? As such, taking all of this into consideration, why would Akashi want him to go with him? Even though it would slightly benefit him if he did cause a good impression in front of the Japanese government, he still couldn’t…

 

“That’s why…” suddenly added Akashi, after he made a brief pause to let the vantages of going to the event with him sink in the head of the smaller male. He once again pulled the bluenette closer to his body, making him slightly instable and causing him to have to grip unto his school jacket. The redhead leaned his face closer to Kuroko and touched with his forehead on the other male’s, whispering softly to him. “Let’s go on a date this weekend, Tetsuya.”

 

“Eh!? Ah… I… No…” started babbling Kuroko, feeling the circuits inside of his brain start to completely fry due to the wave of heat that was covering his entire face.

 

Akashi chuckled and gave a quick peck on the bluenette’s cheek. “Yes? No? If you don’t quickly decide, I will make my own judgment on it. And remember… Silence gives consent.”

 

“…!”

 

The redhead amusingly observed as Kuroko started gaping his mouth open and close, the blush on his face darkening by a tenfold. He wondered if some day he could make the smaller male blush so intensely that his face would turn into the same shade that his hair had. That would be something highly entertaining, not to mention endearing, to see and put on motion.

 

“Okay. Since it seems that you can’t make the decision by yourself, I’ll make the call for you,” teased Akashi, a slight smirk tugging his lips upwards. “Taking into account the events that happened in the past few days, where we—“

 

“I-I-I-I’ll go!” suddenly yelped Kuroko in complete panic. He had no idea what words were about to exit the redhead’s mouth, but he most definitely could _not_ let him finish it or he had a feeling he would succumb to the embarrassment he was already feeling. “I-I’ll go so… please don’t say even one more word about that…”

 

“Really? Great,” acknowledged Akashi.

 

However, he didn’t do his usual haughty expression that said that he had already planned it to be that way, or a soft smile like the ones that every so often perked up his lips. Akashi fully smiled to Kuroko, a 100% heartfelt smile appeared on his features and he fully motioned forward, delivering a quick kiss in the bluenette’s lips.

 

“…”

 

All that Kuroko could do was just motionlessly let Akashi lift his weight and put him once again in a standing position while he tried to rationalize what he had saw just now. A loud _bang_ resounded through the entire division – it had been Aomine, who fell down his chair due to the stupefaction he was currently feeling. Murasakibara had completely stopped eating, observing with his purple eyes fully open as the redhead leisurely picked up the used dishes and started going to the kitchen in a completely satisfied rhythm.

 

Akashi Seijuurou, the one that is most of the time considered to be the devil incarnated in a person’s body, had just given the most angelical smile that the three “Users” had ever seen in their whole lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from "MEMORIES" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Akashi, you... you... God, I don't even know what to say! But kyaaaaa! I'm so excited to write this mini-arc >.< Because it's... I mean... A DATE!!! A freaking date! *passes out due to the mixture of lack of sleep and excitement*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	80. They went and fell in love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> Today, I have successfully written all chapters that will be released this month (which includes "Shattered Miracles", "Eat Me, Drink Me" and Kuroko's B-day special fic). Considering that today is day 18, I'm pretty far ahead schedule, aren't I? ^.^ But damn it if isn't a pity that each human being only has one birthday per year... Well, if Kuroko's birthday happened more often, then I feel for my local blood bank, because I really nosebleeded to life-threatening levels because of it XD
> 
> Well, enjoy this slightly informative chapter!

For the hundredth time since last night, Kagami released a sigh – a _very_ long and exasperated sigh. He put down his hands on his desk and dropped his head down to its cold surface, leaning his cheek in it while peering absentmindedly to the outside through the window.

 

The new door to his apartment would be installed during the afternoon, after lunch, and he would be in classes meanwhile, as the dorm leader, Hyuuga Junpei, had assured him that nobody would enter inside of his apartment while the door was currently inexistent. However… every time he thought about the fact that he would have a new door, it reminded him of _why_ he even needed one to begin with.

 

And the worst part of it, it reminded him of the things he had to listen to after the door was broken.

 

Seeing as he confirmed both Kuroko's and Akashi’s feelings for each other to some degree, and Kuroko was now aware that he didn’t dislike really all that much the heterochromatic redhead – he actually loved him – Kagami wasn’t stressing about the growing closeness of the two smaller males as much as before. But being made to hear intimate moments between them was something that he would gladly go without. Especially if it would happen while he was in the same damn room as another person aka Ahomine!

 

 _God, those where the most agonizing hours of my life!,_ inwardly cringed the redhead as he bumped his head consecutively against his desk. Maybe if he hit his head with enough strength in its hard surface he would forget the fact that Aomine’s presence there in his apartment during the whole “show” embarrassed him more than hearing the loud moans of the bluenette coming from next door.

 

And the tanned male insisted in staying there until both Akashi and Kuroko went back to Fuyu, so if the two of them hadn’t decided to really return there and had opted to spend the night in Kuroko’s old apartment, then Kagami would have been forced to also spend the entire night with Aomine. Which would be plainly awkward for him after what they had listened to… together… in the same sofa… right next to each other…

 

“Argh…!!!!” suddenly yelled the redhead, lifting his head from the desk and clutching desperately at it with his hands.

 

“Could you please make less noise in the morning?” spoke a soft, but admonishing, voice from behind him. “Hearing you slamming your head against the desk is already bothersome, but you screaming while the teacher is almost arriving is an inconvenience, Kagami-kun.”

 

“Woah, Kuroko! You’re here!” yelped the redhead, turning his body quickly around to look at the place where the voice had come from. When he looked to the desk behind his own, he saw Kuroko leisurely taking his notebook out of his school bag, the usual expressionlessness present in his features.

 

“Of course I’m here. This is my class,” deadpanned Kuroko, softly putting the notebook on top of the desk. He raised his head slightly and intently stared to the taller male sitting in front of him. After a few seconds of awkward silence between them, the bluenette dropped his gaze once again and picked up the notebook, covering slightly his face with it. “…You… You heard all of _that_ … didn’t you…?”

 

“Ah… Um… Probably not all of it but…” hesitantly babbled Kagami, scratching his head while averting the shy gaze of the smaller male. He had actually listened to it from the beginning to the end, even when they were inside of the bathroom having a bath, but it would probably be better if he kept that little detail to himself. “But don’t worry, Kuroko! I have absolutely no prejudice against gay couples.”

 

“…We… are not a couple…” softly mumbled the bluenette while covering even more his face with the notebook.

 

“Eh!? You’re not!?” asked Kagami, his face displaying a shocked expression. “After all he did to you in your apartment, I thought that you two would start dating or someth— Ah…”

 

When the redhead saw Kuroko glaring at him while hiding half of his face, he felt a huge urge to face-palm himself. He had just revealed that he had listened to everything and tried to cover it up with a lie.

 

“Okay, I listened to everything! From the beginning, when you were talking with each other, until you two stepped outside of your apartment!” exasperatedly confessed the taller male, an accentuated blush on his features. “I did and Aomine did too! Why don’t we just drop this subject once and for all and save ourselves the embarrassment that it obviously causes to all parties?”

 

“…” Kuroko continued to peer to the other male for a few more seconds and then dropped the notebook once again to the table. “Yes, agreed. Yesterday never happened.”

 

“Just… keep in mind that you’re always welcome to come to my apartment. You’re my friend, after all…” shyly added the redhead while turning around to face the front of the classroom once again, seeing as the teacher had entered inside of the room and was going to begin the classes.

 

“…Yes, Kagami-kun,” softly acknowledged Kuroko, a small smile tugging his lips upwards. He also turned his face to the front of the classroom and started to listen to what the teacher was saying.

 

_Thank you…_

 

-.-

 

Akashi was impatiently staring to the outside of the building through the window of his classroom while waiting for the teacher to arrive. He had pretty much spend the last few weeks perpetually in the presence of the bluenette. Now that they were separated, even if it was just some classrooms breaking them apart, he was feeling an incredible sensation of loneliness and void inside of him.

 

If such a short distance caused such sense of loss inside of his chest, he really didn’t want to discover what would happen if Kuroko really went forward with his decision to leave Teikou once everything was solved about the charges the Japanese government had against him. Akashi was in dire need to find a countermeasure to such an eventuality.

 

While he was turning the gears inside of his brain to think up a strategy, he saw in the reflection of the glass of the window that Midorima had entered inside of the classroom, together with his partner, Takao Kazunari.

 

“Shintarou,” called right away Akashi, turning his body around to face the green haired male.

 

Both Midorima and Takao started walking over in his direction, a suspicious look on the green haired male and a bright smile on the raiven haired male.

 

“Good morning, Akashi,” greeted Midorima, adjusting his glasses.

 

“’Morning, Akashi-san!” happily greeted Takao, grinning at the redhead. He gave a quick and soft poke with his elbow to the taller male and looked over at him. “Don’t be in such a sour mood in the beginning of the morning, Shin-chan. Try smiling to others every once in a while~”

 

“…” The green haired male simply averted his gaze and looked over to the other side, a sulking expression on his face.

 

“Good morning, Shintarou, Kazunari,” greeted back Akashi. He switched his gaze to the raiven haired male and peered intently at him. “Are you feeling better now?”

 

“Yes, of course I am!” acknowledged Takao, locking his arm around the taller male’s one while happily smiling. “Shin-chan put me back on shape with his tsundere tendencies~ Oh and medical skills, of course.”

 

“I’m glad to know that,” added the redhead, giving a quick soft smile. He quickly switched his gaze to Midorima and then returned it to Takao. “I would actually like to ask you for a little something, Kazunari.”

 

“Eh? Me? Not Shin-chan?” asked the raiven haired male, who was completely surprised with the sudden question, while pointing a finger to himself. He gave a quick glance to the taller male, who looked just a lost in this as him, and then peered once again to the redhead. “What can I help you with, Akashi-san?”

 

“You must have heard of Kuroko Tetsuya, ‘The Phantom’, right?” asked Akashi right away, shifting his body slightly in his chair so he could more easily talk with the raiven haired male.

 

“Ah, the ‘shadow’ guy, right? Well, yes, I heard of him,” hesitantly started Takao. “More like, I sort of know him? He was my classmate during my second year of middle school. But I had no idea he was ‘The Phantom’ at the time. Though he always hit me as weird…”

 

“Weird?” asked the redhead, an eyebrow perking up at the unknown information. He had absolutely no knowledge of the time Kuroko spent in the middle school section of Teikou Academy, so he was now extremely curious to listen to what Takao had to say in that regard.

 

“Well, weird isn’t the exact word that I would use to describe him…” explained Takao, motioning his hand up to his chin as he thought about it. “During the year we were in the same class, I never saw him talking with any of his classmates, me included. He went to classes every single day, but nobody ever noticed him there, not even the teachers at times. Well, I did because I can see him with my eyes. I never saw him again after the ‘Bloody Night’, though.”

 

“Then, you can see his ‘real shape’, can’t you?” asked forth Akashi, staring intently to the other male.

 

“Well, I can but…” hesitantly answered Takao, giving a quick glance to the green haired male. He sighed and dropped his hand once again. “I don’t really know how to explain it, and please don’t take this the wrong way, but… Kuroko’s real shape is extremely close to your, the ‘Miracles’, shape. Especially yours, Akashi-san. In particular… your left eye.”

 

“…!” Both Akashi and Midorima looked at the raiven haired male with a completely surprised expression on their face, the latter gaping his mouth wide open.

 

“The problem is that his real shape is all bottled up inside of his body, as if it’s being kept forcibly closed there for some sort of reason,” continued Takao, hesitation still present in his voice. “I don’t know if he’s doing that on purpose or unconsciously, but that’s probably the reason why he’s so propitious at losing control of his ability. He just keeps it inside of himself, without any way out of his small body, until breaking point. It must be a continuous strain on his body to do that.”

 

“And if Tetsuya has been doing such since he _awoke_ as a ‘User’, which we have no idea when that was, there’s a slight possibility that his body no longer has any other alternative other than keep doing that…” thought out loud the redhead. “Which means, maybe it isn’t that he couldn’t learn to control his ability during the time he has spent on Teikou… It was simply that the co-existence between his ability and his body didn’t allow him to do such without losing control of it.”

 

“Well, maybe…” acknowledged Takao, shrugging his shoulders softly. “I’ve never saw him using his ability on anything other than himself to erase his presence, so I can’t say for sure.”

 

 _So his ability really was used to keep himself hidden from us,_ inwardly added both the redhead and the green haired male, exchanging a quick look between themselves.

 

“Then if you saw him using his ability on other things, would you be able to give me all the details of his ‘real shape’?” finally asked Akashi after a brief moment of silence between all of them. “Tetsuya has requested me for help in order to control his ability. I still don’t have a lot of information of it, though. I would really appreciate it if you could help us.”

 

“Ah… Well, I don’t mind. But my explanations aren’t the best, I’ll let you know~” answered Takao, a bright smile on his face. The prospect of helping Akashi dealing with ‘The Phantom’ was making him extremely happy since it meant he would be helping Midorima in an indirect way.

 

“I take it that you won’t mind being present either, Shintarou?” continued Akashi, turning his head to the green haired male.

 

“…” Midorima adjusted his glasses and intently looked to the raiven haired male, switching his gaze afterward to the redhead. “Yes, I don’t mind being there. I have to keep my eyes on this airhead to see if he doesn’t overdo it, after all.”

 

Takao simply looked up to the green haired male and happily grinned at him, leaning his body slightly closer to him.

 

“Very well. I’m going to check up on Tetsuya during lunch break, so I’ll tell him about this at that time,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a quick nod with his head. “Until then, I’ll isolate one of the not used gyms so we can have it at our disposal. I don’t want to run any risks of something going wrong.”

 

Midorima and Takao nodded in agreement and started motioning to their respective desks, the redhead keeping his gaze on them as they did so.

 

_You must be thankful right now, aren’t you, Shintarou? The fact that Kazunari will interact with Tetsuya may be giving you a chance to accomplish whatever it is that your plans are, after all._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Hengen Jizai no Magical Star" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> You have no idea how much I laughed with this chapter because of the little discovery that I made because of it. Akashi is... *takes a deep breath* Akashi is 3 cm smaller than Takao XD Oh dear lord, how cute can our devilish redhead get!!!
> 
> Anyway, things continue to be set in motion, it seems~ What will be revealed during the first training session? And most important of all, will something bad happen during it, like Akashi wants to prevent? Hehehe~ All these questions will be answered soon enough :D
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	81. The overshadowed future is cut up like the illuminating light

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> You know, the moment you go to a medical appointment and start grinning like mad at the doctor because you're imagining that it's Midorima the one making the appointment... I think that's a sign that your like for KnB has turned into obsession... I experienced it today -.-'
> 
> Anyways...  
> Warning: TRIGGER ALERT + slight GORE (Yes, I know - again. This time probably worse than the last one... Please forgive me for writing this. Maybe the way the second part of the chapter goes will make you forgive me... even if just a little bit).
> 
> Well, enjoy :)

This was something that most people weren’t aware of but… a sea of flames could actually muffle the sound of buildings crumbling down. The heat they released was so strong that it was completely impossible to breathe without feeling your lungs turning into crisp. The ashes fell down with the intensity of a snowstorm, narrowing your vision and covering the world with a deadly grey color.

 

The orange of the flames… The grey of the ashes… And the dark red of the coagulating blood splattered everywhere… Those were the main colors of the streets of Tokyo during the “Bloody Night”.

 

Kuroko continued slowly crossing the street, people running around him in a complete panic as they took no notice whatsoever of the corpses that they stepped on in hopes to escape the going-out-of-control shadows that appeared without any warning. Nobody seemed to notice him either.

 

However, if they bumped into him, they would start to scream in pain. Their skins would start to be painted in black and slowly, very slowly, their bodies started to disintegrate… until all that was left was more ashes that would be carried away by the wind.

 

But Kuroko no longer cared. If people didn’t see him when he could so easily notice them, then weren’t they the ones at fault? Wasn’t the world at fault for everything that was happening right now?

 

No… it wasn’t.

 

It was Kuroko’s fault. The screaming voices in his head told him so. The screaming voices around him that yelled that the world was ending told him it was his fault. _They_ told him it was his fault. _He_ told him it was his fault. His parents told him it was his fault.

 

So… it had to be his fault. With this big of an amount of people saying that he was the guilty one, there was no chance of those words being a lie.

 

Kuroko was at fault. He was a mass murderer. He was a full-fledged monster.

 

Suddenly, the people around him disappeared. He found himself completely alone in the midst of the burning, crumbling buildings. Kuroko looked around. All he saw was orange, grey and red. So much red. He looked down to his body. He was also painted in red. His hands felt sticky and cold from the absurd quantity of blood that covered and dripped from them.

 

However, none of it was from him.

 

He gave one more step and then stopped once again. He looked up to the sky and saw his shadows dancing around the red eclipsed moon. The darkness was of such intensity that there were no stars in it.

 

Resuming his steps, Kuroko continued to walk through the destroyed streets, completely void of life. All that was still there was cold, bloodied and dead. He included. He may be breathing, his heart may be beating but… he was completely dead inside. He had committed the perfect suicide – nobody would notice that he was dead unless they went inside of his heart or head. And how would they be able to? If anyone touched him, they would cease to exist, after all.

 

When he looked sideways, he saw in the midst of a fallen building a small child crouched down on their own body. Their small back was trembling immensely. Their body was also covered in ashes and blood. Kuroko immediately ran over in their direction and stretched his bloodied hand to them.

 

But he came to a halt. If he touched the child, they would cease to exist. Kuroko didn’t want to leave them alone there, but… What could he do to help them?

 

 _“It’s my fault…”_ suddenly said the child. They suddenly got up and started to turn their small frame in his direction. With the proximity, Kuroko could more easily take notice of the blue locks of hair hidden behind all the dirtiness of the ashes and blood. When they fully faced him, he recognized the child as himself when he was all but a kid. _“It’s my fault the world is crumbling. My fault… All my fault… Heh… Hehehehe…”_

 

Kuroko’s younger version started to maniacally laugh out loud, the high pitched tone of his voice filling all of Tokyo, coming out even louder than the noise of the flames and falling buildings.

 

_“I don’t care! Let it all fall! Be destroyed! Everything should be destroyed! This cruel world broke me and made me be reborn as a monster! I am the monster the world created and now I will get my vengeance on it by completely bringing it to ruin! Ahahahahaha!”_

 

As his younger version continued screaming and laughing, the shadows started destroying even more. Killing even more. The street was once again filled with people running around in panic and all Kuroko could do was watch the cruel massacre happening for the hundredth time.

 

He let his body slump down to the ground and covered his eyes with his bloodied hands. He didn’t want to watch it. He didn’t want to hear it. He didn’t want to see his younger self falling yet once again to insanity. He didn’t want to fall once again to insanity.

 

_Help… Someone… please help me… Please stop me…_

_Please… kill me…_

_“Kuroko… I’m waiting for you… I will wait as long as it’s needed. Because I love you. And because I belong to you. And… you love me too, don’t you, Kuroko? It’s because you love me that you made me become a monster. So we could be together forever.”_

 

_No… You’re wrong…! I love you, but…_

 

“—roko.”

 

_I love you, Ogiwara-kun, but I didn’t mean it when I… So I can’t…_

 

“Kuroko.”

 

_I made you become a monster just like me so I don’t deserve to be loved by you. I should… I should have died that day!!_

 

“Kuroko, wake the hell up before I’m killed by Akashi’s insanely creepy glare!”

 

Kuroko suddenly opened his eyes and lifted his head from the desk where he was resting his upper body. When he looked around, he saw he was in the classroom, Kagami sitting down in the desk in front of his while sweating buckets. When he looked over to the door of the classroom, to where Kagami was peering at with a scared demeanor in his face, he saw Akashi leisurely stepping inside of the room while glaring daggers to the taller male.

 

“Tetsuya, are you feeling okay?” asked Akashi as soon as he stopped beside his seat. He motioned his hand forward and with the back of his finger wiped the small tear that was rolling down his cheek.

 

“Aka—“ The warm voice and gentle expression in the heterochromatic redhead made some more tears stream down his teal eyes and a sob got stuck in his throat. Kuroko quickly motioned his hands up and started wiping his tears with the sleeves of his school jacket. “Y-Yes, I’m f-fine. I’m… fine.”

 

“Really?” asked Akashi, crouching down slowly in front of the bluenette so he could look to his downcast face. He once again motioned his hand in his direction and softly ran his fingers through his hair. “I haven’t seen you sleeping during the day in a while. Tell me, did you spend another night completely sleepless?”

 

“A-As I said, I’m fine, Akashi-kun,” answered Kuroko, taking a deep breath. “The class was just being slightly uninteresting so I ended up taking a small nap.”

 

How could he have fallen asleep? Kuroko knew very well what were the consequences of sleeping during the few days previous to a full moon. And that night it would be a full moon. Which meant… today it would be the day where he would be under more danger. Where _everyone_ would be under more danger. And yet… he fell asleep this easily while on classes.

 

“…” Akashi looked intently to the smaller male. His hands were trembling. No, all of his body was trembling just the slightest. The way he woke up, tears running down his pale features, he must have been dreaming about something. And the redhead knew how heavy some dreams could be. He got up once again and grabbed the quivering hand of the bluenette. “Come with me, Tetsuya. It’s already lunch time and I have some things I would like to discuss with you.”

 

“Eh? Ah… But I—“ started Kuroko, being tow hauled by the heterochromatic redhead to outside of the classroom.

 

“Let’s have lunch together, okay?” interrupted Akashi, looking over his shoulder to the other male while softly smiling.

 

“I said I would eat with… Ah… Never mind…” Kuroko knew better than say that he had agreed to eat lunch with Kagami. The taller redhead probably had come to the same conclusion, seeing as he didn’t say anything at all when Akashi started to take him outside of the classroom. He sure didn’t want to add more fuel to the dislike (actually, jealousy) the heterochromatic redhead felt towards Kagami. The bluenette softly released a sigh and pulled his hand away from Akashi’s. “Where will we be eating?”

 

“In the canteen, of course,” answered the redhead right away, sulking slightly at the fact that Kuroko had pulled his hand away from his. “The food is not as good as Atsushi’s, but it’s suitable for a meal served in a school such as this one.”

 

“What was it that you wanted to talk with me?” asked Kuroko after the brief period of silence where they walked over through the school building to the canteen. He felt a small aversion to the spacious division when he saw the number of students there, all of them leisurely eating and chatting with each other. Somehow… the dream he had been having earlier flashed before his eyes once again. “Um… I-I think I prefer to eat somewhere else… I don’t—“

 

“If you can’t enter inside of places with this little number of people in it, you won’t be able to go to the pastry competition either,” pointed out the redhead, peering over to the adamant expression on the smaller male. “You also won’t be able to leave Teikou like you plan on doing if you can’t go to places with lot of people it in. If we compare the surrounding area of Teikou Academy with other zones of Japan, then we are all but a small number of inhabitants.”

 

“…” Kuroko kept staring to the countless students inside of the canteen, going around on their whole lives like normal students. He really wondered how they could put the fact that they were different from the people outside of the school grounds completely on the sidelines. He… would most likely never be able to do such. Slowly, the bluenette motioned his hand over to the sleeve of the jacket of the taller male and lightly clutched at it.

 

“Think of this as exposure therapy, Tetsuya,” started Akashi, shifting his gaze slightly down when he felt something tug at his sleeve. With a soft smile on his features, he took a step forward to inside of the canteen. When the bluenette did the same after him, he continued giving small steps inside, always giving him enough time to do the same. “If you start to overcome the things that scare or stress you, you will have less chances of going out of control. The number of things you will be able to do on your own will also increase and life will become slowly easier to go through. And then there will come a day when you suddenly start thinking, ‘Why was I even scared of it in the first place?’ So, right now, think of this canteen like this: the two of us will go inside and eat our meal. The other people will be here too and they will see you and me. You will see them. But nothing out of the ordinary will happen. We’ll eat, I’ll tell you the things I need to and then we’ll go back to our respective classrooms.”

 

“…” Kuroko shifted his gaze to the redhead and then hesitantly looked back to the students, who he was slowly coming closer to as they gave small steps into the middle of the confusion of girls and boys carrying their trays with food to their tables or walking around searching for one that was still free.

 

Two girls, animatedly talking with each other, were walking right over in their direction. The smaller male focused his teal eyes on them as they leisurely continued stepping closer to him, not changing their colliding route in the least. His heart started speeding up and he exchanged the soft grip of the tips of his fingers in the sleeve of the redhead to outright grip into it with his whole hand, closing his eyes in a desperate act to stop himself from seeing what was about to happen.

 

“Oh, that was a close one~ I almost bumped into you. Sorry~” suddenly said a female voice.

 

When Kuroko hesitantly started to open his eyes, he saw the girl smiling at him while she skirted around him and Akashi, going back to the conversation she was having with her friend.

 

“She… She saw… me…” started softly mumbling the bluenette, squeezing a little bit more the arm of the taller male. He slowly lifted his head and looked over at Akashi with surprised eyes. “She saw _me_ and… she didn’t bump into me and… nothing happened.”

 

“Didn’t I told you that nothing would happen, Tetsuya?” acknowledged Akashi, his smile widening a little bit. He motioned his free arm up and softly ruffled the blue locks of hair of the smaller male. “You should know this by now. I’m always right. Let’s take you to a free table and I’ll go get our lunch, okay?”

 

“A-Ah… Yes…”

 

They continued to slowly walk through the canteen, Kuroko still on the lookout for possible danger while they skirted around the students to reach the most isolated area of the spacious room. Apparently, there was a table there that was only reserved for the “Miracles” when they wanted to have lunch there while discussing some things that they didn’t want others listening to.

 

Kuroko knew of its existence, of course. However, the last time he had been near it… He closed his eyes for a brief moment. He really didn’t want to remember that day. Especially now, after what he came to realize yesterday.

 

“Just sit here and I’ll be back in a minute, okay?” announced Akashi, stopping near the table. Kuroko simply nodded at him and started sitting down but he remained in the same place. When the bluenette looked up in his direction and tilted his head slightly, the taller male chuckled softly. “Yes, I need to go get the food. But I can’t go if you keep holding into my arm.”

 

“Ah! S-Sorry…” He abruptly released his hold unto the school uniform of the redhead and looked down to the table, a soft blush in his cheeks.

 

Akashi simply chuckled once again and turned on his heels to go to the cafeteria ladies to make his request. A couple of minutes later, he was returning to the table with two trays in his hands, where two servings of Gyudon (beef bowl) where placed. In the table, Kuroko was impatiently looking around the canteen, keeping his eyes momentarily in someone and then shifting them to another individual, especially to those who were close by.

 

“You don’t need to be so on guard, Tetsuya,” said the redhead while putting one of the trays in front of the smaller male… which apparently startled him, the way his whole body flinched and jumped in the chair. “I’m here with you, after all.”

 

“…” The bluenette hesitantly looked up to the other male, who was motioning to sit in the seat beside his, and then looked right back to his tray with food. There was a bowl with Gyudon there… bigger than he would have expected it to be.

 

“Besides, aren’t you always saying that if you wanted, you could headlock me?” pointed out Akashi, a smirk tugging his lips upward. “If you can headlock me, the Head of the ‘Miracles’, then I don’t think you need to fear any of the ‘Users’ in here, right?”

 

“I suppose…” softly acknowledged Kuroko. However, just because he could very easily defend himself from any eventual attack, that didn’t mean he would be able to relax in this type of situation. Because… the danger wasn’t them. It was him. He picked up the chopsticks and clasped his hands. “…Itadakimasu…”

 

Kuroko started eating and heard the redhead do the same as him. After a few bites to his food, he peered sideways to Akashi and lifted an eyebrow at what he saw him doing.

 

“Um… Akashi-kun?” hesitantly called the bluenette, motioning his chopsticks slightly down.

 

“Hmm?”

 

“What are you doing?” asked Kuroko, observing intently as the taller male meticulously picked up with his chopsticks the small red strings on top of the meat and put it on a small plate on his tray.

 

“I’m not very fond of benishouga (pickled red ginger),” simply answered Akashi, still proceeding on his mission of taking the little pieces of the pickled vegetable out of his dish. “I didn’t know they would put it in the Gyudon they serve here so I didn’t ask them to not put it on my plate.”

 

“Pffft!” Kuroko dropped his chopsticks on the tray and lunged his hands up to cover his mouth, laughter starting to creep up on his insides. “Well, isn’t this a quite unexpected situation? Who knew that Akashi Seijuurou was a picky eater?”

 

“I’m not a picky eater. Benishouga is simply one of the things that I don’t like to eat,” corrected the redhead, a sort of sulking expression surfacing in his features.

 

“If you’re not a picky eater, then I’m sure you’re able to eat that little amount of benishouga, right?” teased Kuroko, still trying to contain his laughter. Since the other male had finished taking out almost all of the pickled red strings on his bowl, the bluenette grabbed once again his chopsticks and picked up with them a small piece of it, motioning it afterwards in Akashi’s direction. “Here. You have to face head-on the things you dislike. That’s what you told me a few minutes ago, isn’t it?”

 

 _So he’s trying to turn the tables on me, huh…,_ thought Akashi in the back of his mind while he turned his head to look at both the bluenette and the chopsticks waiting for him. A smirk erupted in his features once again. _You’re very mistaken if you think you can succeed in it, though, Tetsuya._

 

The redhead lunged his head forward and put the tip of the chopsticks that held the Benishouga in his mouth, taking it in. He shortly chewed it, twisting his nose a little bit at the flavor, and then swallowed.

 

“See? It’s not that bad, right?” teasingly asked Kuroko, using a tone that an adult would take with a little kid who was reluctant to taste a new dish.

 

“I still don’t like it, but the fact that you _hand-feed_ it to me from _your_ plate using _your_ chopsticks made it easier to swallow,” teased Akashi in return, a sly smirk in his face.

 

“Eh?” Kuroko looked away from the redhead to his plate and then to his chopsticks, and a deep red blush appeared in his pale features, the actions he had taken finally sinking in. He slowly put down his chopstick on the tray once again and lunged his hands up, covering his face with them while he inwardly admonished himself.

 

 _I got so caught up in the fact that I had the upper-hand that I completely forgot what I was doing… Ugh… Can I just crawl to a hole or something?,_ exasperatedly chanted the bluenette in his head as he heard Akashi softly laughing in the seat beside his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "FANTASTIC TUNE" by Ono Kenshou (our lovely bluenette that needs a lot of healing from Akashi).
> 
> And so the healing has began, ladies and gentlemen! While I was writing this chapter, I was listening to "Point of No Return" by Starset during the dream part, and "Salvation" by Skillet during the rest of the chapter. (Two of my favorite bands and probably the ones who inspire me the most while I'm writing ^.^)
> 
> P.S. I've translated an AkaKuro dj that I own. Check out my Tumblr to read it :D
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	82. Things don't go well for me like in a manga where you can move forward with just your feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another lovely chapter ^.^
> 
> These past few days have been so cold in my country that I can barely walk around INSIDE my house without three coats on and gloves on my hands while writing on the computer. It's insane! And I hate to wear a lot of clothes... I feel like crying... *sniff*
> 
> Well, enjoy this chapter and get warmed up with it, if you're experiencing the same as me :D

“So, w-what was it that you wanted to say?” asked Kuroko, taking another hesitant bite to the Gyudon with his chopsticks, after having managed to tame the wild blushing that had earlier dominated his whole face when he accidentally (actually, _unconsciously_ ) hand-feed Akashi.

 

“Well, it’s about the little thing you asked of me,” explained Akashi, still chuckling inwardly. “We agreed that your trainings on the control of your ability would start today, didn’t we?”

 

“…Yes…” confirmed Kuroko, putting another piece of meat in his mouth and chewing it afterwards. The training couldn’t have been scheduled to a less suitable time. Using his ability during the full moon? No, he couldn’t risk it. He had to find a way to postpone it for later.

 

“Before coming to fetch you to your classroom, I contacted Shuuzou and Satsuki so they could arrange one of the school gyms to be put on isolation so we can proceed with the trainings there,” continued the redhead, finally resuming with his lunch. “You explained to me how your ability works, but I still have quite a few questions about it.”

 

“…” Kuroko tightened his grip on the chopsticks and put a little bit more of the food in his mouth.

 

“However, you probably wouldn’t feel very comfortable about it, would you? That’s why I found an easier solution for it,” said Akashi, peering sideways to the smaller male. He saw him suddenly lift his teal gaze and look at him quizzically. “I requested Shintarou’s partner, Takao Kazunari, for help.”

 

“T-Takao-kun?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, an eyebrow slightly raised. If he remembered it correctly, Takao Kazunari was the student that was always around Midorima and the relationship they shared was quite intimate. He had also…

 

“He was your classmate in second year of middle school, right?” pointed out the taller male, putting one more piece of rice with the broth in his mouth. “His ability allows him to see the truth behind everything. Well, I’m saying this but I don’t really understand myself how Kazunari’s ability truly works. He calls it the ‘real shape’ of things. People and abilities are included in the truth he sees.”

 

“…I-I don’t think… I want him to help us then…” softly mumbled the bluenette, trying to control his thundering heart.

 

That little piece of information was, honestly, extremely bad news. If he let Takao see him in detail, he would probably find out about everything. He would probably find out about _that_ and everything else, be it about him and his ability. That was also a risk that he couldn’t afford. Especially if Akashi, the “Miracles” and the Japanese government were involved in it.

 

He wanted to preserve his life for as long as he could… and keep _that secret_ very well buried inside of him until the day he was no more.

 

“If you think he can read you like an open book because of his ability, you’re mistaken, Tetsuya.”

 

“Eh?” interjected Kuroko, turning his head once again to the taller male in a surprised motion.

 

“Yes, he can see the truth behind everything – but only through colors,” explained Akashi, setting down his chopsticks in the tray and looking directly to the bluenette. “He doesn’t see words or any other thing, he simply sees their color. So what he knows about it is his own interpretation of them. And if I have to be honest, it is more often than not correct. He may act like a complete fool most of the time, but he’s very observant of his surroundings and his brain is nothing to sneeze at. He’s been a ‘User’ for almost three years now, so it’s understandable that he got used to analyze it in such a way.”

 

“…”

 

“Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that he won’t know everything about you just because he will be able to see you through your ‘real shape’,” finally added the redhead, motioning his hand to softly ruffle the blue locks of hair of the smaller male and then cupping his pale features with his two hands. “And he was your classmate so he has already seen your ‘real shape’ before. You don’t need to be that nervous about it, Tetsuya. Whatever it is that he sees, it won’t change absolutely anything.”

 

_Oh but it will… If he finds out the truth about me, everything will change, Akashi-kun. And it will be for the worst._

 

Akashi observed the adamant and reticent demeanor on the bluenette’s face. With the almost immediate refusal he gave when he explained that he intended to use Takao’s ability to get more information on his ability, then that meant that there was a lot of things that Kuroko was still keeping to himself about it. The redhead would prefer to know about them from the source and not from a third party, but he didn’t really have any other option right now.

 

“Um… Akashi-kun, can you please release my face?” shyly asked Kuroko, averting slightly his eyes so he could look to his tray of food once again. “I can’t finish eating this way. And… O-Other people are w-watching…”

 

The redhead looked sideways and saw several students who were also eating in that area every so often throwing glances at them and whispering with each other about it afterwards. All of them knew who Akashi was, seeing as he was the Head of the “Miracles” and the Student Council President; however, they most likely didn’t know who Kuroko was, or have even seen him before. And the “Miracles” weren’t exactly a touchy-feely group of individual – they usually stayed away from other “Users”, except when it was needed.

 

“I apologize,” said the taller male, softly taking his hands away from the soft features of the bluenette. When he saw the other male almost mechanically facing his bowl with food, a soft shade of pink dusting his cheeks, he chuckled. “But during the weekend there will be a lot more of people who will see us together, Tetsuya. You should start getting used to it now or people will think you’re acting weird while on our date.”

 

“D-Don’t call it that…” stuttered Kuroko, stuffing in his mouth one more piece of meat and rice.

 

“Are you referring to the fact that I called you weird or that I addressed the pastry competition as a date?” teased the redhead, a smirk tugging his lips upwards. He knew it had been the latter, but it was still funny to observe the way the smaller male acted towards every little thing he said.

 

“Of course it’s because you’re calling it a ‘date’,” admonished Kuroko, the pink in his cheeks darkening just the slightest. “It’s not a date. It’s a pastry competition that I will be going to with you because if I didn’t stop you from talking earlier, who knew what kind of words would come out of your mouth. And because I want to eat Pierre Hermé’s macarons again and taste all the other sweets… Anyway, why are you even calling it that way?”

 

“Because your reactions and expressions to my words are cute,” simply answered Akashi, the smirk still present in his face. It was actually because he wanted to go on a date with the bluenette, and it would be highly entertaining for him to say that, but it was better to leave it at that. For now, that is.

 

“Akashi-kun, please go to an ophthalmologist in your next free day. There’s nothing in me that can be called cute,” deadpanned Kuroko. Seeing as the redhead was about to start speaking once again, he interrupted him. “And no, I’m not asking you to once again enumerate all the things you think that are ‘cute’ in me. On that note, please stop calling me cute. I’m a man and I take absolutely no enjoyment on being called such.”

 

“Yes, you are a man,” acknowledged Akashi, chuckling softly as he observed intently the bluenette finishing his food. “But that doesn’t change the fact that you’re cute. And it doesn’t change the fact that I think you’re cute. So just give up on it.”

 

“I don’t want to,” counterattacked Kuroko right away, chewing on his food.

 

“Stubborn,” counterattacked back the taller male, a smile slowly appearing in his face.

 

“I could say the same about you,” deadpanned the bluenette, peering sideways to the other male. “And you should know by now that I hate to lose.”

 

“That’s true,” conceded Akashi, the smile widening just the slightest. “You have a really strong aversion to losing. Especially against me.”

 

 _But I like it better that way,_ inwardly added the redhead, observing as the smaller male put the last bit of rice in his mouth and released a tired sight, one that was telling him that he went out of his way to finish eating all of the food, otherwise he would start bugging him about it – which he probably really would have. _I like it that way because once you finally become 100% mine, it will be a victory much, much sweeter than any amount of sugar or pastries._

 

-.-

 

During the first break after lunch time, Kuroko got up from his seat and started motioning outside of the classroom. The big bowl of Gyudon he ate had completely filled his stomach (taking into consideration that he had a feeling that part of yesterday’s dinner was still in there) so now he was feeling sluggish and sleepy. As such, he decided to make a quick trip to the bathroom so he could wash his face and walk a little bit to help the digestion process.

 

When he crossed the door of the classroom to the corridor, he noticed a pink haired girl do the same in the classroom next door aka Aomine’s classroom.

 

“That’s all you need to do now, Aomine-kun,” yelled Momoi from the door. There was some inaudible grumbling coming from the classroom and then the pink haired girl put half of her body inside of the room once again. “Oh c’mon, don’t be a baby about it! Complain less and work more. If Ki-chan can do, you can do it too! …Oh! Tetsu-kun!”

 

The pink haired girl closed the door to the classroom almost instantly and happily started walking in the bluenette’s direction. She cautiously looked around first and then smiled brightly to Kuroko.

 

“Hello, Momoi-san,” greeted Kuroko, giving a quick bow with his head while he came into a halt in front of the pink haired girl.

 

“That’s your classroom, right? Such a pity that I’m far down the corridor,” said Momoi, a small pout on her face. “But for the next few weeks I will be around here, since Aomine-kun was punished by Akashi-kun. Only God knows what he has done wrong this time…”

 

“…” Kuroko actually knew what Aomine had ‘done wrong’. He knew what all three of them, him, Aomine and Kagami, had done wrong the day before and how it ended up in such an… embarrassing display of sounds.

 

“So… Is it okay if I come visit you to your classroom every now and then?” shyly asked Momoi, looking at the bluenette with beckoning pink eyes.

 

“…Yes, of course it is, Momoi-san,” acknowledged Kuroko, giving a quick nod with his head.

 

“Really!? I really want to be your friend, Tetsu-kun, so I’m reeeeeeally glad you will let me come to talk with you and visit you!” happily celebrated the pink haired girl.

 

“…” Kuroko continued to intently stare to the smiling female, trying to keep the hurt he was feeling deep inside of his chest hidden. Hearing Momoi say the same words as three years ago was just beyond crippling – especially due to the fact of what he made her go through on _that_ night, almost two years ago. Slowly, Kuroko lifted one of his hands and patted Momoi’s head.

 

“T-T-Tetsu-kun?” stuttered the pink haired girl, a slight blush creeping up in her cheeks.

 

“…” Kuroko dropped his hand just the slightest and with his thumb softly caressed the small pale scar present in Momoi’s left temple, the local of impact which caused her to enter in coma due to the internal bleeding. “I’m sorry, Momoi-san. I truly am.”

 

“E-Eh? You’re sorry about w—“ started asking Momoi, but the ringing of the school bell cut off her words.

 

Fully dropping his hand to the side of his body, Kuroko turned around and returned to his classroom, leaving an extremely confused and heart thundering pink haired girl in the corridor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "GLITTER DAYS" by Fo'xTails.
> 
> So we got a little bit of info about Kazu-tan's ability, didn't we? And more AkaKuro bickering (more like flirting, isn't that right, Akashi-kun? *nudge nudge*) But damn it... The memory loss continues to strike at my heart T.T Why can't everybody just be happy already?
> 
> On a side note... have you all seen the new trailer (the 60 sec version) of KnB Last Game!? Holy shit, that was definitely one more nail to my coffin~ Because... Hearing Akashi say "This is an order!" is like... oh fuck... I feel the blood starting to rush out again! Be right back... I need more tissues >.<
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	83. It's nothing personal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> I'm updating extremely early today because I have to wake up earlier than usual tomorrow to go prepare my passport. And since there's always lots and lots of people in that office solving several things, I want to go there the earlier I can so as to not waste a lot of time in lines.
> 
> And so the training session will begin! Enjoy :D

After classes ended for the day and Kuroko was putting his notebook and school books back in his bag, Akashi once again popped up in his classroom, just like they had agreed during lunch time (or just like the bluenette was _forced_ to agree, since he couldn’t simply say “I don’t want to start the training today, because if I use my ability during the full moon there’s a higher probability of it going out control – all due to the ‘dream realm’ that I created years ago and where my dead best friend is currently being kept on”. Yes, he most definitely could _not_ say that).

 

“Are you ready to go, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi almost immediately, keeping Kagami under his gaze to certify himself that he maintained a safe distance from the bluenette. Well, not like he would try to do anything anymore, after the stern talking he had with him on his apartment and the full proof of who Kuroko really belonged to afterwards.

 

“Yes, I am,” answered Kuroko, nodding his head while putting the last book on his school bag. He tugged its strap and put it on his shoulder, finally looking over to the heterochromatic redhead. “Would you mind if we stopped by the library in the second floor first? I wanted to get a few books to read.”

 

“Of course. I also need to quickly drop by the Student Council Building on our way to the school gym, so I hope you don’t mind it either,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a quick perk to his lips.

 

“Okay,” shortly acknowledged the smaller male. He gave a quick glance to the taller redhead and gave him a quick bow with his head. “See you tomorrow, Kagami-kun.”

 

“Yeah, see ya tomorrow, Ku—“ As soon as Kagami started speaking while turning around backwards to face the bluenette, he noticed the frown that appeared on Akashi’s face and quickly turned around once again, finishing arranging his things on his bag.

 

“Akashi-kun, please stop glaring at Kagami-kun,” admonished Kuroko, starting to walk outside of the classroom to the corridor. “We were only bidding our farewells to each other. Please don’t start creating background stories in your head to such a simple and basic interaction between _friends_.”

 

“I was simply—“ started defending himself the redhead, but when he saw the smaller male peering at him sideways with a slightly admonishing look, he sighed. “Yes, I won’t glare at Kagami Taiga.”

 

 _At least while you’re around or he keeps a very far away distance from you,_ inwardly added Akashi, getting slightly irked once again at the thought of Kuroko and Kagami’s friendly relationship with each other. He probably couldn’t do something like transferring the bluenette to his class, but Kuroko may, for some random reason, be changed to another class in their second year of high school. Like his class, for example.

 

Of course, if he managed to keep Kuroko enough time in Teikou Academy for that to become a reality.

 

“I have some books in my room. You’re free to read them if you want to,” added Akashi, trying to change the subject. “If you want to go to the library in the second floor, then that means you want to read a mystery, right?”

 

“Yes, I read a mystery novel while I was in your building and it somehow made me itchy to read more novels of the same author,” answered Kuroko, a small glint of enthusiasm in his teal eyes. “I just hope they have it there or I’ll have to give up for now and wait until they receive more books. The libraries in the middle school section were quite lacking in good novels, in my opinion, so I sure hope that the ones in here are better in that department.”

 

“Well, if we don’t have it here, one of us can always take you to a book store in the town and you can buy it,” pointed out the redhead, chuckling softly. He already had the inkling that the smaller male didn’t only have an addiction to vanilla, but also a very strong passion to reading, the way he had spent the days he had been locked up reading novel after novel. But the fact that they actually had such a thing in common gave Akashi a sort of warm and gentle feeling in his chest. It made him plainly happy.

 

“Well, I guess… that’s true,” hesitantly acknowledged Kuroko, already seeing the door that corresponded to the library. Since the ‘Bloody Night’, he hadn’t really gone out all that much. Actually, he only really exited the perimeter of Teikou after that event three times. The bluenette had pretty much became a recluse to his apartment when classes weren’t going on, solemnly going out to go get food from the convenience store or buy vanilla milkshakes from Maji Burger.

 

Once they both reached the library, they stepped inside and spent half an hour there, Kuroko skirting around the shelves in search for something that picked his interest, every so often exchanging his opinion with Akashi on books that both of them had already read. In the end, the redhead had to help him carry the books, since 10 novels, some of them with over 400 pages, were definitely something that he couldn’t carry alone in one trip. And the reason why the bluenette was bring some of them with him was because of the things Akashi had to say about them, so it was sort of a take on responsibility (or so Kuroko thought).

 

“Since we took a _lot_ more time than I had expected, let’s just go directly to the school gym,” suddenly announced Akashi while they exited the school building where the classes usually happened. “I can always go to the Student Council Building after your training is over, and Shintarou will complain even more if we keep him waiting any longer.”

 

“Eh…? Midorima-kun will also be there?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, the reticence he had felt before starting to creep up inside of him once again. That meant it wouldn’t be only him, Akashi and Takao there – the green haired male (and who knows more) will be present.

 

“Yes, I also asked Shintarou to be present,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a quick nod with his head. “I told you that I would gather more information so that we could find a way to keep you and your ability under control, right? I need to confirm, by the means of Kazunari’s ability, if what you told me about the nullification of other abilities goes the exact way that you explained. And Shintarou’s ability is the easiest one to make that happen, since it manifests itself in a physical way. I can’t use mine since, under normal circumstances, it doesn’t.”

 

“…” Kuroko really didn’t like the direction all of this was taking, but it wasn’t like he had any other option. If he wanted to finally escape the clutches of his so called fate through the means of leaving Teikou Academy once and for all, then he had to learn how to control his ability to the degree that another ‘Bloody Night’ would not be a so accentuated possibility. He knew that, for as much as he would like, discarding the eventual happening of something similar to the ‘Bloody Night’ would never happen. That’s the way his ability worked.

 

“Don’t worry, Tetsuya,” added the redhead, turning his head around to look at the smaller male. “I know you don’t want to use your ability in our presence, but we only want you to learn how to control it with this training. If there’s less probability of something going wrong in the future, then I think everyone will be satisfied. Be it us, the ‘Miracles’, be it the Japanese government. And—“

 

“And me too, right?” interrupted Kuroko, peering sideways to the taller male.

 

“Yes, you too. I believe everyone would achieve a little bit of peace of mind knowing that you can control your ability better that before,” acknowledged Akashi, a soft smile tugging slightly his lips upwards.

 

“If my ability was something that simple, I would have already done it myself,” pointed out the bluenette, adjusting slightly the weight of the books on his arms.

 

“Yes, it is complex, indeed. It took me all the breaks between classes to explain to Kazunari everything you told me. I obviously shouldn’t have used the same method you did with me,” added Akashi, releasing a soft sigh. But a smirk soon appeared in his features. “However, I think I’m up for the challenge that it will be to ‘tame down’ your ability.”

 

 _Yes, I bet you think you are,_ thought the bluenette in the back of his mind, rolling slightly his eyes at the overconfidence that the taller male was once again displaying. However, he understood why he was taking it in such a way.

 

The two previous times where he had lost control on his ability, Akashi managed to stop him before he caused any irreversible damages to their surroundings. Kuroko continuously wondered why he had managed to subdue once again his running-out-of-control shadows when all that Akashi had done was talk with him and kiss him; however, now, it only proved how deeply the feelings he had for the redhead ran inside of him.

 

“One more problem that I need to solve…” softly mumbled Kuroko while peering sideways to the redhead.

 

“Hm? Oh, we’ve arrived,” announced Akashi, peering momentarily to the smaller male for brief seconds. After a few more steps, they were close enough to one of the gyms of the school to be able to hear two voices talking with each other from the inside. “And it appears that Shintarou and Kazunari have also arrived already.”

 

“Oh, c’mon, Shin-chan~ Don’t be so stubborn!” complained the voice of the raiven haired male. “If Akashi-san and Kuroko haven’t arrived since half an hour ago, then it won’t be in the next ten minutes that they will.”

 

“You are the stubborn one here, Takao!” admonished the voice of the green haired male. “No means no, and you need to start to understand that.”

 

“Yeah? Then allow me to change your mind~”

 

“There’s nothing you can say or do that will— Wait, Takao! W-What are you doing!?”

 

“I’m putting you in the mood~”

 

“This is not the time or place to do this! And if you want to put _me_ in the mood, why the hell are you touching yourself!?”

 

“Hehe~ I just thought that if I was in the mood, you would also automatically get in the mood~”

 

“Don’t ‘hehe~’ me! We’ll continue later so stop before Akashi and Kur—“

 

Midorima’s words were suddenly interrupted when Akashi opened the door to the gym and cleared his throat, looking with stern eyes to the compromising position the two lovers were currently on. Kuroko stopped beside him and looked at them, his expressionlessness irking slightly more Midorima than embarrassing him over the fact that he had Takao, who had his shirt open and was playing with his nipples, sitting on his lap.

 

“Oh, Akashi-san, Kuroko! We were already getting bored of waiting for you~,” half joked, half admonished Takao with a huge grin on his face, dropping the hands that were pinching his nipples to on top of the taller male’s legs.

 

“Yes, I can see that,” simply said Akashi, motioning inside to one of the sides of the gym, where a few benches had been placed. He saw in the corner of his eye as Midorima softly admonished the raiven haired male, who was busy closing his shirt like nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. Right behind him was Kuroko, going in the same direction in hopes to find a place to put the pile of books on. The redhead softly put his share of books on a bench and the smaller male did exactly the same. “About Shintarou and Kazunari, they—“

 

“They are going out. I have known that for a while,” interrupted Kuroko, completing what the taller male was about to say. When he looked up after having straightened the book on the bench so they wouldn’t fall off and saw the questioning look on the other male’s face, he sighed. “Did you really expect me to spend three years in Teikou and not gather information on you five? That would be dumb, considering I have been running away from all of you for quite a while. So I know Midorima-kun is going out with Takao-kun and that both Kise-kun and Murasakibara-kun also have their own lovers.”

 

“As expected of you, Tetsuya,” softly chuckled Akashi. However, soon it morphed into a smirk. “The time you spend here in Teikou, hidden like a ghost, must have been quite productive for you to gather some data on us, then. Did you keep tabs on my love life too?”

 

“Even if I did, I don’t think that’s something I would discuss with you since it’s not of my concern,” simply answered Kuroko, turning his back to the redhead to start walking over to the other two males who were currently waiting for the training to start.

 

“Taking into consideration the latest events, I do have to wonder about that,” nonchalantly pointed out Akashi, following right behind the bluenette. He didn’t give him any sort of answer on that little teasing, but well, the pinkish color that all of the sudden covered the back of his pale neck was answer more than enough.

 

The two of them quickly approached the two taller males, Midorima uncomfortable shifting his body by continuously adjusting his glasses.

 

“Well then, since all of us are now present, we can start with the training,” said Akashi as soon as he stopped in front of them. “Though it may have taken some time, I’m sure you now have a basic understanding of Tetsuya’s ability, right, Kazunari?”

 

“Yeah. And I’m sure than when I see it, I will understand it much better~” acknowledged Takao with a quick, but quite happy, nod of his head.

 

“For safety reasons, you’ll stay in the farthest wall of the gym, Kazunari. Shintarou and Tetsuya will stay in the opposite side, though I still want you to maintain a certain distance from each other,” directed the redhead, explaining the positions by pointing with his fingers the exact locations. “I should probably stay somewhere close by to Tetsuya, but I need to hear Kazunari’s report on it, and I would like to do such while it’s happening. Anything you want to add?”

 

Seeing as no one was voicing out any question or complaint, Akashi gave a quick acknowledging nod with his head and told them to each one go to their designated positions. However, as soon as he started to walk to his own, a sudden tug on the back of his school jacket made him came to a halt. When he looked behind, Akashi saw the bluenette holding into him, fidgeting slightly.

 

“Um… Akashi-kun, please don’t—“ hesitantly started Kuroko, but when the redhead lunged his hand forward and softly ruffled his hair, he looked up at him with a quizzical look.

 

“Don’t worry, Tetsuya,” softly comforted Akashi, a small smile on his features. “Nothing will go wrong and I will stop you once again if you start losing control on your ability. I will do such as many times as it is necessary. So just keep in mind that Shintarou will use his ability against you, but he will not hurt you in any way. I won’t let that happen either. Focus on doing what you have to do and keep the rest out of your mind. Okay?”

 

Kuroko gave a small and hesitant nod with his head and released the jacket of the taller male, turning around on his heels to go to the place that had been appointed for him. He still didn’t want to do it, at least not today, but he simply needed to do what he had been doing for years now: nullify things. He just had to nullify Midorima’s ability and then it would be over. Nothing more and nothing less. It was only… doing that.

 

“Tetsuya, Shintarou, you can start whenever you want,” yelled Akashi from the other side of the gym.

 

“Go get him, Shin-chan~” encouraged teasingly Takao too.

 

“Shut up, Takao!” admonished Midorima while he busied himself with taking off the ligatures around his fingers. “Kuroko, you should know of my ability, right? If you think it’s better to do such, I will. So I won’t take aim for you but project it to behind you. I really would hate to be ‘punished’ by Akashi right now if I accidentally hurt you, after all.”

 

“You don’t need to do such, Midorima-kun,” consented Kuroko, looking straight to the green haired male positioned some meters away in front of him. “Even if you take aim at me, it won’t hurt me. And even if it does, it won’t kill me. As soon as your ability gets near me, it will get automatically nullified, after all.”

 

“I swear I really agree with our star signs being incompatible…” sighed Midorima, dropping the used ligatures to the floor. “And the fact that I know you speak the truth about this only helps to make me even more wary of you. Since I don’t know what you’re thinking at all.”

 

“I apologize about that,” deadpanned Kuroko, giving a quick bow with his head as an apology.

 

“I’m not asking you to apologize,” pointed out the green haired male, lifting his right hand and creating his bow made of a greenish light. With his left hand, he created an arrow and put it near the bow, aiming it high into the ceiling so he could release it afterwards. “I simply would like to know what makes you so reluctant to let us know about your ability and makes you think that your ability can’t help others, when I know for a fact that it can.”

 

“You say that simply because you _don’t_ know my ability,” continued Kuroko, eyeing the arrow pointed to the ceiling. Making calculations on his mind, the arrow was currently being aimed at him, like he allowed the green haired male to do. “I do. So I will always answer you the same way as I did in my bedroom.”

 

“Wouldn’t it be quicker if you just told us the truth?” asked Midorima, giving a quick glance to the smaller male that remained completely motionless in his appointed place, staring straight at him. “Takao will be able to see exactly how your ability works, if he hasn’t already, since you two used to be in the same class. Why keep it hidden?”

 

“You have things you don’t want to talk about, probably. I’m exactly like that,” simply explained Kuroko, keeping his gaze intently on both the green haired male and the arrow. “I don’t want to talk about my ability or my past. Much less with you five. I also don’t want to help you achieve whatever goals you have. I’m not a puppet for you to play around with. I may have been before, but not anymore. _Never_ again will I play according to someone’s wishes.”

 

“You still continue to misinterpret our so called ‘goals’, Kuroko,” sighed Midorima, giving a quick sideway glance to the raiven haired male on the opposite end of the big gym.

 

“I don’t know what they are so how could I misinterpret them in the first place?” pointed out the bluenette. “But my opinion on the matter will remain unchanged.”

 

“…” Midorima tightened slightly his grip on the arrow and then softened it once again. “So be it then.”

 

And the bright green arrow was raised high in the ceiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Nerai doori no Destiny" by Ono Daisuke (our tsun-tsun Midorima ^^).
> 
> Yes, so I kinda ended the chapter with a cliffhanger, didn't I? Ahh... I missed doing that~ But fear not! You will obtain some "answers" in the next chapter - some of them will be for things that you weren't even expecting!
> 
> (Btw, sorry for cockblocking MidoTaka this time - I promise they will have their moment to act lovey-dovey with each other in the future without interruptions ^.^)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	84. Light flows out from the darkness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> Do you know which is the most visited torture chamber in the world? Answer: the dentist T.T I think that the only thing that makes me endure the pain during those terrible sessions is the thought that if Kuroko + GoM + other characters managed to endure all of their pain (which was 100x worse than mine), then I can endure that little pain, right? So every time I go to the dentist, I fill my head with new plots for Shattered Miracles ^.^
> 
> Anyways! Shattered Miracles went over 200k words today! *releases fireworks* That's one more milestone for me! Let's hope that another 200k words are yet to come for it XD
> 
> Enjoy!

Akashi and Takao observed from the other side of the gym as the bright green arrow motioned up in the air in the ceiling’s direction, made an extremely accentuated arch and then started once again to descend, its target completely unmoving beneath it. However, as soon as the end of the arrow was a few inches from hitting the bluenette… it disappeared.

 

“Ah… Now what you told me in the classroom is really sinking in…” softly mumbled Takao, as he continued to intently look to the smaller male, his body completely woundless even though Midorima had thrown an arrow at him – and he was known for _never_ missing his target.

 

“What is it that you see, Kazunari?” asked Akashi, crossing his arms over his chest as he observed the green haired male prepare another arrow.

 

“It’s exactly as the things you were explaining to me. Shin-chan’s arrow suddenly disappeared, even from my field of view,” started explaining Takao, focusing his eyes a little bit more on Kuroko. “It was for all but a fraction of a second, but the arrow really disappeared. Then it suddenly reappeared again, but with a completely different shade, and was readily absorbed by Kuroko’s body, mixing with the already existing shade.”

 

“What color does it have?” asked further Akashi, furrowing his brows slightly.

 

“It’s just like his name – ‘kuro’ (black),” simply answered Takao. “It has the darkest shade of black that I have ever seen in my life. It’s darker than petrol or asphalt. And honestly, it’s plainly creepy. I felt my whole skin crawl as I observed the color of my Shin-chan’s ability be dyed in that darkness. However, I don’t really think that was the real shade of Kuroko’s ability in the beginning.”

 

“What makes you think like that?” questioned Akashi right away, looking over in the raiven haired male’s direction with a surprised demeanor.

 

“Because there’s a part of him, which remained completely unmoving even while he was using his ability, that has a completely different shade,” added Takao, closing briefly his eyes so he could rest his sight a little bit. “And that unmoving part of him is the part that is extremely similar to your golden eye.”

 

“And what color does it have?” asked further the redhead, curiosity bubbling inside of him.

 

“Color? Hah! It has more colors than a freaking rainbow,” snorted Takao, opening his eyes once again as he shrugged his shoulders. “So many different colors all mixed up, but never entwining with each other, that I don’t even know where to start enumerating them. Some of them I haven’t even seen before or know their names. Most likely, that’s the core of his ability and the shade of black that surrounds him while he uses it is the mixture of those colors with whatever color the ability that he nullifies has. He probably has nullified so many things that the shade that surrounds him as been turned to pitch black.”

 

“…” Akashi returned his gaze once again to the bluenette and remained silent for a little bit, processing the information he was receiving inside of his brain while observing intently the smaller male nullifying one more arrow. “And where exactly do you see his ability’s so called ‘core’?”

 

Takao once again snorted and lifted his hand, motioning it over to the redhead who was standing right beside him. He pointed a finger and pressed it against Akashi’s chest. “It’s right here.”

 

“His heart?” questioned Akashi, while looking down to the finger being softly pressed against his school jacket.

 

“Yes, his heart exactly,” acknowledged the raiven haired male, giving a quick nod with his head. He observed attentively as Akashi once again switched his gaze to the bluenette, pure concern written all over his face. That sure wasn’t a look that Takao saw every day in the Head of the ‘Miracles’. “But, if it makes you feel any better… While the black shade that is perpetually around him is creepy and… well, revolting, to a certain degree… Ah! With no offense, though. While the black shade is like that, the core of his ability… the color of his heart is, excluding Shin-chan, of course, the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Whatever it is, it’s something completely captivating and I have no doubt that when I say that if other people would be able to see the same way I can, then I don’t think anyone would want to let go of such a sight ever again.”

 

“…” Akashi immediately glared sideways to the raiven haired male, making him flinch slightly.

 

“Ah, don’t worry, don’t worry~” apologized Takao, raising his hands to in front of his body in a defensive stance. “I already have Shin-chan and I’m very happy with him. I don’t want Kuroko in any way whatsoever. It’s like they say, every rose has its thorns. Kuroko’s ‘thorns’ are razor-sharp and I have absolutely no wish to go mess with them, so I’ll leave that privilege solemnly to you, Akashi-san. Well, not like I would go for him even if he didn’t. Shin-chan is all I need in my life~”

 

“…” Akashi dropped his gaze a little bit and then switched it once again to Kuroko, who seemed to be having another one-sided arguing with Midorima. “Your relationship with Shintarou used to appall me most of the time. I couldn’t understand how he got so much stronger by simply meeting you or why you two started to depend so much on each other to be able to function as proper human beings. Ryouta and Yukio’s too, just as much as Atsushi and Tatsuya’s. It simply didn’t make sense in my head.”

 

“Well~ Love is simply one of those things that don’t make any sense most of the time,” pointed out Takao, chuckling softly as he observed the green haired male yelling at the bluenette for some sort of reason. He probably was getting irked by the fact that he wasn’t being able to make even a single scratch on the smaller male. “It’s sorta like, you meet someone and then one day it clicks in your head, ‘Ah, so I’m in love with them’. The tricky part of falling in love is that you start to unknowingly be dyed in their colors and slowly change to something entirely different. Though most of the time it’s to something much better.”

 

“Am I being dyed by Tetsuya’s colors, then?” suddenly asked Akashi while observing both Kuroko and Midorima returning to near them, still having the one-sided arguing session. He simply couldn’t help the slight upturning of his lips.

 

“…” Surprised by being made such a question, Takao quickly turned his face to the redhead, his eyes completely open with shock. Momentarily taken aback, he softly shook his head and closed his mouth, which had inadvertently gaped on its own. The raiven haired male softly chuckled and then returned to look to his beloved green haired male. “Yes, you most certainly are being dyed by Kuroko’s colors. Both of you are, actually.”

 

“Eh?” interjected the redhead, but the arrival of both the bluenette and the green haired male interrupted him before he could ask what those words meant.

 

“The fact that I didn’t manage to hit you not even once is completely ridiculous,” breathed Midorima in a sulking motion, crossing his arms over his chest as he stopped beside the raiven haired male. “I seriously can’t believe it.”

 

“If it makes you feel better, Midorima-kun, your arrows would have hit me if my ability hadn’t stopped them,” tried to comfort Kuroko, but apparently his blank demeanor only made a vein pop out in the taller male’s forehead.

 

“Thank you, Kuroko. That actually made me feel much worse,” grumbled Midorima under his breath while he turned his face the other way, his sulking getting slightly worse.

 

“Buwahahaha! Don’t worry, Shin-chan~” laughed Takao while hitting the taller male’s back with his hand. “I’ll comfort you lots and lots later, okay?”

 

“…Shut up, Takao,” mumbled the green haired male while adjusting his glasses, a soft shade of pink dusting his cheeks.

 

“Eh~ Should I start now, on the exact same place where we left off when Akashi-san and Kuroko arrived?” teased the raiven haired male, twisting his body around so he could peer at the taller male’s face from below.

 

“I-I told you to shut up, you fool!” yelped the completely flustered Midorima, lunging his hand forward and softly pushing the smirking face of the smaller male away from him. “And go rest your eyes already! You must be tired after all of this.”

 

“Hehehe~” happily laughed Takao, straightening his body once again and then crouching down near his school bag so he could rumble through its insides.

 

“Don’t ‘hehehe~’ me again! Be quick about it!” admonished further Midorima, also crouching down near the raiven haired male and putting his hand on his forehead to measure his temperature.

 

“Don’t mind them. They always act like that,” suddenly said Akashi, shaking his head slightly as he continued to observe the two males argue back and forth with each other.

 

“Yes, I know. Every time I saw them together in middle school, they were acting exactly like this,” deadpanned Kuroko, averting slightly his eyes from the redhead with a pinkish coloring in his features. The fact that he had been really bickering with Akashi all these weeks, just like Aomine had said, was now really sinking in his brain, seeing as Takao and Midorima were acting the exact same way as they usually did.

 

“So tell me just this one thing. If you have been here since three years ago and the ‘Bloody Night’ only happened one year ago, then why have you been keeping an eye on us since even before tha—“ started questioning Akashi, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked sideways to the bluenette, when his cell phone started to ring. He softly clicked his tongue and motioned one of his hands down to his pocket, taking the device from there. When he read the name in the screen, he focused his red and golden eyes for brief seconds there and then looked up to Kuroko once again. “I’m sorry, but I need to take this call. I’ll be stepping out for a little bit.”

 

Kuroko could only nod softly and observe as the redhead turned around on his heels and started to walk over to the door of the gym that led to outside. He continued to eye the door even after it had been closed, but it was all for a short moment, seeing as his name was suddenly called.

 

“Kuroko! Come sit here with us!” called Takao, waving his hand to the bluenette. “I have some snacks for you too, if you want~”

 

“…Thank you,” softly murmured the bluenette as he walked over to the bench where the two taller males had sat down on. He threw one more glance to the door and then sat down next to the raiven haired male, though still keeping a safe distance away from him.

 

“I hope you like Dorayaki. Shin-chan has an affinity with red bean paste so I always end up buying snacks with them~” happily grinned Takao, putting his hand inside of his school bag to take from a paper bag the bluenette’s snack. After rumbling on its inside for a few seconds, he took two plastic-wrapped dorayakis and threw them over to Kuroko, who caught them in mid-air and looked quizzically at him due to the number. “One’s for you, the other’s for Akashi-san. Give it to him when he finishes his phone call.”

 

“Yes,” acknowledged Kuroko, putting one of the sweet red beans filled pancakes on the bench beside him. He opened the other package and was about to take a bite of it when he felt his skin crawl considerably. He immediately threw a glance to the door once again, raising slightly an eyebrow.

 

“Woah~ Whoever it is that Akashi-san is talking with just made him mad as hell…” voiced out Takao what all of them were currently thinking. He took another bite and continued talking while chewing the pancake. “He’s on the other side of the door, and at a considerable distance if I may add, but I can see clearly his real shape. I hope the dorayaki puts him in a better mood.”

 

“Don’t count on it. You know how his mood swings usually are,” pointed out Midorima, cringing inwardly on how well he knew what could happen to whoever it was on the other side of the phone call. All the green haired male could hope for was that he had absolutely nothing to do with whatever had gone wrong this time.

 

“Kuroko, do something to make Akashi-san happy when he returns. That may put him in an extremely good mood~”teased Takao, his lips drawing a mischievous smirk.

 

“Why would I?” asked the bluenette, a deadpan look on his face. “Akashi-kun isn’t a child anymore. He knows better than anyone that he shouldn’t let his terrible mood swings inconvenience others. And I have no reasons to why I should humor him when he fails at such.”

 

“Somehow, I get the feeling that you are the complete opposite of Shin-chan,” started Takao, releasing a soft sigh. He kept the smaller male under his gaze by sideways peering at him while munching on the remaining half of the dorayaki. “Shin-chan is a tsundere so he hides his embarrassment by treating me harshly at times.”

 

“Don’t call me a tsundere, Takao!” admonished Midorima, giving a big bite to the pancake and angrily chewing it.

 

“See?” chuckled the raiven haired male, pointing with his thumb to the green haired male. “You, on the other hand, act cold towards Akashi-kun and speak on a very blunt way, be it with him or about him, always maintaining an expressionless face. But deep down, you are extremely worried about the conversation going around outside of the gym. Not because it may involve you, but because it involves Akashi-san. A textbook case kuudere. Just be more open about your feelings. Keeping it all in doesn’t make you any good. Not to you and not to the other people around you.”

 

“…” Kuroko kept the raiven haired male under his gaze for a little bit and then dropped it, looking intently to the snack on his hands. He didn’t really like the fact he was being called a kuudere, but he somehow could see where Takao was trying to get at with his words. Slowly, he gave a small bite to the dorayaki and chewed it, swallowing it shortly after. “Nothing would change even if I was honest. _I_ won’t change by being honest and the circumstances I’m on won’t change either. Besides… I’m a ‘User’ so I…”

 

“Hmm… That’s a false image you created in your mind. Or someone put it there, I don’t know,” interrupted Takao, licking his finger to take a little drop of the sweet red bean filling that had landed there. “And what does honesty have anything to do with being a ‘User’? We have just as much of a right to be honest and open about our feelings as all human beings. We _are_ still human beings, after all.”

 

“…” _If I had fit in the ‘Users’ label, then yes, I would probably think like that too. But I…,_ inwardly answered Kuroko, tightening his grip slightly on the snack’s plastic wrap.

 

“…” Takao took a quick glance to the smaller male beside him and then dropped his gaze on the floor. He motioned his arms up and put them behind his head, stretching his back in the process. “You know, before I become a ‘User’, I was blind.”

 

“Eh…?” softly interjected Kuroko, shifting his head around to look at the raiven haired male.

 

“Takao,” called Midorima, arching slightly an eyebrow at the things that his mate was starting to disclose.

 

“It’s okay, Shin-chan, don’t worry,” reassured Takao, giving a quick smile to the taller male. “I wasn’t exactly born blind. I got in an accident and well, I lost my vision at 100% on both my eyes. It was honestly scary. Living every day only being able to see one color and it just had to be such a depressing one. Having my eyes open or having them closed; it was all the same. I could only see black in front of me. So I know, first hand, how it is to live surrounded by darkness.”

 

“…”

 

“Then, one day, I woke up and I could see once again. The downside was that the world looked completely different from what I remembered.” The raiven haired male dropped his hands and clutched at the front side of the bench where they were sitting on, a strained smile on his face. “I couldn’t even look at my family the same way as before. Because I could see how they truly were on the inside. The whole world just seemed… dirty… disgusting… When I was sent to Teikou, things continued exactly the same. I even resorted to use a blindfold over my eyes to not see anything, or well, to _try_ to not see anything. That is, until I met Shin-chan~”

 

“…” Midorima simply averted his gaze from the raiven haired male, adjusting his glasses while he tried to maintain the blush on his face hidden from the other two males.

 

“So yes, I have suffered because I’m a ‘User’. I still do,” continued Takao, the happy grin in his face morphing into a soft and gentle smile. “But I got the best thing in my life because I became a ‘User’. So if someone asked me if I could choose between being a ‘User’ like I am now or go back to what I was before, even before to the time of the accident… I wouldn’t need to think twice about it. I would still choose to be a ‘User’, even if the pain that is about to come becomes one hundred times worse.”

 

_Even if I’m dying because of it._

 

“Everybody has the right to pursue happiness, whatever form or shape it may have…” softly mumbled Kuroko while peering intently to his hands, which held tightly the dorayaki. When the whole gym got surprisingly silent, he shifted one of his teal eyes sideways and saw as both Takao and Midorima were looking at him with surprised expressions on their faces. The bluenette quickly straightened his back, but kept his gaze on his hands. “That’s what I used to think. But I came to the realization that pursuing my own happiness _always_ ends up in a disastrous way. So… can I really be happy knowing that it was achieved by trampling on other people’s lives?”

 

“…”

 

“Like you called me in the nurse’s office, I’m a ‘shadow’,” added Kuroko, closing his eyes tightly for a fraction of a second, opening them almost right away. “A ‘shadow’ can’t exist without ‘light’. And I lost the only two ‘lights’ I had in my life, one after the other, because of my own actions. Because I was trying to pursue happiness. And how foolish I felt when I noticed that I had _broke_ them because I’m someone who has no right whatsoever of even dreaming to be happy one day.”

 

“Then just get another ‘light’!” interrupted Takao, looking straight to the smaller male.

 

“…Eh?” gasped Kuroko, hesitantly looking over to the raiven haired male.

 

“Actually, get a lot of ‘lights’!” happily grinned Takao, giving a soft slap on the hunched back of the bluenette. “The stronger the ‘light’, the stronger the ‘shadow’ becomes. Get a lot of ‘lights’ to make an even brighter one and grown strong together with it. Strong enough so that you can actually help the ‘light’ this time around and don’t end up losing it again!” He lunged his hand sideways and grabbed the green haired male’s one, entwining their fingers high in the air. “Just like I have my own ‘light’, Shin-chan, I’m sure you will find once again a new one. Actually… You may have already found all the ‘lights’ you need in your life and haven’t noticed yet.”

 

Completely lost on what to say or think about the words that Takao had said, Kuroko dropped his gaze once again to his hands.

 

However, he couldn’t help when his eyes started to unconsciously shift in the door’s direction, where Akashi was talking on the phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "CATALRHYTHM" by OLDCODEX. (I swear I feel like this song was created on purpose so I could use it in this chapter in particular!)
> 
> Are you confused with the things revealed in this chapter? You probably are, aren't you? Hehehe~ And yes! Akashi's sudden bad mood while talking on the phone will be revealed in the next chapter *evil smirk*
> 
> So... SHOOT ME WITH YOUR THEORIES! Muwahahaha! (though I won't be able to give you a straight answer about whether you're right or wrong about it - it would be giving spoilers, after all :P)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	85. I will not allow anyone to defy me, whoever they may be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> Are all of you ready to find out who called Akashi? Hehehehe~ I bet you are~
> 
> Enjoy :D

As soon as Akashi stepped outside of the gym, he closed the door behind himself and put a little bit of distance between him and the building, walking quickly as he pressed the answer call button and put the phone on his ear.

 

 _“Akashi, are you out of your mind!?”_ resounded an angry voice from the other side of the call.

 

“What do I own the honor of receiving a call from you today, Mister Prime Minister?” calmly greeted Akashi, stopping near a pillar on the open corridor that connected two gyms and leaning his back on it. “Other than being verbally attacked by you, of course.”

 

  _“This is not the time for you to go forth with your mind games, Akashi,”_ admonished Shirogane Eiji, the current Prime Minister of the country known as Japan. He released a sigh. _“I know that when I gave my permission for you to build Teikou Academy and all the affiliated organizations, I also gave full control of it to you and whoever it would be the Headmaster of the school. I know I also gave you full reign on all matters regarding the ‘Miracles’ and ‘Users’, not to mention to solve the mess that it was the ‘Bloody Night’. However, when you send me an email notifying me that you will take ‘The Phantom’ to a pastry competition, where will be present hundreds of guests and the media, under the disguise of you ‘having no one else to take with’… I have to intervene.”_

 

“What is it that you are dissatisfied about, Eiji-san?” asked Akashi readily.

 

_“It’s more than obvious that it’s the fact that you are going to take ‘The Phantom’ with y—“_

 

“He has a name, so please address to him with such,” calmly said the redhead, but his voice sounded more of a threat than a friendly warning any way the older male interpreted it.

 

 _“I don’t want you to take Kuroko Tetsuya to the pastry competition,”_ corrected himself Shirogane, releasing a quick sigh. _“Taking him there is a foolish choice and you are not a person who does them.”_

 

“My point exactly. I am not someone who does something without having thought carefully about it,” acknowledged Akashi, scanning his surroundings with his eyes to see if anyone was in the perimeter and could overhear the conversation. “As such, you should continue to allow me to do things my way, like I have up until now. I never gave you any reason for you to doubt my choices and it won’t be now that I will start making mistakes in that regard. So, continue to entrust me and the Headmaster with the role of decision makers in _all_ regards about _all_ ‘Users’. Tetsuya included.”

 

 _“…”_ Shirogane remained silent for brief seconds and then released another sigh. _“Seeing as we are on the topic, have you pinpointed the localization of the current Headmaster?”_

 

“You know I would have told you such if I had,” simply answered Akashi, running a hand through his hair. “Kouzou-san left no indications whatsoever about who would take on his position when he suddenly passed away. I do know he gave it to someone since his previous functions are being performed as usual. I still don’t know who they are however, seeing as I haven’t spoken directly with them yet.”

 

 _“Hn,”_ grunted the older man in acknowledgment. _“You should see if you have that small, but extremely important, detail uncovered the quickest you can. If the other political factions discover that such a seat is currently blank on the Japanese database, they will start to raise suspicions that Teikou Academy is nothing more than a group of genetically modified terrorists with the ages of middle and high schoolers. Like you were accused of six years ago… and when the ‘Bloody Night’ happened.”_

 

“You don’t need to remind me of that. Focus on your own work and I will focus on mine,” hissed the redhead, a frown appearing on his features.

 

 _“It’s exactly because I’m focusing on my work that I’m calling you,”_ continued Shirogane, clearing his throat. _“I still think that you shouldn’t take ‘The Ph— That you shouldn’t take Kuroko Tetsuya to Sumida this weekend. Get another person or ‘User’ to take such a role.”_

 

“I won’t,” simply rejected Akashi.

 

 _“Akashi Seijuurou… you are starting to act according to your age now,”_ mocked Shirogane, giving a slight snort. _“You should listen to your elders when they speak with you. And you should obey the words of someone who has a higher standing that you currently have. Do as you are being told and take another person with you. Continue to act stubborn on the regards of ‘The Phantom’ and I will collect him like I should have done and lock him like he should be. Because letting a mass murderer who has no control over his freaking so-called ‘ability’ run around free in a school, attending classes with all of you aberrations is something that I won’t allow for much longer!”_

 

“Do that and I swear I will personally kill every single agent you send that sets their foot in Teikou’s perimeter, put their dismantled bodies in boxes and ship them to your doorstep,” threatening warned Akashi, departing his back from the pillar as he felt the ground underneath him quivering.

 

 _“Are you threatening the Prime Minister!?”_ indignantly asked Shirogane, his voice trembling just the slightest.

 

“Make no mistake. You, Shirogane Eiji, are currently the top dog in Japan because _I_ allow you to be,” continued Akashi, taking a step forward to create more distance between him and the gym currently occupied by the bluenette, the green haired male and the raiven haired male, the concrete floor cracking underneath the pressure of his ability as he walked. “Get on my bad side and your position will be stripped from you faster than you can blink. So put this in your head once and for all. _Tetsuya will stay in Teikou forever. He belongs to me and I won’t let you or anyone else deny me on such. I will kill you if you do!_ ”

 

 _“Yo… You’re insane…”_ slightly stuttered the older male, trying to keep the shaking of his body away from his voice. _“He destroyed half of Tokyo in a few hours! He killed thousands of people! One of them was your mother! Why are you trying to keep something like that alive!?”_

 

“’Something like that’…?” repeated Akashi, his voice as cold as dry ice. He could hear the nervous breathing of the older male on the other side of the phone call, just as clearly as he heard him gulp down hard and the small shriek that his throat inadvertently released. “I think you are in need to have some lessons on how you should address those who could kill you just as easily as I could. If I remember correctly, you _were_ in Tokyo during those seven hours that the ‘Bloody Night’ occurred under. If he was a so-called ‘genetically modified terrorist’ then I think that Tetsuya, taking into consideration that he is someone intelligent enough to elaborate such plan, would have gone after you first, _Mister Prime Minister_. He didn’t, though, and chances were probably something that weren’t in need at the time. He didn’t because Tetsuya is a better human being in one single cell of his body than you will ever be in your whole body. So I will _not_ allow you to address him in such a derogatory way!”

 

 _“You disgusting freaks…”_ hissed Shirogane, his voice still shaking slightly. _“Since you are a bunch of weaklings who can’t fend off by themselves, you created Teikou to protect each other, in hopes that the real humans won’t hunt you down like the monsters that you are. Things won’t keep going the way you want them to, Akashi. And yes, this is a warning. Not from my behalf, but a warning nevertheless.”_

 

“Everything has been going according to my plans. If there’s anything that is unpredictable in them is Tetsuya and nothing else,” argued back the redhead, coming to a halt after leaving a trail of cracks on the ground and walls he passed by.

 

 _“Then you better start to put him in your predictions, Akashi,”_ ominously warned the older male. _“Take him to wherever you want. But if he causes even the slightest of incidents, I will be collecting him and proceed forward with the execution that all of Japan has been waiting for since the ‘Bloody Night’ ended.”_

 

“Tetsuya doesn’t plan on hurting anyone or destroy Tokyo again,” counterattacked Akashi once again, clenching his free hand into a fist. “And nothing of the sort will happen. Be it an incident, be it Tetsuya’s execution.”

 

 _“I hope that you are right on what you say. I sure hope so,”_ added Shirogane, the ominous tone from before getting slightly more accentuated.

 

The call was suddenly disconnected without any sort of warning and Akashi readily lowered his cell phone to the side of his body, gripping so tightly to the electronic device that small cracks appeared on the screen. He clicked his tongue loudly and started walking back the same way he had came from.

 

He sure didn’t like the way Shirogane had said all that. Yes, taking Kuroko to a place where there were a lot of people present could be slightly dangerous, be it for the fact that if his ability went out of control once again there would be more chances of having casualties, be it for the fact that it would expose the bluenette to those who wanted to put their hands on him for their own twisted goals.

 

And though he wanted to experience different types of situations together with the smaller male, Akashi also knew that he shouldn’t restrict Kuroko to the inside of Teikou for the rest of his life. He needed opportunities to get once again exposed to the outside world, in a measured and careful way that would cause absolutely no inconveniences to anyone. And in a way that the Japanese government (and the Japanese population itself) started to see Kuroko for what he truly was and not what they saw him as because of the events of the “Bloody Night”.

 

Because Kuroko wasn’t a “genetically modified terrorist” or a “disgusting freak” or even a “monster”… He was broken, shattered in a million pieces. Simply that. The bluenette was in the starting line where he and the other “Miracles” had been on when they _awoke_. However, such a state wasn’t something that Akashi would allow to continue.

 

_I will put Tetsuya back together. If the world sees him as a monster, I will give them proofs that he’s an angel. If his heart is broken, I will pick every piece and carefully restore it to its original form. And if there’s any piece that is missing or has been completely destroyed… I’ll just give him a part of my own heart._

 

When Akashi broke out of the midst of his thoughts, he noticed he was standing in front of the door of the gym where the bluenette was currently on. He looked behind him and observed the small trail of damage he had caused, releasing a soft sigh due to it. Well, these gyms weren’t usually used by normal students, so even if the surroundings were slightly damaged, nobody would take notice or complain about it.

 

He put his phone in his pocket and motioned his other hand forward to open the door, catching the attention of the “Users” inside. When Akashi saw the bluenette lifting slightly his gaze in his direction while giving small bites to what appeared to be a dorayaki, he couldn't help the sudden slight rise of the corners of his lips.

 

 _Yes, I will definitely put him back together,_ inwardly vowed the redhead as he walked over to the benches being occupied by the three males. As soon as he reached near them, he softly ran his fingers through Kuroko’s blue locks of hair and smiled at him.

 

“…?” Kuroko looked up in Akashi’s direction, slightly confused. Just a few minutes ago he was as angry as a bull, from what he could understand due to the slight crawl of his skin, but he looked completely fine right now. Actually, he almost looked to be in a good mood. “Akashi-kun, do you also want to eat a dorayaki?”

 

“Yes, sure,” acknowledged the redhead, taking his hand out of the smaller male’s head and sitting down next to him.

 

“Here.” Kuroko motioned one of his hands to the side of his body in the bench’s direction, where he had put the other dorayaki on, and picked the plastic wrapping up, giving it readily to the taller male.

 

“Thank you, love,” added Akashi, giving a quick peck in the bluenette’s cheek as he received the red bean paste filled pancake.

 

“…!” Kuroko’s face was suddenly set ablaze by the unexpected endearment that _the_ Akashi Seijuurou had used on _him_ and the dorayaki in his hands started to slip out of his grasp with the stupefaction that was currently filling his entire being.

 

“Ah, you almost dropped it,” said Akashi, quickly grabbing the other male’s dorayaki a few inches before it touched the ground. When he looked up in the smaller male’s direction to give him the snack, he only saw the bench and the two taller males, who were looking at him as if they just had seen a pig starting to fly. “Tetsuya?”

 

“K-K-Kuroko Tetsuya is not available at the moment. Please t-try again later,” sounded the stuttering voice of the bluenette from the seemingly empty spot previously occupied by him.

 

“Buwahahahaha!” started laughing Takao, clutching his arms around his stomach. “Akashi-san… Y-You’re going to kill Kuroko if you do that. Pfffft… Ahahahaha!”

 

“Do what?” asked Akashi, arching slightly an eyebrow as he switched his gaze between the laughing raiven haired male and the completely invisible Kuroko.

 

“It’s okay if you don’t understand the damages that your words cause since it’s funny as hell, but…” continued Takao, trying to control his laughter. “But I don’t think Kuroko is ready for that yet. He’s still in denial of his fe— Mmghh!”

 

“Please shut up, Takao-kun,” resounded once again Kuroko’s voice.

 

Akashi and a still-with-his-mouth-gaped-open Midorima observed as Takao struggled against invisible hands that were, apparently, covering his mouth and preventing him from continuing to speak.

 

He probably shouldn’t be touching Takao while he was using his ability to erase his presence, but Kuroko was not in the right condition to be seen by _anyone_ at the moment, with his face covered in a bright red blush, his heart thundering like mad… and the soft smile tugging his lips upwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Final Emperor" by Kamiya Hiroshi (our extremely protective and completely love-struck redhead XD).
> 
> God... Just get married, you two!!! Maybe that way no one would dare to try to lock down or execute our lovely bluenette. Akashi would never allow anyone to touch him ever again, after all. But first... JUST FREAKING ADMIT YOU LOVE EACH OTHER, GODDAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	86. Let my voice reach you, tell me about it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with one more chapter ^.^
> 
> So Kuroko's birthday is tomorrow!!!! Anxious to see my lil' birthday present for my lovely bluenette? I guarantee you that these 24 hours that you will have to wait until then will be worthwhile~ *evil smirk*
> 
> About this chapter~ Be careful with your sugar levels XD
> 
> Enjoy :D

“For how long are you going to stay like that, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi after having released a soft sigh. He gave a small tug to the invisible sleeve he was holding into with his fingers to catch the attention of the also invisible bluenette, who was, for some reason, giving him both the silence and invisibility treatment. “Shintarou and Kazunari aren’t here anymore. Why don’t you drop your invisible form already?”

 

“…”

 

“I know you’re there even if you don’t answer me, Tetsuya,” pointed out the redhead, giving another gentle tug to the smaller male’s sleeve.

 

It had been a complete chore to pinpoint Kuroko’s location after he went into invisibility mode. When Takao had been there, Akashi knew at all times where he was, since the raiven haired male’s ability enabled him to see which the smaller male’s location was. But when both Takao and Midorima had to leave, Akashi had to somehow deal with the stubbornness of the bluenette in some sort of way.

 

So they literally played tag for one hour inside of the gym after the other two males left. Kuroko obviously was in advantage throughout the entire “game”, him being invisible and having the little detail that the redhead’s ability didn’t work on him, but the bluenette was apparently easy to tire out so Akashi managed to grab a hold of him after that hour. And since if he let go of Kuroko, he would probably run away once again, he didn’t release his sleeve since then. It was since that moment that the silence treatment also began.

 

“Tetsuya,” called once again the redhead, giving one more tug to the invisible fabric in his fingers.

 

“…”

 

“Tetsuya, if you don’t talk, I won’t understand what you’re mad about,” tried once again Akashi.

 

“…”

 

Akashi sighed once again and released the sleeve of the smaller male, motioning his hands up in the direction where he figured that Kuroko’s face was at the moment almost immediately, to not give enough time for the bluenette to escape one more time. He was able to feel his skin, slightly colder than usual, but he couldn’t see what he was touching at all. The redhead gave a gentle caress with his thumb to the soft cheek of the smaller male and looked directly to the invisible ‘User’ in front of him. “Hurry up and stop hiding from me already. I want to see you, Tetsuya.”

 

Slowly, Akashi closed the distance between their faces and softly kissed Kuroko’s lips, closing his eyes for brief moments. When he departed their lips again and opened his eyes, the blushing features of the bluenette were in front of him once again, his teal eyes fighting desperately to not look at him.

 

“I-I told you that you shouldn’t t-touch me when I’m using my ability,” softly mumbled Kuroko, stuttering in some of the words while shaking his head softly to get away from the taller male’s grasp.

 

“I don’t mind getting hurt because of your ability,” simply answered Akashi, deeply satisfied to finally be able to see and talk with the other male.

 

“You might not mind, but I d—“ started admonishing Kuroko while turning his eyes back to the redhead, but Akashi interrupted him by kissing him one more time, leisurely rolling his tongue through his lips before inserting it inside of his hot cavern. “Mmhn!”

 

“Ah, yes… Kissing the usual Tetsuya is much better than the invisible Tetsuya,” softly acknowledged the redhead after having broken the kiss, giving one more peck to his moist lips afterwards.

 

“Ugh… Will you please stop doing that?” admonished Kuroko while motioning his hand up to wipe and cover his lips. Even though the kiss had already ended, he could still fell traces of the taller male’s warmth on him.

 

“Stop what?” asked Akashi, tilting his head slightly as he dropped his hands down, wrapping his arms around the bluenette’s waist line and entwining his fingers behind his back.

 

“Stop manipulating me or s-seducing me or whatever it is that you’re trying to do,” grumbled Kuroko, trying to admonish the other male with his glaring teal eyes, but failing miserably at it due to the current position of their bodies, almost completely glued to each other.

 

“Seducing you?” repeated Akashi with slight incomprehension on what the other male was saying. However, his lips soon formed a smirk when he understood where he was trying to get at. “Is it working then?”

 

“…!” Kuroko let him mouth gap wide open, trying to say something about that particular question (if he didn’t knew Akashi, he would think that right now he was trying to sexually harass him; however, he knew better than anyone that it was only the redhead teasing him to ‘observe his amusing reactions’). His voice had apparently being stolen from him, though, so he lowered his head only and put his forehead against Akashi’s shoulder to hide his face. He gulped down hard and opened his mouth once again to try to speak one more time. “………………………..yes…”

 

“Good. That’s really good, Tetsuya,” acknowledged Akashi, pulling the bluenette’s body closer to his own and leaning his head on top of the smaller male’s, who was still trying to desperately hide his features. The way he was feeling an extremely warm heat in his shoulder, Kuroko must be blushing like a tomato at the moment. “Was this what you were mad about earlier?”

 

“I-I wasn’t mad… I was only…” trailed off the smaller male, burying his face slightly more in the other male’s shoulder.

 

“Feeling shy?” teased Akashi, a soft smirk twisting his lips. However, he immediately felt a sharp pain in his foot, when Kuroko suddenly decided to stab his heel there. “Ouch…!”

 

“Shut up… One of these days, I’ll make you so embarrassed you’ll wish to bury your head in a hole so you can hide your bright red face…” grudgingly mumbled Kuroko, pushing his heel more strongly against the taller male’s foot.

 

 _You actually already made me blush,_ inwardly pointed out Akashi, chuckling softly. He lifted his head and delivered a quick peck to the blue locks of hair leaning on him. “I’ll take you up on it, then. You won’t be able to do it in the near future so you’ll need to stay here long enough for that to become a reality.”

 

“Now you’re only trying to find silly reasons to keep me in Teikou,” added Kuroko, rolling slightly his eyes. He slowly motioned his hands forwards and softly clutched at the school jacket of the taller male with his fingertips.

 

“I don’t think it’s silly, though,” confessed Akashi, putting his face near the bluenette’s head once again. “Whatever reasons I have that make me want to keep you here, Tetsuya… I don’t think they are silly in the least. And if I have to have a million of them to keep you here with me, then I’ll find them the soonest I can.”

 

“Ngh… Please refrain from doing such…” mumbled Kuroko, shivering slightly at the voice near his ear. _I don’t want to like you a million times more. If I did… it would be the death of me._

 

“Rejected,” objected the redhead right away, pushing the smaller male’s head with his nose softly. When Kuroko turned his face slightly in his direction, Akashi softly smiled and added, “Deal with it.”

 

“Why should I? I don’t want to,” counterattacked Kuroko, shyly peering at the heterochromatic eyes of the taller male while maintaining his head leaned on his shoulder.

 

“You’re a bad liar, Tetsuya,” chuckled Akashi, leaning his face closer to the other male.

 

“You’re just particularly good at it,” counterattacked again the bluenette, turning his head a little bit more in the taller male’s direction.

 

“I haven’t lied to you, though,” pointed out Akashi, his smile widening slightly. “And I’m ‘particularly good’ in everything I do.”

 

“Aren’t you a smug one? Even though you can’t eat something as simple as benishouga,” teased Kuroko, a small smirk tugging the corner of his lips upwards.

 

“I ate it when you gave me, didn’t I?” pointed out the redhead, giving a soft bump with his forehead on the smaller male. “I’ll eat anything you give me. Even if it’s poison.”

 

“…!” All of a sudden, Kuroko lunged his hands forward and forcefully pushed Akashi away from him, turning his back right away to the taller male. He clutched at his mouth desperately, trying to control his thundering heart and the alarm ringing in his head, just as well the sudden indisposition that was twisting the insides of his stomach around.

 

“Tetsuya? Are you okay?” asked cautiously the redhead, approaching the smaller male once again.

 

“We probably should return to Fuyu already. It’s getting late and I want to start reading the books I got from the library,” simply said Kuroko, not giving an answer whatsoever to the true question being made. He started walking to the benches where his things had been put on and picked up his school bag and the books.

 

“…” Akashi followed after him and only stopped when he got behind the bluenette, grabbing one of his hands and spinning him around so he could see his face.

 

“What is it?” asked Kuroko right away, a completely neutral semblance in his face as he stared directly to the red and golden eyes of the taller male.

 

“…No, it’s nothing,” suspiciously answered Akashi, releasing the other male’s arm. He picked up his own bag and the books he was helping the bluenette carry, and started walking together with him in the door’s direction. “Tetsuya.”

 

“Yes, Akashi-kun?” said Kuroko, stopping on his track to look over at the taller male that was a few steps behind him.

 

The redhead gave a quick kiss to the bluenette’s lips and then continued walking to the door, opening one of its sides with his foot in order to keep the pile of books steady in his arms. He looked over his shoulder and called Kuroko with his head, smiling softly at him.

 

Kuroko closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, and then resumed his steps, walking over in the taller male’s direction.

 

He was in a fantasy right now. And sooner or later… something would make him wake up to the cruel reality of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "CATALRHYTHM" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> I only have one thing to say about this chapter: WHY, AKASHI!? WHY DO YOU CONTINUE TO FIND WAYS TO COCKBLOCK YOURSELF!!!! Consciously or unconsciously, you just have to do it, don't you? I no longer know if you're an S or an M anymore, because you are starting to display masochistic tendencies on your SELF-COCKBLOCKING TRAIT!!!! *takes a deep breath* Okay, now I feel much better...
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	87. I'm more than just the partner of a prodigy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> So we have reached February, the month of love and romance~ Are you ready to receive lots of love from me through my fics? Having said that...
> 
> Warning: NOSEBLEED ALERT!!!! (I'm not kidding, go get tissues asap!)
> 
> Enjoy, fufufu~

“Well, Akashi-san really is changing drastically, isn’t he~?” commented Takao as he walked through the main road in the inside of Teikou Academy together with Midorima. “Pffft! I can’t take it out of my head. He actually called Kuroko ‘love’. I should have recorded that one. Ahahaha!”

 

“This is not funny, Takao,” pointed out Midorima, adjusting his glasses in the bridge of his nose. “If I would have to put a name on it, it would be ‘creepy’.”

 

“Yeah? Then if you heard the question he made me about Kuroko, you would be even more ‘crept out’~” added the raiven haired with a slight mocking tone in his voice.

 

“Question? What question?” asked the taller male, raising slightly an eyebrow.

 

“We were talking about Kuroko’s real shape and somehow the topic shifted to the changes that love brings to a person. And it was him that initiated that conversation, if I must add!” explained Takao, putting his hands behind his head while holding into his school bag. “Then he just suddenly asked if he too was being dyed by Kuroko’s colors~ Isn’t Akashi-san quite the romanticist~”

 

“Well, he has always been good with his words…” mumbled Midorima, feeling slightly irked by the fact that the smaller male was complimenting the heterochromatic redhead. “He’s the manipulative type, so it’s expected that he knows what he’s saying when talking with someone. However…”

 

“He isn’t manipulating Kuroko in the least… right?” added Takao before the green haired male had a chance to complete his sentence. He peered sideways to the other male and grinned at him. “That’s why I said that Akashi-san is changing drastically. If it was him in the past or, at least, if it was any other person he was dealing with, he would try to manipulate things in his favor to obtain the best and quickest results. Or that’s the image I had of him.”

 

“Yes, you’re absolutely correct on that,” acknowledged Midorima, adjusting his glasses once again as he looked sideways to the smaller male. “I think that it’s due to his past but Akashi learned the hard way that to not be manipulated, he needed to be the one manipulating. It’s his defense mechanism to others and he doesn’t do it intentionally most of times. Though the inner beast is something entirely different… However, it’s obvious that he’s trying to not do that to Kuroko. I would probably think that it’s because Kuroko doesn’t mesh very well with manipulation or the thought of being manipulated, but it’s not. Akashi is trying to maintain the fairest and purest type of relationship with Kuroko that his extremely messed up personality enables him.”

 

“Aww~ You’re always complaining about Akashi-san, but in the end you truly respect him, don’t you?” teased Takao, nudging his elbow in the sides of the green haired male’s torso.

 

“Shut up, you fool!” admonished Midorima, his cheeks slightly pinkish. He adjusted his glasses and turned his face away from the smaller male. “It’s not that I… Tsk! Okay, I respect Akashi! All us ‘Miracles’ do! If he hadn’t picked us up, even if with extremely messed up methods, we would probably be used as lab rats right now. Murasakibara _would_ still be used as a lab rat. You and all other students in this school too! His idea of creating Teikou was the thing that saved all ‘Users’ from the cruel fate that was incoming to us when our existence was made public.”

 

“I know, I know~ You don’t need to get that angry~” acknowledged Takao, locking his arm around the taller male’s. “Akashi Seijuurou, the ‘Miracle’ who stood against the Japanese Government all by himself when he was only 10 years old. I wouldn’t have that much guts, no matter how old I am~ Though he didn’t do that all by himself for much longer. You all joined the party soon enough, didn’t you?”

 

“We did,” shortly acknowledged Midorima, looking in front of him into the distance. “We did because Akashi was right on what he was saying. We knew it. All ‘Users’ that listen to his words know it. Even if the rest of the human population thinks otherwise.”

 

“Hm, that’s tru— Ah… Shin-chan, Shin-chan,” called suddenly Takao, interrupting his own words. He then pointed to his right with his finger and looked over to the green haired male with a quizzical expression. “What the heck are those two doing?”

 

“Huh?” interjected Midorima, arching an eyebrow. He looked over in the direction where the smaller male was pointing at and saw both Aomine and Kagami running around in the school grounds in a quite desperate motion, the former chasing after the latter. He rolled his eyes and looked to in front of him once again. “Let them be. Idiots being idiots, I guess. Aomine will soon stop running around like a lunatic since he’s buried to his neck with work due to the little scheme he formulated with Kagami.”

 

“They sure run fast, don’t they?” pointed out Takao, a soft smile on his lips. “How lucky... I sure would like to be able to run like that again.”

 

“…” Midorima readily shifted his gaze back to the raiven haired male and released a quick sigh. “And you will. I’ll make sure you will be able to run again. To do anything you want to do again.”

 

“Ah! Sorry, it wasn’t my intention to complain or anything,” apologized Takao, smiling happily to the taller male. “You’re already doing more than enough, Shin-chan. I know you have your own duties as a ‘Miracle’ so you don’t need to always keep guard on me. I may be sick but I can still go on about my daily life like a healthy person.”

 

“And it’s because you think like that that you’re always overworking yourself,” admonished Midorima, peering to the smaller male with suspicious eyes.

 

“But I don’t want to bother others with my own problems,” softly mumbled Takao, down-casting slightly his gaze. “You already do more than you should in regards of trying to find a cure. And you take care of me every time I feel sick because of it. Miyaji-san also comes everyday to my apartment to check on me. I feel like a charity case sometimes, you know…”

 

“You fool!” admonished once again Midorima, coming to a sudden halt and turning around to face the raiven haired male directly. “If it’s about someone we care about, of course we will try our best to help that person! Miyaji-san thinks like that too! I don’t want to see those I care about to die in front of me again because I couldn’t help them… I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing that I could have done more for _you_ and I didn’t.”

 

“…” Takao fully dropped his head and hugged tightly the taller male, smiling brightly while doing so. “Yeah, I know. Sorry, Shin-chan. I suddenly entered in a weird mood, didn’t I? I’m better now. Thanks! Let’s hurry up and get to my apartment. I found a new band and I want your opinion on it.”

 

“Oh god, please don’t…” complained Midorima while rolling his eyes. He softly pushed the other male away from him and resumed his steps once again. “Last time you said you wanted to show me a band, you forced me to listen to that band and six more others.”

 

“What? They _are_ good bands!” pointed out Takao, sulking a little bit over the green haired male’s words. “If I could, I would talk about them with Kasamatsu-san. But even I’m not that insensitive. If I talked with him about music right now, he…”

 

“Yes, it’s probably a good idea to not discuss that with him at the moment,” agreed Midorima, already eyeing Shuutoku dorm in the distance. “Kise is not here either and has no form of contacting us or Kasamatsu-san, so you better not.”

 

“Nn…” shortly acknowledged Takao. After some brief seconds of total silence, he continued talking. “Has any development been made on that regard? About Haizaki and Kasamatsu-san’s ability?”

 

“No… Kise continues to search for Haizaki, but he disappeared completely out of the map,” explained Midorima, adjusting his glasses. “And even if he finds Haizaki, there’s no guarantee that he will be able to return Kasamatsu-san’s ability to its rightful owner.”

 

 _However… I have a feeling that it isn’t only Kise searching for Haizaki… and it isn’t for the same reasons he is, either,_ inwardly added the green haired male.

 

“Yeah…” acknowledged Takao with a nod of his head. “It must be hard, though. Having a part of us robbed in such a way… Especially one that meant so much. I really don’t want to experience that ever in my entire life. But I’m sure Kise will find a solution for it! Just like you are trying to find a solution for me!”

 

“Yes, let’s hope so,” acknowledged Midorima, stepping inside of the dorm’s main hall. He released a soft sigh and adjusted his glasses, looking to the opposite direction where the raiven haired male was. “I-I’ll listen to the band you wanted to show me. But just for a little bit! I need to stop by the Student Council Building before returning to Fuyu.”

 

Takao simply looked over to the taller male and nodded his head in agreement, happily grinning at his lover. They leisurely walked to the floor where the raiven haired male’s apartment was located and stopped in front of the correspondent door, Takao searching around in his bag for the keys.

 

“Ah, here they are~” Once the keys attached to a keychain were found and the door was readily unlocked and opened, Takao mischievously smirked to the green haired male and pulled him by the arm, hurriedly closing the door without looking at it.

 

“W-Wait, Takao!” yelped Midorima, being tow-hauled by the smaller male to the bedroom. They came to a halt in front of the bed and Takao pushed him down to the soft cushions. In half panic, Midorima grabbed the wrists of the raiven haired male and pulled away the hands that were unbuckling his belt. “What are you doing?”

 

“Eh~ I’m resuming where we stopped earlier~” simply said Takao, a smirk on his features. He pulled his wrists free and interrupted the taller male before he could start to complain. “And I also said I would comfort you later.”

 

“Just stop. You’re in no condition to be doing this type of things at the moment,” sighed Midorima, straightening his back in the bed to a half-sat down position.

 

“C’mon~ It breaks my heart when you say something like that, Shin-chan,” half-joked Takao, resuming with the movements of his hands to unbuckle the belt of the green haired male. “I may get extremely tired while doing erotic things, but you don’t. So we can still do things that don’t tire me out and you get to get tired afterwards. And that’s reason more than enough to do it.”

 

“I appreciate the thought but one-sided pleasure is a huge turn-off for me,” counterattacked Midorima, adjusting his glasses.

 

“And who said I don’t get pleasure out of it?” teasingly asked Takao, taking out the still limp member of the other male and holding it in his hand, while sliding his body slowly down. “If my Shin-chan likes it, I like it too~ And if my Shin-chan gets to feel pleasure with the things I do to him… then I obviously feel pleasure with it too~”

 

“I still don’t think it’s a g— Ngh!” Midorima’s body shivered when his cock was suddenly engulfed by the hot and wet mouth of the raiven haired male and he readily moved his hand forward to push his head away. “Takao, stop…!”

 

Takao lifted his eyes to look at the half-distressed face of the taller male and the corner of his lips turned upwards. He closed his mouth more tightly around the member and leisurely ran his tongue through its length as he removed his mouth from the hardening cock. “You tell me to stop, Shin-chan, but I think your body doesn’t agree with you. And you were even saying that one-sided pleasure was a huge turn-off~”

 

“Tsk!” Clicking his tongue, Midorima ran his hand through his hair and straightened his back a little bit more with the help of the forearm pressed against the bed. “Takao, you are not in the right condition to be doing this to me and I’m sure you are even less in the condition to get me turned on. So stop right now, you fool!”

 

“’Don’t wanna,” simply answered Takao, dropping his head sideways and switching between short licks and soft bites to the member as he motioned down to its base. Then he gave a long lick up again and swallowed one more time the tip, slurping on it with his tongue.

 

“Haa… Takao…!” half-moaned, half-admonished Midorima, lunging his hand forward to clutch at the smaller male’s head. He tried to pull him away from his fully hard cock, but the raiven haired male knew his body better than anyone else and was really putting that fact on display, the way he was going with all his might after his weak spots. “You… idiot… Ngh!”

 

“Mmh…” Takao continued licking, slurping and sucking on the stiff member, feeling the salty flavor of the sticky pre-cum spread through his entire mouth. The throbbing continued to grow as the pleasurable release started to build up in the base, but the raiven haired male proceeded forward with his ministrations, paying no mind that his mate would shoot his seed inside of his hot cave.

 

“Takao… Move away…” called Midorima, his breathing pitched due to the rush of pleasure and the accelerated beating of his heart. When he saw the smaller male shaking his head in denial, he clicked his tongue once again and tried to move his head away from him. “Takao, don’t be… stubborn. Haa… Move away, damn it…!”

 

Takao continued to ignore the pleads of the green haired male and continued forward with the movements of his mouth and tongue, pleasuring him further and inciting the orgasm to come more quickly.

 

“Takao…! Shit! Ahh—“ Midorima felt his body shuddering as his release came bursting out of his cock to the mouth of the raiven haired male. He let his head drop to the bed, trying to even out his labored breathing. Half a second later, he got back to a sitting position and picked up a bunch of tissues from the nightstand, lunging them immediately to the smaller male.

 

“Ah~ Not needed. I swallowed it~” simply said Takao while wiping the corners of his lips with his thumb and then licking it, always keeping the green haired male in his field of vision as he once again leisurely ran his tongue on the creamy release still visible there.

 

“Y… YOU FOOL!” roared Midorima, giving a chop on the head of the other male. “Are you an idiot!? That’s going to mess up with your stomach! Go drink water! NOW!”

 

“Ahahaha! You don’t need to be _that_ embarrassed, Shin-chan,” laughed Takao, getting up from the bed. He started motioning to the door and winked his eye to the taller male while underneath its frame. “If I need comforting too, please do the same to me, my darling~”

 

“I would never do such a thing to a sick person,” counterattacked Midorima, turning his head around from the other male in a sulking motion as he arranged his clothes again. “After you get better… I’ll consider it, then.”

 

“Hehehe~ Sure thing, Shin-chan~” acknowledged Takao, smiling brightly to his lover. “I’ll be anxiously waiting for such a day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "F.O.V. (Field of View)" by Suzuki Tatsuhisa (our hungry for some action Takao).
> 
> I have two modes while I'm writing smut and they are constantly switching back and forth while I'm at it:  
> 1) "Let's-focus-and-write-this-because-everybody-needs-this-just-as-much-as-I-do" mode  
> 2) "What-the-heck-is-my-mind-imagining-dear-god-I'm-dirty-I-will-go-to-hell-for-this" mode  
> So I have either a completely blank face or I'm cringing hard as hell during smut writing moments :P
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	88. Yes, the signal is now in your hands

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with a new chapter ^.^
> 
> I'm updating much earlier than usual, I know. But... I'm feeling sort of down right now... I guess writing the events of the full moon hit me hard in a way that was completely unexpected T.T So... please give me your love. Hearing your words always makes me feel happy and I need them right now.
> 
> But well, you will still have a pretty fluffy chapter this time around :) Please enjoy while it lasts.

Releasing a yawn as big as a panther’s, Aomine picked up the reports he had been doing while inside of his classroom and messily stuffed them inside of his school bag. He had so much work to do at the moment that he used the time when he was having classes to deal with it while attending the lessons, even if the boring things being said by the teacher made him more sleepy than motivated to keep on working on the reports and analyzing other types of data.

 

He got up from his desk and stretched his arms over his head, releasing a tired sigh when dropping them to the sides of his body again. The tanned male then picked up his bag and just slowly walked to the door of the classroom, already grumbling inwardly over the fact that he wouldn’t be able to just go to the basketball court, but instead dive into more work in the Student Council building. For as fun as it was to create that little plan with Kagami, he sure was paying a high price due to it.

 

As Aomine was closing the door behind him, he heard someone do the same in the classroom next door and he peered sideways in that direction, immediately recognizing the student who was apparently exiting school at the same time as him.

 

“Yo, Kagami!” greeted Aomine right away, lifting one of his hands up.

 

“A-Ah… Yeah, hi…” greeted back Kagami, averting the tanned male’s gaze almost immediately after he saw him exiting his classroom. He directed him a quick glance and then turned his back at him, starting to walk down the corridor to return to his dorm. “A-Aren’t you late in school today? I guess me too. So I’ll be leaving. I’ll see you around.”

 

“…” Aomine observed as the redhead quite clumsily closed the door and started to plainly run away from him, even though all he was doing was walking. “Kagami.”

 

“What? I need to go shopping for ingredients so I can’t waste time right now,” said Kagami right away, not even turning around to face the other male. He quickened his steps a little bit and clenched his fist around his hold on the school bag. “W-We’ll talk another time, ‘kay?”

 

“I just wanted to know how the thing about your apartment’s door is going,” pointed out Aomine, starting to chase after the redhead with the same hasty steps as the other male. “Did everything got solved or is there still any problem about it?”

 

“I-I don’t know since I haven’t been in my apartment during the whole day,” answered Kagami, speeding up slightly more as he crossed the hallway. “But if there’s any p-problem, I’ll simply contact the dorm leader again.”

 

“Huh… Okay. However…” acknowledged Aomine, also increasing his speed to continue to follow after the smaller male. As soon as he managed to catch up with the redhead, he lunged his hand forward and grabbed his shoulder to force him into a stop. “Why are you avoiding me?”

 

“What are you talking about?” asked Kagami, still not turning around to face the tanned male. “I’m j-just going home so that I can go check my new door and then go out shopping for food. S-Simply that.”

 

“Yeah, right,” ironically agreed Aomine, rolling his eyes. He tightened his grip on the redhead’s shoulder and gave it a tug so he could turn him around and face him, but Kagami stiffened his body so it could be countered. “If you’re not avoiding me then why haven’t you looked my way since we started talking?”

 

“I’m just busy. Now let me go already!” complained Kagami, pulling his shoulder away from the taller male’s hand. He gave a quick peek from above his shoulder and then hastily turned his face away once again. “Just leave me alone for today, will ya?”

 

Aomine immediately felt a vein pop out in his forehead at the answer he received, the fact that Kagami started walking away in an even quicker motion worsening his irritation. He lifted his arm and pointed at the redhead. “Hey, you asshole! What have I done to deserve this cold treatment!?”

 

“You didn’t do anything! Now leave me alone, you idiot!” complained Kagami, hastening his walking even more when he heard Aomine starting to run in his direction. When he felt that the tanned male was just a hair away from catching him once again, he bolted out of the school building.

 

“Hey, you—! Stop running away, Bakagami!” yelled Aomine, stopping momentarily behind the frame of the door and also bolting after the redhead. “Do you really think you can win against me in a game of tag? You’re 100 years too early for that, you blockhead!”

 

“Shut up!” roared Kagami, peering over his shoulder to the taller male chasing after him. “Why are you even following after me!? I told you to leave me alone, didn’t I?”

 

“I will stop chasing after your stupid ass as soon as you stop running away and avoiding me!” roared back Aomine, increasing his speed slightly to get closer to the redhead. “I don’t even get with you’re running away in the first place! Wait… Did Akashi do something or told you anything about Kuroko once again and it somehow included me?”

 

“He didn’t! He didn’t freaking say anything to me except glare the crap out of me!” yelled Kagami while turning around in the building to try to make the tanned male lose sight of him with different turns and obstacles. “Now go back to do your work! I know you’re pretty damn busy right now! So pay me no mind and get your ass back to work!”

 

“Then stop making me waste my time and stop running away from me so we can talk properly, Bakagami!” yelled back Aomine, turning in the same place the redhead had. He searched around for the place where the other male had gone to and easily pinpointed his current location. He flexed his legs slightly and gave a quick jump, motioning his body up several meters in the air and landing swiftly in a closer location to the redhead.

 

“Geh! Using your ability is against the rules, Ahomine!!” yelped Kagami when he saw the tanned male landing almost behind him. He started to run away faster, also putting his ability forward and enhancing the build of his legs so he could give a boost to his own speed.

 

“You’re using it too! Do you really think that I wouldn’t have caught you otherwise, you dumbass!?” roared Aomine, giving another jump and landing right behind the redhead. He lunged his hand forward to grab him, but Kagami suddenly decided to give a tight curve around another building and jump to on top of the roof of it. “Damn it!”

 

The tanned male quickly did the same movements as Kagami and softly landed on top of the roof, his breathing a little bit labored due to all the running and jumping around. When he looked up to in front of him, he saw the redhead hastily running in the opposite direction where he currently was located and was already gaining balance to jump down to the other side of the building. Aomine clicked his tongue and bolted in the other male’s direction.

 

“Wait just a damn fucking minute, Bakagami!!!” yelled Aomine as he came crashing against the back of the redhead, both of them tripping and hitting the safety net surrounding the edge of the building. “Damn it… You’re a tough bastard to chase around…”

 

“Who told you… to chase after me in the… first place?” counterattacked Kagami, wiping the sweat running down his face while panting slightly. “Now get away from me and just leave me alone!”

 

“I don’t want to,” simply said Aomine, putting his hand on the net and gripping into it, cutting the escape route that the redhead was going to use. He intently stared at him and noted that he was still avoiding looking directly at him. “Why are you avoiding me?”

 

“I-I told you already. I’m not a-avoiding you,” denied Kagami, uncomfortably shifting his body around to try to escape the other way. However, that route was also cut off when Aomine lunged his other arm and gripped the net with his hand. “Tsk!”

 

“Then say that while looking directly to my eyes,” added Aomine, getting his face closer to the redhead’s to force him to look in his direction. “Say it and I’ll let you go.”

 

“…” Kagami inwardly cursed and hesitantly shifted his eyes to the tanned male’s face. When his face was staring directly to Aomine, he swallowed hard and opened his mouth. “I’m not avoiding… you.”

 

However, he couldn’t do it. The moment he was almost finishing his sentence, Kagami unconsciously retracted his eyes once again from the tanned male, adding a few more curses while he admonished himself over the fact that he had currently no fucking idea of what was going around inside of his head. Why was he even avoiding talking or looking or simply being in the same place as Aomine?

 

“Hah! You just averted your eyes!” snorted Aomine, continuing to look intently to the redhead. He gripped more tightly the net and released a soft sigh. “What have I done to be avoided by you? I don’t remember doing anything out of the ordinary lately.”

 

“Y-You did absolutely n-nothing. Now let me go,” answered Kagami, stuttering a few times along the way. He motioned one of his hands up and started pushing the arm of the tanned male away from the safety net so he could leave.

 

“…” Aomine dropped his hands down to the side of his body, but quickly lunged them forward once again, shoving the shoulders of the redhead against the net once again. He let one of his hands remain there while the other motioned up to scratch his head. “Listen, I have a lot of work to do right now, as you are perfectly aware of, so I can’t waste my time on silly things. You want a reason to avoid me? I’ll give you one, then.”

 

Aomine abruptly lunged his head forward and locked his lips on Kagami’s, who got completely paralyzed by the kiss that none of them was expecting. He opened his eyes and looked directly to the flabbergasted red ones of the smaller male, departing once again their lips afterwards.

 

“There! Now you have a fucking reason to avoid me!” half-hissed Aomine while giving a last squeeze to the shoulder he was still pressing against the net. He clicked his tongue and released the redhead, turning his body around to go back the same path he had came from. He threw a last glance to Kagami, who was still completely frozen against the safety net, and clicked his tongue one more time, mumbling under his breath as he walked away. “Damn if I hate troublesome things… Fuck!”

 

Kagami simply continued to observe the tanned male walk to the opposite end of the building and then jump out of it, his brain still working (or not working, to be more precise) around in the midst of his stupefaction. After some seconds passed since Aomine completely disappeared from his sight, he motioned his hand up to his hair and ran his fingers through his red locks, his back sliding down against the net to the floor.

 

“What… the heck just happened…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> Hell yeah! AoKaga has started to sail XD (Actually, I have something to say about it - I've been calling it AoKaga, but I have no idea who's going to top yet :P I ship them both ways so maybe they will also go both ways in this fic. Hmm? Argh, I don't know! We'll see how their relationship develops from now on ^^)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	89. "If that's how you're going to be, society will never understand," adults say

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> Nasty events are getting closer and closer... But we still have time for one more fluffy moment, don't we? I just hope there will be a lot more of them in the future, too *sniff*
> 
> Well, enjoy :)

Using his ability to unlock the front door of Fuyu, Akashi and Kuroko stepped inside of the entrance hall, both of them carrying a pile of books (and some folders, in the redhead’s case). After they exited the gym, they paid a quick visit to the Student Council building, since Akashi needed to collect the work that had arrived since he went to Kyoto, and then finally went back to their own housing.

 

“Ugh… I’m starting to regret having brought so many books…” softly mumbled Kuroko while climbing the stairs, his arms shaking with the strain of the weight of all the books he was carrying there.

 

“It was your own decision to bring ten books, Tetsuya,” pointed out Akashi, chuckling softly as he climbed the stairs right behind the bluenette. “I did say you can always go to my room to pick up some books. I only keep the best ones there. The rest goes to my building here in Teikou. The room where you stayed in is an example.”

 

“Wait…” suddenly said Kuroko, coming to a halt on the corridor near the edge of the stairs and slowly starting to turn his head around to peer at the taller male. “Does that mean… you have more rooms like that one?”

 

“Yes, I do,” acknowledged Akashi, releasing a quick laugh. Observing the excited glint in the teal eyes of the smaller male which had been caused by something directly linked to him was highly satisfying. He had a feeling that his binge-reading habits would get worse thanks to it. “After you finish reading all these books, I’ll take you there again. Though we might take more than half an hour there, since my taste in literature is much better than the collection displayed in the school libraries.”

 

“Okay,” nodded Kuroko in agreement, his body fidgeting just the slightest due to the prospect of adding more amazing books to his reading collection. Kuroko started walking once again and stopped in front of his door, getting ready to open it. “Ah…”

 

“I’ll do it,” offered Akashi, eyeing the door closely. They heard a click and then the door opened just a fraction.

 

“Thank you.” Kuroko pushed the door open with his knee and stepped inside, walking right away to his desk. He dropped the books he had been carried with a muffled thud and let his arms fall to the sides of his body, shaking them a little bit to get rid of the torpidity present there. He saw Akashi also putting the pile he had been carrying beside his and picking up the folders placed on top of the books. “Thank you for helping me carry them here.”

 

“You’re welcome, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, softly smiling to the bluenette. He dropped his gaze to the books on top of the desk and let it linger there for a while. Then he shifted his heterochromatic eyes back to the smaller male. “Do you want to come to my room?”

 

“Eh?” interjected Kuroko, quickly turning his head in the taller male’s direction. They mutually stared at each other for brief seconds and then Kuroko continued talking, arching an eyebrow slightly. “Why do you want me to go to your room?”

 

“I have the book you wanted to read and didn’t find in the library. Kirino Natsuo’s ‘Out’,” explained Akashi, his soft smile widening a little bit more. He motioned his right hand forward and let it stay open for the smaller male to take. “Will you come?”

 

“…” Kuroko continued to suspiciously stare to the redhead, switching his gaze between his red and golden eyes and the hand stretched in his direction. “Can’t you bring me the book here?”

 

“I’m neither your slave nor your employee. If you want something, you will need to go get it yourself, Tetsuya,” added Akashi, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders. He motioned his hand closer to the bluenette, prompting him to grab it. “Then again, if you don’t want to come, you can always refuse. I won’t force you to come to my room.”

 

“…” Keeping his teal eyes on the hand thrown at him, Kuroko started turning the gears inside of his head while he thought about what was the best way to proceed in this type of situation. He didn’t fear the invitation that the redhead was making him – he knew perfectly well that if Akashi was planning some sort of scheme with it, he wouldn’t give him the option of choice. However, he was still reticent of entering inside of Akashi’s bedroom. No, not his bedroom. His _territory_.

 

If Aomine had been correct on the things he had said about Akashi, then entering inside of the redhead’s bedroom equaled to enter inside of his most prized territory. And that was a complete unknown for Kuroko. He didn’t know what to expect of such invasion or what sort of reactions he would get out of it.

 

He could always refuse Akashi’s invitation since he wasn’t being forced to give a positive answer at the moment. But… a part of him was extremely curious about his territory and it had nothing to do with the books being kept there.

 

“I’ll go,” finally answered Kuroko, hesitantly motioning his hand forward and touching the other male’s one with his fingertips. The hand he was touching closed around his and the bluenette lifted his gaze from it to look at Akashi.

 

“Thank you,” added the redhead, softly smiling to the smaller male. He turned his hand slightly to grab the bluenette’s hand in another way, entwining their fingers once again, and started leading him to the corridor so they could change divisions.

 

“W-Why are you thanking me?” asked Kuroko to distract himself of the warmth sipping inside of his body through their linked hands. The updated version of the prickling sensation didn’t bother him as much as before but it still reminded him of who it was that he was touching right now. Which was almost a double-edged sword, in his opinion. “You are the one doing me a favor so it should be me thanking you, not the other way around.”

 

Akashi gave no answer whatsoever to Kuroko’s words, but the bluenette could feel by the way he was acting that he was once again in an extremely good mood right now. Maybe he didn’t have to be in such an alert about going to his room. Maybe it would be simpler than he was expecting it to be.

 

The redhead opened the door of his bedroom and gave a step to the side, letting the smaller male enter before him in the room. Kuroko gave a quick glance to Akashi and then to the open door. It wouldn’t be by stalling that things would turn for the worse or the better, so he started walking once again and entered inside of the bedroom.

 

The bedroom was exactly the same as his own… if he excluded the fact that there were shelves covering most part of the walls and he had stored there almost an entire library. When Akashi said he had some books there that he could borrow, he must have forgotten to mention the number they came in.

 

When the door closed behind him, Kuroko flinched slightly and looked behind, where Akashi was. He saw the redhead start to walk in his direction and both his heart and brain started to enter in overload. What was exactly running inside of Akashi’s head right now? And most importantly, what was he planning on doing?

 

“The novel is on that shelf,” said Akashi while passing by the bluenette and stopping in front of his desk, where he put down the folders.

 

“Y-Yes…” acknowledged Kuroko almost mechanically. He walked over to the shelf that the taller male had indicated and started searching around with his eyes through the books laid there.

 

_God, what exactly am I expecting?,_ admonished Kuroko on the back of his mind, releasing a soft sigh. Just because he was alone together with Akashi in the redhead’s bedroom, it didn’t mean he would do anything to him. He was there only to search for the novel he had been craving to read. Also, when they were together, most of the time, they spent it alone. Just because they were in a new location together, it didn’t mean anything special.

 

_Then again, why is it that a part of me is hoping for him to do something?_

 

Kuroko softly clicked his tongue and resumed his search for the novel. His eyes from time to time tried to follow a different path and take a peek to what Akashi was doing, but he stubbornly refused to let them do as they pleased and kept reading the titles of each book until he finally found what he had came for. The bluenette lunged his hand up and took the book out of the shelf, turning it around to the back cover to certify himself that it was the correct one.

 

“I’ve found it,” announced Kuroko, fully turning his face around to the taller male this time. When he saw Akashi looking at him while leaning his lower back on the desk, his hand half-covering a smirk, the bluenette raised slightly an eyebrow. “What?”

 

“No, it’s nothing,” said Akashi right away, chuckling softly. He lowered his hand and put it on top of the desk. “Did you know that there are books that, the first time you read them, you won’t understand what they want to convey you? To truly discover their mystery, you will have to read it from the beginning to the end and discover the little clues hidden in its pages. When you find them, you will have to read the book once again and then you will finally understand the message the writer wants to convey to the readers. Sometimes that message changes your life or the way you see the world around you.”

 

“Ah…” shortly acknowledged Kuroko, a question mark floating around in his head. He really didn’t understand where Akashi wanted to get at with that sudden conversation, but well, most of the time he didn’t understand which were the redhead’s true intentions. So it was better to leave it at that. He turned his eyes back to the book and started to turn its pages to entertain himself with something. “By the way… what have Takao-kun’s eyes seen when he saw me using my ability?”

 

“I don’t know. You tell me,” simply said Akashi, shrugging his shoulders a little bit. He saw Kuroko raising his head once again and quizzically look in his direction. “You didn’t give me all the details about your ability and you were trying to find a way to prevent Kazunari from seeing you using it. So you, Tetsuya, better than me or him, should know what he has seen.”

 

“…” Kuroko dropped his gaze just the slightest and then resumed with turning the pages of the book, making some occasional stops in certain parts of the book.

 

“Why are you trying to keep us from reaching the truth about your ability?” finally voiced out Akashi after a brief period of silence. He crossed his arms over his chest and studied the smaller male with his eyes. “What is it that you don’t want us to know or see?”

 

“Humans reject ugly things, whether they are physical objects or truths,” cryptically answered Kuroko, stopping his hand on top of one of the pages of the open book. “My ability is exactly that – an ugly thing and truth that I try to keep hidden. I have had my share of rejection because of it, as the entire Japanese nation is a clear proof of, so can you really blame me for trying to keep it buried very deep?”

 

“Ugly?” repeated Akashi, arching slightly an eyebrow. “The only person who sees it like that is you.”

 

“Eh?” interjected Kuroko, slowly looking over to the redhead once again.

 

“From what Kazunari told me, your ability is the exact opposite of ugly. Or at least the thing he called its ‘core’ is.”

 

“He saw it wrong, then,” snorted Kuroko, looking down once again to the book and closing it quickly in between his hands. “ _That_ can’t be called anything other than ugly.”

 

“So you are aware of the existence of the core,” added Akashi, departing his back from the desk and starting to walk in the bluenette’s direction.

 

_Damn it, I fell for it!,_ inwardly admonished Kuroko, clicking his tongue softly as he realized that Akashi had managed to make him drop his guard enough for letting that little bit of inconclusive information slip out of his mouth.

 

“What is it that the core represents?” asked Akashi right away after having stopped beside the smaller male. “Is it from there that your ability comes from?”

 

“Stop. Please don’t ask about that, Akashi-kun,” interrupted Kuroko, lunging his hand up to in front of the redhead’s face to prevent him from continuing to talk. “There are things better off unknown. This is one of those things. And you claim that you want to keep me here in Teikou, right? Then don’t touch this subject again. _Ever._ ”

 

“Why?” simply asked Akashi, motioning one of his hands up to grab the other male’s and pull it down once again.

 

“Because…” started Kuroko in an extremely hesitant tone, his eyes dropping down to the floor. He released a soft sigh and a pained expression surfaced in his features. “Because the moment you know the truth about _that_ , I will be as good as dead. Knowing about _that_ is equivalent to releasing the rope to the guillotine pending over my neck that you are perpetually holding into.”

 

“Tetsuya, you need to understand something,” sighed Akashi, releasing the wrist of the smaller male and lunging his two hands up to cup the pale features of the bluenette and pull his face back up so he could look directly at him. “I won’t let the Japanese government execute you. Actually, I won’t even let them lay a single finger on you. I promise you. So you don’t need to be so afraid of letting us know about you and your ability. Okay?”

 

“…” Kuroko slowly lifted one of his hands up and clutched at the sleeve of the redhead’s uniform. “There will come a day when you will regret having made that promise, Akashi-kun.”

 

“I don’t make promises that I’m not sure that I will be able to keep,” added Akashi, bumping his forehead softly on the other male’s. “And I’ll let you know that out of all the promises that I have made in my entire life, I only wasn’t able to see one through until the very end.”

 

“How many promises have you made until now then, for such a miraculous number of failures?” shyly asked Kuroko while leaning closed to the taller male’s touch.

 

“Not that many, fortunately _and_ unfortunately,” confessed Akashi while chuckling inwardly. He released the bluenette’s face and dropped his arms to around his small waist, enlacing his fingers behind Kuroko’s lower back. “And I’m good at everything I do, so it’s a given that I achieve so much success in the promises I have made.”

 

“Your overconfidence really pisses me off sometimes,” deadpanned Kuroko, suppressing the urge of rolling his eyes that he was currently feeling.

 

“Really? I apologize, then,” teasingly added the redhead, chuckling softly. He leaned his face closer to the smaller male’s, but his face suddenly bumped against a hard surface. One of his arms was also tugged out of the bluenette’s waist and dropped back again afterwards.

 

“I have the book with me now and I think I do have ten more others waiting for me back in my room, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be taking my leave,” said Kuroko as he took a few steps away from the taller male.

 

“…” Akashi released a sigh and fully let his arms fall back to the sides of his body, sulking slightly at the fact that he had been yet again rejected by the bluenette. “Are you going to close yourself in your bedroom reading book after book? Just stay here reading.”

 

“Why would I?” asked Kuroko, arching as eyebrow at the redhead’s words. “I have my own bedroom and I want to use the fact that I don’t need to share it with anyone to its fullest. Also, I’m sure you have things to do on your own, as the folders that you got from the Student Council building prove.”

 

“My work has nothing to do with you staying here,” pointed out Akashi, crossing his arms over his chest as he released another soft sigh. “I can do my work perfectly fine with you here, and you can also read perfectly well when I’m there. The weeks we spent in my building fully prove that.”

 

“I still don’t want to,” continued to refuse Kuroko. If he stayed in the redhead’s room to read, he would be far too self-conscious of him to be able to register even the tiniest bit of information about the things he was reading about. And that would not entirely be a waste of time, but it would be a waste of a possibly good adventure in the world that the writer had created.

 

“Okay, let’s compromise then,” relented Akashi, dropping his hands down and motioning over to his desk. He grabbed some of the folders and started walking back to near the bluenette. “You and I will do our own things downstairs in the living room. You can read and I can work on these while there.”

 

“And why would I accept your proposal? There’s nothing in it for me,” pointed out Kuroko, the arching of his eyebrow getting slightly more accentuated.

 

“Okay, fine. Then go to your bedroom,” consented Akashi, a smirk appearing in his features. “I’ll follow right behind you and stay there working. Actually, I’ll just spend there the night too, like we did the other nights.”

 

“Suddenly the idea of reading in the living room is becoming extremely appealing to me,” deadpanned Kuroko, turning around to the redhead’s room’s door.

 

“Is it now?” acknowledged Akashi with a teasing tone, inwardly chuckling at the smaller male’s answer. He started following after him and crossed the door after the bluenette had opened it and exited to the corridor. “I think being in the living room will also be good for you. Interacting only with me isn’t exactly a positive thing since humans are creatures that can’t live isolated from each other. Try talking with the other ‘Miracles’, even if just a little bit.”

 

“Are you trying to tell me that I should give you all an opportunity and act friendly with you?” asked Kuroko, looking over his shoulder to peer to the taller male while going down the stairs.

 

“Yes, it’s exactly what I’m saying. You need to make friends and, though they are a weird bunch of individuals, they are not the bad people that you think they are,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a quick nod with his head.

 

“You are the last person I want to hear calling others weird,” deadpanned Kuroko, rolling softly his eyes. “And I don’t mind having friends. But I want to maintain a line between the type of relationship that I have with all of you. Also, if it’s for you to start glaring at them every time I talk with them, like you do with Kagami-kun, I prefer to refrain myself from such.”

 

“I wouldn’t glare at them, like you call it,” said Akashi, turning around together with the bluenette to enter inside of the living room area. “Kagami Taiga is just a particular case that I can’t avoid. I guess we were just not meant to get along with each other.”

 

“You do realize that the dislike you feel for each other is solemnly caused by the way you act all defensive with him, right?” asked Kuroko, releasing a soft sigh as he sat down in one of the sofas. “Kagami-kun is a good person and he has no intentions towards me other than helping me as a friend. You should at least give him a try and actually act friendly towards him yourself. He doesn’t voice it out but he feels extremely uncomfortable when you glare at him like you want to rip his throat open using your nails.”

 

“If I wanted to rip his throat, there are quicker and less dirty methods to do it,” simply pointed out Akashi while sitting down in another sofa and putting the folders on top of the short table in front of it, keeping one of the folders with him. When he saw the bluenette looking at him with a blank look on his face, he lifted slightly an eyebrow. “I was only joking.”

 

“You don’t seem very good at making jokes, then,” deadpanned Kuroko, looking down to the book on his hands and opening it in the first page. “Though it’s sort of understandable, given your always serious demeanor. Ah, wait. Cross that. Your always serious demeanor except when you start teasing me.”

 

“That’s a part of my personality, apparently,” pointed out Akashi, taking the papers from inside of the folder and starting to turn the pages as he read its contents. “But that particular trait has only appeared since I met you so forgive me if I make some sort of mistake while I’m at it. I’m learning along the way how I should deal with it. And how I should deal with you.”

 

“Then please learn how to deal with it quickly,” added Kuroko, turning another page of the book. “Your teasing sometimes reaches the levels of that of a little kid. And when things take an unexpected turn, you simply sulk or try to change them back in your favor. Which usually equals to even more teasing. And someone always ends up getting caught in the crossfire of our back and forth bicker— Arguing.”

 

“You were going to say ‘bickering’ just now, weren’t you?” teased Akashi, snorting softly as he raised his eyes from the documents to look at the smaller male.

 

“I simply read out loud the word that was in the book,” lied Kuroko, his eyes unmoving from the page he was currently on.

 

“Liar,” simply said Akashi while resuming with his own reading. “I don’t remember seeing that word in such an early stage of the book.”

 

“Okay, I was going to say ‘bickering’. Satisfied?” conceded Kuroko, rolling his eyes slightly. It really seemed that he would need to wait until the next chance to actually win against the taller male. “Now please focus on your work and let me focus on the book.”

 

“Yes, yes,” acknowledged Akashi, chuckling softly. A smirk suddenly popped up in his features. “Whatever you want, _love_.”

 

“Now you’re doing it on purpose,” grudgingly mumbled Kuroko, an accentuated bright red coloring appearing on his cheeks at the redhead’s words. “And you’re using the fact that I can’t activate my ability right now against me too. Just… please work on ‘silence mode’ before I start using the ‘walk-back-to-my-room mode’.”

 

“Ahahaha,” laughed Akashi, resuming with the reading of the final pages of the documents.

 

However, they suddenly heard something loudly bump into the frame of the door of the living room and some soft things falling to the ground afterwards. Both Akashi and Kuroko raised their eyes from their correspondent reading materials and looked over to the door, where they saw Murasakibara picking up the countless packages of snacks that he had apparently dropped when he ran over against the frame.

 

“Are you feeling all right, Atsushi?” asked Akashi, arching slightly an eyebrow as he saw the purple haired giant straightening his back once again to a standing position. “That was a really loud noise you just made.”

 

“Ah… Yeah, I’m fine. I was just…” _surprised over the fact that you can actually laugh, Aka-chin,_ continued Murasakibara inwardly. “Never mind.”

 

The purple haired giant fully entered inside of the room and sat down in the sofa between the ones the two smaller males were using, dropping the different bags with snacks on his lap. He gave a quick glance to Kuroko and then another to Akashi, who continued reading their own things, now silently. He picked up a package with potato chips and opened it, starting almost immediately munching on the snack.

 

“Ah, Aka-chin,” suddenly called Murasakibara after brief seconds of almost total silence in the room, only the occasional flipping of pages and the crunching of the potato chips disturbing it.

 

“Hm?” hummed in acknowledgment Akashi, lifting one of his eyes out of the document.

 

“About that thing I told you about yesterday,” started Murasakibara, giving a quick peek to the bluenette. “I want to discuss it with Muro-chin, since he’s probably the ‘User’ who is most knowledgeable about that particular topic. So do you mind if I go to Yousen and spend the rest of the day there with Muro-chin?”

 

“Yes, of course, Atsushi,” consented Akashi, dropping his gaze once again to the document and straightening the pages on his lap. He lunged his hand forward and grabbed the folder, putting the papers back inside of it. “You can go to Yousen whenever you feel like. The others do it too. Bring me the results of what Tatsuya had to say about it, afterwards.”

 

“Sure thing,” acknowledged Murasakibara, smiling to the redhead in a content manner. He picked his body up once again, together with all the snacks laid on top of him, and started walking over to the door. As he was about to cross the door, he came to a halt, looking over to the other male once again. “Keep an eye around, though. The barrier will be slightly affected by the distance, after all. Not a lot so I don’t think you need to stress over it all that much.”

 

“Don’t worry,” added Akashi, lifting his eyes to look at the bluenette, who was starting to get fully into the novel he was reading, by the way he wasn’t even taking notice of the things he and the taller male were talking about right in front of him. “I think I can hold the fortress for a night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "GLITTER DAYS" by Fo'xTails.
> 
> I swear, every time Akashi and Kuroko bicker with each other, I have this goofy smile on my face. It just makes my day when it happens XD But yes, like I said, it's getting closer and closer... It won't be on the next chapter, though :P We will enjoy a little bit of MuraHimu first XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	90. Even though it's not that I'm lonely, even though I want to chase after it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san. Mafy's here with one more chapter :D
> 
> Are you ready for the beginning of the end? Muwahahaha! (Nah, I'm kidding. The end is still very, very far away ^.^)  
> Please see the end notes, there's a little something I need you to read after you finish reading this chapter, just to avoid future misunderstandings about the things said in this chapter.
> 
> Enjoy :)

Carrying a plastic bag crammed with different savory snacks and candies, Murasakibara stopped in front of his apartment in Yousen Dorm, searching around in his pockets for the keys to the front door, since it had been locked on the day he moved out. Even if Himuro was inside right now, doors were something completely useless for him since his physical body wasn’t in this dimension – he could pop out of nowhere whenever and wherever he wanted. And even if he couldn’t, the black haired male did have a key to it from before his body was locked down.

 

Finally finding the keys in between several candy wraps, the purple haired giant inserted the key in the lock and opened it, swiftly entering inside of his apartment.

 

“Muro-chin, are you here?” called Murasakibara, dropping the bag on top of the counter in the kitchenette. There was only silence around him. “’Guess I need to wait for him to come home…”

 

Since he dropped by the convenience store before coming to his apartment and he didn’t warn Himuro of his visit, it was understandable that he wouldn’t be in his apartment at this time of the day, since he mainly appeared there during the later evening and nighttime. He probably would have to wait for a couple of hours until then.

 

To entertain himself while he was waiting for the black haired male, Murasakibara took several packages with snacks and motioned over to the living room division of his apartment, turning on the TV and dropping his big body on the sofa afterwards. After several long minutes of continuously switching the channels while munching on some cookies, the purple haired male released a sigh and dropped his head on the back of the sofa.

 

“Atsushi, you’re here?” suddenly sounded a voice from the bedroom’s door.

 

Murasakibara immediately perked up at that so familiar voice and looked in its direction. “Muro-chin! You finally appeared!”

 

“Ahaha. Sorry, Atsushi,” apologized Himuro with a smile while fully exiting the bedroom and walking over in the taller male’s direction. “Have you come to visit me?”

 

“Mhm,” nodded Murasakibara, motioning his body slightly in the sofa to create space for the older male to sit down next to him without running the risk of touching him. “I got permission from Aka-chin to spend here the night with you. Though I will need to ask you a few things before I leave or Aka-chin will get mad at me.”

 

“Well, wasn’t that nice of him?” added Himuro, sitting down on the sofa, a safe distance away from the purple haired giant. “But what is it that you need to ask me? Or actually, what is it that Akashi wants to know?”

 

“It’s about the dimension you created,” hesitantly started Murasakibara, taking one more cookie and giving a quick bite into it.

 

“The ‘mirage realm’?” asked Himuro, an eyebrow slightly arched. He tilted his head for a few seconds as he looked over to the younger male and then straightened it again. “What is it that he wants to know about it?”

 

“It’s not exactly about the ‘mirage realm’ that we need information on,” continued Murasakibara, releasing a quick sigh as he opened another package of other types of cookies so he could switch between two different flavors. “It’s just that there’s a ghost trying to enter inside of my barrier around Fuyu. It still sort of is as we speak, since I can faintly feel it roaming around it.”

 

“A ghost?” repeated Himuro, the arching of his eyebrow getting slightly more accentuated. “I don’t really understand what you’re saying, Atsushi.”

 

“During the ‘Bloody Night’, it wasn’t only Kuro-chin going around killing people,” started explaining Murasakibara, stopping his munching on the cookies. Remembering the events of that night always made his stomach turn. “There was a ‘User’ together with him who was indiscriminately killing anyone who tried to approach Kuro-chin. I guess he also must have lost control of himself, taking that into account. He tried to kill us when we found them. So we sort of ended up fighting against him and… we killed him. Well, it was Aka-chin who dealt the final blow but it doesn’t change the fact that he had been pretty roughened up by the rest of us.”

 

“…” Himuro motioned his hand forward in the purple haired giant’s direction and quickly stopped it, dropping it again to on top of his legs a few seconds afterwards. “I’m sorry to know that, Atsushi. I know you don’t like to use your ability to hurt others.”

 

“Nn… Well, what’s done is done,” said Murasakibara, lifting once again his slightly downcast eyes. “While Kuro-chin was staying in Aka-chin’s building, there was also something roaming around the barrier and trying to step inside, especially during the night. The presence somehow felt familiar to me, like it had already touched my barriers before. But it was only when it first touched the barrier around Fuyu that I fully recognized it as the ‘User’ Aka-chin killed during the ‘Bloody Night’.”

 

“Wait, so that ‘ghost’ you’re talking about…” started rationalizing out loud Himuro while looking intently to the taller male. “The ‘ghost’ is a really dead person?”

 

“Yeah, he’s dead,” acknowledged Murasakibara, giving a quick nod with his head to accentuate it. “Aka-chin killed him in a way that… well, in a way that he could only be dead afterwards. Shortly after, the accident spot was created so his body should have been completely destroyed when that happened. So that ‘User’ is, without any doubt, dead.”

 

“Okay, now I’m lost. That ‘User’ is dead and is now appearing from time to time to try to enter inside of the barrier around Fuyu? That’s… completely absurd. No one would be able to do that unless they—“ Himuro suddenly stopped talking and opened his eyes in a surprised manner, his mouth slightly open with the shock of the realization. “…Unless they were somehow inside of another dimension. Just like my body is currently on.”

 

“That’s exactly what I think it’s happening,” confirmed Murasakibara, finally putting another cookie in his mouth. “When the ghost touches my barrier, it’s a really creepy feeling. And it’s completely different from the one when you touch my barriers. So I don’t really know what to think about it.”

 

“…” Himuro turned his head slightly to in front of him and motioned his hand up, touching in his chin with his fingers in a thinking motion. “You said that he was killed and afterwards destroyed when the accident spot was created, right?”

 

“Yeah. Or well, at least that’s what we wrote in the final report to the Japanese government,” acknowledged Murasakiba, giving quick bites to his snacks. “We don’t have any confirmation about what happened to the things inside of the accident spot. But since everything that gets close to that area readily disappears, we suppose that the same happened to the things inside.”

 

“So it’s possible that everything and everyone that was inside of the accident spot was sent to another dimension, then. The things that disappear when they get close to that area too,” explained Himuro, a certain hesitation painting his voice. “It could be that Kuroko somehow inadvertently created a new dimension when he finally ‘exploded’ and sucked everything on that area to inside of it. And since usually two dimensions can’t really exist in the same space at the same time, that area is now with the appearance that it currently has.”

 

“You mean the enormous black smoke covering that entire area?” asked Murasakibara, looking sideways to the black haired male while working his way around another package, this time some fruit candies.

 

“Yes, it’s sort of like my illusions,” explained further Himuro, looking to the table in front of him and making an empty glass suddenly appear in a blurry coloring at first, and then being fully projected there. “I can make them appear whenever I want but it doesn’t mean that they are truly here. You can sometimes touch them and see them, but they don’t belong to this dimension. They were brought out to here. And maybe… that whole area was brought to inside of some sort of dimension. You should ask Kuroko about it. If he created a dimension, I’m sure he’s aware of it.”

 

“Ah… That may be sort of complicated…” mumbled Murasakibara, unwrapping one of the candies and putting it in his mouth. “He’s sort of sensitive to the ghost topic. The last time he lost control of his ability… it was probably because of the conversation I was having with Aka-chin about it while in front of him.”

 

“I see,” softly acknowledged Himuro, dropping his gaze a fraction. A thin smile appeared in his features as he looked over to the table once again, the illusion-glass already gone. “Creating a new dimension isn’t exactly that praise worthy so I sort of know what he must feel like when that topic is discussed. More so when it’s being done by the people who killed his… friend, I guess? Do you know how the ‘User’ is called?”

 

“No… But Aka-chin probably has been searching around for him,” answered Murasakibara, crunching on the fruit candy with his teeth. “I don’t really see him staying quiet about it for very long. So if he doesn’t know the identity of the ghost already… I’m sure he’s close to know it. Sa-chin is on our side, after all. There’s nothing she can’t find out about.”

 

“Ahaha, true,” acknowledged Himuro with a brief laugh. He continued to softly smile to the younger male and then his demeanor got a little bit more serious. “Atsushi… do you think you could ask Momoi to stop by your apartment when she finds the time to?”

 

“Hmm? Why?” asked Murasakibara, readily looking over to the black haired male with a quizzical expression in his features.

 

“It’s nothing special. I just wanted to get a little bit of… updates on my family in America,” confessed Himuro, a strained smile on his face as he intently stared into the distance. “I haven’t heard anything from them for years now. Well, I was the one who cut all ties so.... I guess since you’re not staying here in Yousen anymore and I don’t go out of the dorm a lot due to my condition, I’m starting to get nostalgic of them.”

 

“Muro-chin…” Murasakibara intently looked to the older male, feeling his chest aching with his sad semblance. He really would like to pat him head, then hug him and then kiss him a lot. But he couldn’t do any of those things. He couldn’t touch Himuro. While his real body was sealed inside of the mirage realm, he would never be able to do any of those things. “Muro-chin, whenever you feel lonely, you can call me. I can come here and spend the night whenever I want, after all. Though I probably shouldn’t abuse of that or Aka-chin will get annoyed and forbid me from doing it. Or maybe not since he’s so entertained with the fact he’s living under the same roof as Kuro-chin. But I still don’t want to risk it.”

 

“Thank you, Atsushi,” said the black haired male, smiling softly to the taller male. “And you said you would spend the night here today, right? Do you want me to prepare you some food? Liu dropped by yesterday and left some ingredients here for me to cook.”

 

“Yes, sure!” happily acknowledged Murasakibara, smiling to the older male while putting the snacks on the sofa. If Himuro was going to cook for him, then he no longer needed all those snacks. The other male’s food was more than enough to satisfy his overly large appetite.

 

“What do you want to eat? Any requests?” asked Himuro while chuckling softly. He got up from the sofa and started to walk to the kitchenette, picking up an apron on his way inside of that area.

 

“Whatever you want to coo— Ah…”

 

“Atsushi?” called Himuro, arching slightly an eyebrow when the purple haired giant suddenly interrupted his own words. “Is something wrong?”

 

“What time is it?” asked back Murasakibara, turning his head around to peer at the window in the living room area. It was already dark and a full moon shined bright in the sky.  He readily took his cell phone out of his jacket’s pocket. “I think I have to call Aka-chin. Right now. Ah… I still haven’t gotten a new one since Aka-chin broke it with his ability…”

 

“What’s happening?” alarmingly questioned Himuro, returning once again to the living room area with the worry he was feeling. It was extremely rare for Murasakibara to call others, especially while they were spending time together. He only did it during urgent situations.

 

“The thing we were talking about…” started mumbling Murasakibara while thinking closely about what he should do. “That ghost I mentioned earlier has just found the weak spot of the barrier around Fuyu and entered inside of it.”

 

“Eh!?” gasped Himuro, surprised to hear that such a thing actually had happened. The younger male’s barriers were the most resistant and impenetrable surfaces known to humanity. So how could someone who was dead and possibly stuck inside of another dimension have been able to enter inside of the most advanced one that Murasakibara had created until now? “Do you want to use my cell phone?”

 

“It would be for the best but… If Aka-chin is with Kuro-chin right now and he is aware of the breaching of the barrier, calling him may come as a distraction,” pointed out Murasakibara, putting his broken cell phone on top of the table. “And Aka-chin did say he would keep an even closer eye on Kuro-chin so… I don’t really think anything bad will happen. He also knows how to stop him if he starts to lose control of his ability.”

 

_So nothing bad will happen… Aka-chin won’t let anything bad happen… Yes, he definitely won’t._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "MEMORIES" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> What a pity... It ended in a cliffhanger... *evil laugh* Ahh~ It's been real long since I managed to pull one out, hasn't it?
> 
> Okay, so I want to make something clear just to avoid future misunderstandings on the story. The things Himuro said about Kuroko's dream realm aren't 100% correct. If you ask me they are more like 25-30% correct only. The dream realm wasn't created during the Bloody Night, it was far before that time. Though I can't comment if the accident spot is really inside of the dream realm or not for now, I can assure you that the "ghost" (aka Ogiwara) pays his visits to Kuroko through it. But I can't say anything about why or how that is possible... for now.
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	91. Even if my wishes are few, even if the answer is empty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> So... *gulps down hard* Are you ready? *trembling* I-I-I am!
> 
> Warning: MIND GAMES/MANIPULATION and BLOOD (I don't know what I should write in this warning, to be honest, but it's way too susceptible to brain-wash people - it did to Kuroko, so... T.T Ogiwara no baka!!!!)
> 
> Well, go forward and take on this chapter, I guess...

After having taken a quick shower and dressed his sleeping wear, Kuroko was towel drying his head while looking absentmindedly to no place in particular. He took the towel out of his blue locks of hair and ran his fingers through it, deeming it dry enough to stop and finally return to his readings. He motioned over to near of the bathroom sink and put the towel inside of the small basket there to store dirty clothes or used towels.

 

As he was about to walk to the bathroom’s door, he felt a sudden shudder run down his spine and all the hairs in his body raised with it, his heart speeding up with alarm.

 

_“Well, that wasn’t very nice of you, Kuroko. What you did to me the other day, that is.”_

 

One more shudder ran down his spine when he heard that so familiar voice. His body trembling slightly, Kuroko started to turn his body around back to the inside of the bathroom and looked over to the mirror on top of the sink.

 

In the mirror, it wasn’t the inside of the bathroom that was being reflected. He recognized the scenery so much better than the true location where he was currently on. It was the inside of the dream realm, with its dead darkness and the slippery ground. Part of him was glad that it was only that that it was showing – he didn’t want to watch its true form ever again, after all.

 

And right in the center of the mirror was his best friend, smiling at him as always.

 

_“I can’t believe you actually blocked me out like that while you were starting to run out of control again. And with this bothersome barrier around this house, I’ve been having quite a hard time to come to see you, Kuroko.”_

 

“Ogiwara-kun…” softly mumbled Kuroko, fully turning around to face the mirror and the brunette reflected in it. “Why…? How…?”

 

 _“It’s quite simply. I finally managed to seize the weak point of this barrier. After that, it was easy to infiltrate inside of it,_ ” explained right away Ogiwara, grinning happily to the bluenette. _“But who would have thought that the barrier’s weakness was that one… Maybe if I was as smart as you are, I would have taken less time to realize that its weak spot is on the higher spot of the huge dome around this building, right in the middle of the arch.”_

 

“…” Since he was one of the people allowed inside of the barrier, he had never seen its shape nor touched its surface. For him, Fuyu seemed like an ordinary building, surrounded by a short wall that delineated its total area. However, those who weren’t allowed entrance inside of Fuyu, most likely could see the barrier only… like it was Ogiwara’s case.

 

 _“But let’s forget about that for now. Kuroko…”_ continued Ogiwara, a huge smile on his face. However, as soon as he said the name of the bluenette, his face morphed into a serious demeanor and he stared sternly to the smaller male. _“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”_

 

“…!” Kuroko felt his teeth teetering with the wave of fear that penetrated deep inside of his body. He gulped down hard and clenched his teeth, so they wouldn’t continue to crash against each other with the fright he was currently feeling. The bluenette took a shaky deep breath and then slowly released the air inside of his lungs. “Why are you here, Ogiwara-kun?”

 

 _“You’re not answering the question I made you, Kuroko,”_ pointed out Ogiwara, raising slightly an eyebrow as he continued to intently look at the smaller male. _“And I could make you the exact same question. Why are you staying here? Why are you siding with the ‘Miracles’? Why haven’t you run away already? Why… do you keep on denying your fate and what we have built together so strongly?”_

 

“I… I don’t have… any other choice… for now…” defended himself Kuroko, down-casting his face to not see the admonishing and hurt semblance of the brunette. “I can’t leave… for now…”

 

 _“Those are excuses, Kuroko. And not very convincing ones, if I may add. It’s a mistake, you staying here with them, and you know it very well. Damn it, out of all ‘Users’ out there, you stay with the ‘Miracles’?”_ continued Ogiwara, releasing an exasperated sigh. _“You, better than anyone, know how dangerous it is for you to stay with them. How dangerous it is for you! I don’t care about what happens to them, but I don’t want to see you getting hurt because of them. All in all, the only thing they are seeking out of you is using your ability to get stronger themselves. They only want to use you.”_

 

“Like we were used by Gold and Jabberwock…?” feebly asked Kuroko, lifting his gaze to the mirror once again with a face twisted in pain. “I don’t really think that the ‘Miracles’ would be able to do the same things they did to me back then.”

 

 _“Did you also think that Gold would do that to you when you accepted to join Jabberwock?”_ pointed out Ogiwara, once again arching an eyebrow. _“Did you think that he would do that to me? We never know how twisted people are on the inside until we see their true face. And you know the ‘Miracles’ for how long? A month? Less? That’s not enough time for you to truly get to know them or their plans for you.”_

 

“I-I do know… Aomine-kun…” tried to counterattack Kuroko, clenching his hands into two fists. “At least… far longer than I know the other four ‘Miracles’.”

 

_“Nn. Yes, you do. But that didn’t stop him from forgetting about you and then killing me, did it?”_

 

“…” Kuroko didn’t have anything to say to counter that argument. It was the truth. He might have interacted almost every day during first and second year of middle school with Aomine, but that didn’t change the fact that he managed to successfully erase both his and Momoi’s memories of him. And it didn’t change the fact that Aomine, during the ‘Bloody Night’, contributed to hunt both him and Ogiwara down and then help Akashi kill his best friend.

 

 _“So I’ll ask you again, Kuroko. What exactly are you doing?”_ questioned one more time Ogiwara, crossing his arms over his chest as he kept his brown eyes permanently glued to the smaller male. _“Are you perhaps thinking that by being with them, you can make up for the people you have killed? Be it during the ‘Bloody Night’, be it while you were working under Jabberwock? Do you think of this as your way of atoning for your sins? Your way of atoning for the monster you made me become? Or for the fact that I was killed while protecting you? Tell me, Kuroko, which is exactly the case?”_

 

“It’s not… I know that, no matter what I do, I can never atone for what I did in the past,” confessed Kuroko, looking at the brunette with a grieving expression in his face. “I killed far too many for forgiveness to be an option for me. I ruined far too many lives. I made too many mistakes…”

 

_“Then why do you—“_

 

“Because it won’t be by running away for the rest of my life that I will achieve anything, Ogiwara-kun,” explained Kuroko, giving a strained soft smile to the taller male. “I know very well that I will never be able to enjoy a happy ending myself. I know that the Japanese government can issue my execution whenever they want. I know I’m under constant danger by being with the ‘Miracles’. But you should know it too, right? When I destroyed Jabberwock together with you, you knew very well what I wanted to do, didn’t you? And it wasn’t causing the ‘Bloody Night’ or continue to run away endlessly. I wanted _freedom_ from the fate that was chosen by others for me. That was _my wish_.”

 

 _“And are you free now?”_ asked Ogiwara, releasing a soft sigh and dropping his arms back to the sides of his body. _“Did you achieve the freedom you wanted? You didn’t. You are simply putting your so-called wish to the sidelines while you indulge yourself in wistful thinking that you will be able to achieve a little bit of good in all the evil you have caused to the world.”_

 

“…”

 

_“Did you think you could change? That you could help someone? You can’t, Kuroko. Monsters destroy, kill and bring forth pain. And you are a monster that creates other monsters. I am a perfect example of that. All the members of Jabberwock that you eliminated with me that night are also examples. Or is it that you want to get revenge on the ‘Miracles’ by also making them become monsters?”_

 

“I…” started Kuroko, but his voice become stuck inside of his throat. He opened his mouth to continue talking, but no sound came out.

 

 _“You have to finally start to see things as they truly are,”_ added Ogiwara, leaning closer to the mirror’s surface where he was being reflected so he could grow closer to the bluenette. _“So think about it, Kuroko. If you stay with them for too long, they will eventually know about the truth. About the ‘Bloody Night’… About Jabberwock and your function there… About me… And about you.”_

 

“…” Kuroko simply stared to the brunette with a frightened demeanor. Ogiwara was right. If they discovered all of that… If they knew what kind of monster he was… They would…

 

 _“And what will happen when they have learned about all of that?”_ asked Ogiwara, leaning even closer to the surface of the mirror. _“The Japanese government will torture you to get all the information out of you and then execute you. And the ‘Miracles’ will hate you from the bottom of their hearts. The ‘Miracle’ who is trying to separate us… He, too, will despise you.”_

 

“Shut up!” In a bout of anger, Kuroko slammed his pale fists against the mirror, shattering it in several pieces, half of it falling to the floor and the sink, the other half remaining on the wall, large cracks and scratches covering it. He panted wildly as he tried to regain his composure, droplets of blood raining down to the sink from his fists and sliding down through his skin to his forearms.

 

 _“You taking such actions only proves that what I’m saying is the truth. I know it… and you know it,”_ continued Ogiwara, his reflection divided through the countless broken shards of the mirror in a sick and twisted puzzle. _“Stop deceiving yourself with useless fantasies that you will concretize your wishes by being with them. Just hurry up and get out of here and go back to living the way you did before. Besides… it’s only a matter of time for the thing I told you before in the dream realm to happen.”_

 

Kuroko lifted his head to look at the broken mirror, his eyes almost jumping out of its sockets with surprise.

 

 _“But it’s not something you should fear. It’s something you should accept and welcome,”_ added Ogiwara, finally regaining his cheerful smile. _“Well, I’ll leave for now. But I won’t stay away for too long. You’re always on my mind so it’s extremely hard for me when I can’t see you, Kuroko. I’ve missed you. Remember that no matter what happens, no matter how much of a monster you become or make me become… I will always love you.”_

 

After finishing his words, Ogiwara’s reflection on the broken surface of the mirror quivered in waves and then disappeared, the bathroom around Kuroko appeared once again in it.

 

“…” Kuroko let his hands fall to the sides of his body, drops of red blood sliding down through his cut skin and hitting the floor. He slowly walked to outside of the bathroom and stopped in front of the window, peering up to the sky where a full moon was shinnying brightly. “I really hate the full moon… but I hate even more what I am.”

 

He motioned one of his wounded hands up and rubbed his watery eyes with the clean surface of the back of his member. Kuroko may feel pain for his wounded hands and aching heart… but he would _not_ cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Ambivalence" by SCREEN mode (which is Ogiwara's voice actor's band - is this fate playing along with Shattered Miracles?)
> 
> Before you start screaming "WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU, AKASHI!?!?!?!", let me just tell you the following - he's currently busy fighting his own "inner demons", if you know what I mean...
> 
> About Ogiwara... I don't even know what to say about this little shit! I can find kindness in my heart to forgive him for this, since I know why he... well, became like this. But you guys... I don't know. He seems way worse than the first impression you had on Akashi in this fic, right?
> 
> As for Kuroko... fuck, someone give him a hug!!!! And kisses! God... AKASHI, WHERE ART THOU!?
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	92. It's a simple sympathy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> Shattered Miracles has reached 1,000 kudos!!!! >.< It's time to party, everyone! *throws fireworks* Thank you very much for all of your support. Without your motivation, through comments and, of course, kudos, I wouldn't have reached so far. Please continue to take care of me in the future *bows*
> 
> So, ready to discover what kind of fight with his inner demons will Akashi have~? I think it won't go around in the way you think it will, hehehe *smirks*
> 
> Well, enjoy ^.^

Akashi remained sat down on his desk, his eyes unmoving from the screen of his computer while his ears heard the soft murmur of the shower running in the bathroom attached to the bedroom right next to his. The sound almost made him heave another sigh.

 

Once again, he was unsuccessful at convincing the bluenette to let him sleep in the same bed as him. Kuroko was, each day that passed, growing more and more skilled at giving counterarguments against him. Or it was simply that Akashi was growing weaker at them. Maybe both cases. Whichever it was, he was once again sulking in his room alone and would have to sleep yet another night apart from the smaller male.

 

So as to try to take his head out of that particular fact, he decided to once again focus on his work. After he had finished sending his approval, or lack of it, about the reports he had read downstairs in the living room, while accompanied by the bluenette (as well as the short appearances of Murasakibara, Midorima and Aomine), Akashi let his back slump to the back of his chair and opened once again the photo that Momoi had gotten from the DIH database.

 

Akashi closely observed the digitalization of the extremely damaged photo while thinking about it. Most likely, whoever those people were, they knew about Kuroko’s ability and about the multi-colored core inside of him. The bluenette’s blatant aversion to manipulation and usage of his ability to cooperate with him and the other “Miracles” probably also came from them. Those people… they had used Kuroko for their own goals until he reached his breaking point and got extremely sensitive and wary of everyone around him.

 

Whatever they had done to Kuroko or whatever they had used him for or for whatever reasons it had been done for… Akashi would never forgive them or let them get away with it scot-free. He would let them experience first-hand how truly cruel he could be when they highly damaged something that belonged to him.

 

_“Such amusing thoughts you are starting to display, Seijuurou.”_

 

“…!” Akashi suddenly straightened his back in the chair when he heard _his_ voice resounding inside of his head. He clicked his tongue and relaxed his body once again, as much as it was possible at the moment. “What is it that you want?”

 

_“Let me talk with Tetsuya again.”_

 

Akashi snorted and started to close the windows open in his computer. “Do you seriously expect me to say yes to that? After what you did to him some days ago? If we didn’t share the same body, I would have gutted you already.”

 

_“Hehehe. I really would like to see you trying to do that. I don’t have any problems with hurting or killing people, but you aren’t the same as me.”_

 

“And that’s something that I am very pleased to know,” added Akashi, ending the session of the electric device. “However, the answer remains the same. I won’t let you take over, much less go ‘talk’ with Tetsuya. Why are you even so interested in him, to begin with?”

 

_“Why can’t I be? I am my own self and you have no right whatsoever to tell me what I can or can’t do. I am absolute, after all. Even more than you are.”_

 

“…” Hearing _his_ mocking tone really irked the redhead but it wasn’t going to be by losing his temper that his other self would go away, much less give up on the idea of meeting with Kuroko once again. Actually, it would only worsen the situation, as well as please and spur the inner beast even further.

 

_“Mmfufu… ‘I’m in your debt for helping my mother. So if you ever stretch your hand again, this time I’ll make sure that someone grabs it. Even if I have to do it myself.’”_

 

“Ugh…!” Akashi immediately lunged his hand up and clutched at the side of his head, a bolt of pain suddenly striking inside of the core of his brain and spreading through its entirety in several shockwaves. “…What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

_“Hehe… I wonder~”_

 

“Don’t start with your little games again,” growled Akashi, letting his hand drop once again to the chair. “I have far too many things occupying my head at the moment, which need to be solved the soonest possible, and I don’t need your riddles to be added to it.”

 

_“So moody that you are, Seijuurou~ Fine, I’ll be nice to you and give you a little clue about it. Take it as my thanks for allowing me to personally talk with Tetsuya the other day.”_

 

“I didn’t allow you anything. You took over my body against my will,” hissed Akashi while massaging with his fingertips his temple due to the remnants of the pain he previously felt.

 

_“Do you want me to give you the clue or not?”_

 

“…” For lack of better choice, Akashi remained silent. If he played the game in the correct way, he could get answers out of his other self. However, given the type of personality that the inner beast had, he didn’t expect it to be a very helpful one. It would still be better than nothing, though.

 

_“See? Being an obedient little boy like you were in the past is not that bad of a thing to do now and then, is it?”_

 

“…” Gripping tightly at the armrest of the chair with his hand, Akashi deeply frowned at the words being thrown at him with that hateful mocking tone that the inner beast used when he wanted to test others so he could amuse himself with their reactions.

 

_“Anyway, let’s get back to on topic. I’ll give you the little clue. The person who said those words… was you, six years ago.”_

 

“What?” interjected Akashi immediately, dropping the hand touching his temple down to the armrest of the chair. “And who exactly did I say those words to, six years ago?”

 

_“Oh, I wonder about that~ Clue time has ended. Let me take over once again and I may tell you the rest, if I get satisfied with my conversation with Tetsuya. I’m sure you would be as happy as heartbroken if I told you everything about that little event. Hehehehe.”_

 

“Tsk!” Akashi clicked his tongue and moved his head sideways, almost as if averting a non-existent gaze directed at him. So he now knew it had been him saying those things, but he had absolutely no recollection of saying them at all. If it was six years ago, then that meant it must have been previous to his _awakening_. And that would make it extremely complicated for him to remember in what type of situation they were said under, seeing as most of ‘Users’ had their memories from before their _awakening_ somewhat wrapped up and messy. However, it seemed that the inner beast hadn’t been affected by it, somehow. “I won’t let you take over.”

 

_“Really? Such a pity. Have fun solving the ‘riddle’ alone, then. Oh, that’s right. You can also have fun with Tetsuya all you want, but don’t exclude me for too long. I may get in a bad mood again and then you will have no way of containing me inside of you once again. If Tetsuya belongs to you, then he’s also mine. However, just because you harbor that type of feelings for him, don’t go thinking that I do too. To me, Tetsuya is solemnly the little toy I’ve been dying to get my hands on. Thank you for that too… Seijuurou~ Hehehehe.”_

 

“You—“ started Akashi as he got up from the chair but the sudden sound of glass being shattered in the room next door interrupted his words. He readily looked over in Kuroko’s bedroom direction, from where the huge commotion had come from, and clicked his tongue. “We’ll continue this conversation later. For now, go back to your little resting place and stay there.”

 

_“And here I was starting to have fun. Well, go on. Go check on your beloved Tetsuya. I’ll continue to watch from the sidelines for now. Like I always am. Hehehehe… Ahahahaha!”_

 

The evil laugh of the inner beast continued to resound inside of his mind, steadily growing farther and farther away until he could hear nothing at all once again. He turned around on his heels as soon as that happened and walked over to the door of his bedroom, opening it and stepping outside to the corridor. Apparently, it had been done at the same time as both Aomine and Midorima, who were in their respective bedrooms at the time.

 

“Did you all…?” started asking Midorima, walking over in their direction, seeing as his bedroom was the farthest away.

 

“Yes, from Kuroko’s bedroom,” acknowledged Aomine, stopping in front of the bluenette’s bedroom’s door while looking over to the redhead and the green haired male.

 

“You can go back to your rooms. I’ll go check on Tetsuya,” added Akashi, also stopping in front of the door and readily taking the tanned male’s place on it, seeing as he gave it to him without even questioning almost instantly. However, if even Midorima had heard the breaking of some sort of glass while inside of his bedroom, he really feared for what kind of scenario he would find when he opened the door.

 

The two taller males nodded in acknowledgment and started to reticently walk back to their own rooms since, out of all of them, Akashi was the one that Kuroko had interacted by far the most with. And, if what Murasakibara had said was really true, then he would feel much more at rest while with him there than with any of them.

 

As soon as the two taller males entered their rooms and closed the doors, Akashi lunged his hand forward and softly knocked on the door. “Tetsuya?”

 

Seeing as he didn’t get any sort of answer, he dropped his hand and grabbed the knob, immediately turning it and opening the door.

 

When he saw Kuroko inside, his heart was painfully squeezed and his stomach started to clutch inside out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "MEMORIES" by GRANDRODEO (once again, the song is quite fitting for the chapter it appears on~)
> 
> Surprised? So the inner beast has hinted that Akashi had some sort of meeting with "someone" in the past. Oh I do wonder who it was~? Nah, you all know who that someone is, don't you? XD 
> 
> A~ny~way~ Next chapter... expect to have a looooooooooooong ride because it's the biggest chapter I have ever wrote in my entire life! It's bigger than the smutty AkaKuro chapter in Kuroko's apartment >.< You will have a over 8k words healing trip, ft. AkaKuro!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	93. As a result of suffering through grief, we intersect once again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!!!
> 
> Ready for the emotional rollercoaster? Prepare the tissues, for those who are more apt to cry. Also...  
> Warning: slight TRIGGER ALERT - there's a conversation about self harm and a small mention of past self harm. Please be careful, everyone!
> 
> Well, enjoy the healing ^.^

As soon as Akashi opened the door, he saw the frozen figure of the bluenette gazing out to the sky through the window, blood flowing down from several cuts in his two hands and pooling down on the floor near his feet. He stepped inside of the bedroom and started closing the door, his eyes unmoving from Kuroko. He gave a very quick and short glance in the bathroom’s direction and saw several shards of a mirror spread through the floor and then returned his gaze to the bluenette.

 

“Let me help you trea—“

 

“Leave,” interrupted Kuroko almost immediately, never turning around to look at the redhead. He simply continued to look to the full moon. Right now, Kuroko deeply feared that if he moved his eyes away from the natural satellite, it would readily start to gain the exact same tonality as the blood that was dripping down his cuts.

 

“Tetsuy—“

 

“I told you to leave!” interrupted once again Kuroko, raising his voice in a completely foreign way to his own throat and vocal cords. He strongly clenched his fists, taking a shaking deep breath. “Leave, Akashi-kun. I want… I _need_ to be alone right now. So please leave.”

 

“No, you don’t,” shortly corrected Akashi, walking over in the bluenette’s direction and stopping right behind him. “You don’t need to be alone. Not now or ever again. So let me treat your wounds, Tetsuya. Let me help you heal.”

 

“…that’s impossible…” softly mumbled Kuroko, still looking in the moon’s direction. “Wounds may disappear but they will leave scars behind. The always remaining proof that thing has been damaged. And add one crack and then another… and another… Soon enough that thing will lose its original shape and be turned into nothing but a broken thing. And broken things should be left alone. Things become useless once they are broken so they should just be forgotten.”

 

“Then isn’t it good that you’re not a thing?” asked Akashi while motioning his hands forward and softly grabbing the smaller male’s arms, starting to turn him around so he could face him. “A plate that has cracks in it can never be whole again, unfortunately. But it can be repaired. You are a slightly broken human being so you can als—“

 

“ _Slightly_ broken? Are you really referring to me, Akashi-kun?” interrupted Kuroko, a strained small smile on his features as he looked down to the floor so he could avoid being seen by Akashi.

 

“Okay, maybe a little bit more than slightly,” conceded Akashi, releasing a sigh. He held more strongly to the arms of the bluenette and softly caressed his limbs with his thumbs. “But you can go back to what you used to be.”

 

“But I don’t want to go back to what I used to be,” objected Kuroko, shaking his arms so he could be freed from the redhead’s hold on him, also taking a step backwards. “I don’t want to go back to the past and I don’t want to go forward to the future. I don’t even want to be a character in the current present. I just… want to quietly and silently disappear… I should have left Teikou while I had the chance. If I had… I wouldn’t…”

 

_I wouldn’t have met you. I wouldn’t have spent time with you. And I wouldn’t have fallen in love with you._

 

“If I had left while I was still able to leave… it would have been much better,” continued Kuroko, trying to take another step backwards to fully release himself from the warm hands grabbing into him. “It would have been much better for everyone… for you… and for me, too…”

 

“You are an idiot, Tetsuya,” sighed Akashi, releasing the arms of the smaller male and closing the distance between the two of them that the other male had created with a single step. He wrapped his arms around Kuroko’s back and tightly hugged him.

 

“W-Wait, Akashi-kun…!” yelped Kuroko, starting to motion his hands forward to push the redhead away from him. However, he let his members come to a halt. He would dirty Akashi’s clothes with his blood if he tried to force his way away from him. “A-Akashi-kun, p-please release m—“

 

“Cry,” softly ordered Akashi, motioning one of his hands up and pushing the bluenette’s head against his shoulder. He slowly ran his fingers through the smaller male’s locks of hair and leaned himself closer to him. “Just cry, Tetsuya. Holding your tears inside won’t help you in any way and you will feel better afterwards.”

 

“No, I d-don’t want to,” complained Kuroko, wiggling his body around to try to break free from the redhead’s embrace. “L-Let go…!”

 

“Cry,” repeated once again Akashi, continuing to run his fingers through the bluenette’s hair.

 

“N-No…! I don’t… want to cry…!” retorted Kuroko one more time while closing tightly his eyes to stop the redhead’s ‘commands’ to concretize and shifting his body slightly more. “I don’t want to. Now released me…!”

 

“Cry, Tetsuya,” repeated again Akashi, tightening his arm around the bluenette’s back and pushing his head closer to his shoulder.

 

“No…! Why do you… ugh… even what me to cry?” stubbornly persisted Kuroko, suppressing a sob in his throat and shutting his eyes even more strongly, salty droplets starting to cluster in the corner of his eyes. “Why are acting nice to me? Why are you… ngh… treating me like a human being? Why do you continue to want to know more? Why do you want to keep me here?”

 

“I’ll answer those questions after you cry,” simply answered Akashi, resting the side of his head on the smaller male’s one.

 

“That’s… unfair… You’re being unfair, Akashi-kun,” complained Kuroko, giving a soft and small punch to the redhead’s stomach, tears already flowing down his cheeks and falling to the floor. “Why are you always… ugh… forcing me to do things I don’t… want to…!? Do you think that… just because I haven’t been executed yet by the Japanese government because Teikou has… taken hold of my guard… ngh… you can just barge into my room and order me to cry…!? That’s just… so unfair…”

 

“Yes, I’m unfair,” acknowledged Akashi, rubbing his head slowly and softly against the bluenette’s head and holding into him even more tightly. He should try to control his strength a little bit or he feared he would end up suffocating Kuroko while in his embrace. “I’m unfair and I’ll continue to be unfair until you’re mine.”

 

“Ugh… Why do you even want me to be y-yours?” asked Kuroko in a quite frustrated tone, more tears streaming down his teal eyes and more sobs threatening to escape from his mouth. He finally gave up and lunged his bloodied hands forward, gripping desperately to the clothes of the redhead. “I understand that you need to keep ‘The Phantom’ under surveillance… But I don’t understand why you call it ‘belonging to you’. I don’t understand why you t-touch me and kiss me and do all those things to me. I don’t understand _you_! I don’t understand why you would want a broken pers— No, a broken _monster_ to belong to you.”

 

“You’re no monster, Tetsuya,” softly said Akashi, lighting his hold on the bluenette and departing his head from his shoulder to stare at his tear-stained features. “You make me smile. You make me laugh. When I’m with you, I have fun in a way that I didn’t in years. You make the mischievous child inside of me that I couldn’t be while I was younger come out and, because of it, I always wind up teasing you in some way. You can calm down the beast inside of me. Tell me… are those the traits of a monster? Would a monster be able to do that?”

 

“Ngh… N-No…” answered Kuroko, giving a quick sniff while tears continued to overflow from his glands. “No… it w-wouldn’t…”

 

“See?” acknowledged Akashi, bumping his forehead in the smaller male’s and then leaning closer to deliver a quick kiss on his flushed-from-crying cheek. “You’re a better person than you make yourself believe. And if I can see that, by only knowing you for a little bit over a month, I don’t understand why you stubbornly keep disregarding your good characteristics and accentuate the bad ones.”

 

The redhead once again gave a quick kiss to the smaller male’s cheek and then another one, this time closer to his trembling lips. “So what if you have killed people in the past? I killed my own father when I was 9 years old. So what if you have hurt others? I have used people cruelly so that I could free all ‘Users’ and myself. So what if you are broken? I was also broken before. Part of me still is. I don’t think you forgot, but my other self tried to strangle you some days ago.” With one more kiss, he wiped a rolling tear off of the bluenette’s face using his lips. Akashi ran his fingers through the silky locks of hair of the smaller male and brought their foreheads close to each other once again.

 

“Stop selling yourself so short, Tetsuya. And I know I was the one who told you to cry, but it hurts when I see you really doing it,” added Akashi, dropping his hand from the bluenette’s head and cupping his moist cheek, running his thumb through one of his teal eyes to wipe the tears still raining down. “You never did it in front of me but I want to see you smiling. Well, if it’s crying under more _intimate_ types of situations, I don’t really mi— Ouch!”

 

“You know that you are in a really good position for me to headlock you and maybe dislocate a shoulder or two, right?” grudgingly warned Kuroko while giving a quick kick to the redhead’s shin.

 

“I see that you are finally back to your usual self,” pointed out Akashi, releasing some soft chuckles while smiling to the smaller male. “Have you calmed down?”

 

“Nn…” acknowledged Kuroko with both a small grunt and an ever smaller nod of his head.

 

“I told you that you would feel better after crying, didn’t I?” added the redhead, rubbing the tip of his nose on the other male’s. “You should start listening to what I tell you, Tetsuya. It helps, sometimes.”

 

“No way. It felt awful,” interrupted Kuroko while giving another small kick to the taller male’s leg but holding into him more tightly and closing their distance even further. “I don’t know if I feel angrier at the fact that I cried in front of you or that I did as you told me to.”

 

“I’m starting to see that you are a really terrible liar, Tetsuya,” amusingly said Akashi, involuntarily chuckling once again. “Though I think it’s one of your cute sides. Will you let me tend to your wounds now?”

 

“I-It’s not needed,” answered Kuroko, stuttering briefly due to the word ‘cute’ being once again used by the redhead to describe him. He started to release the other male’s clothes and departed himself from him, his body immediately screaming for more proximity and more body warmth. “I can patch up by myself.”

 

“No can do. Let me dress your wounds, Tetsuya,” insisted Akashi, his features housing a serious demeanor. He closed their faces’ distance and intently stared with his heterochromatic eyes to the teal ones of the bluenette. “Let me help you. Please.”

 

“…F-Fine…” ended up consenting Kuroko, averting the intense gaze he was being a subject to. The redhead suddenly motioned his hand up and ruffled softly his blue locks of hair, gaining from him a quizzical look.

 

“I’ll go get the first aid kit. I don’t think you need to be stitched so I can take care of it alone,” explained Akashi while dropping his hand once again and taking a step backwards. He threw one more long glance to the smaller male and then started walking in the door’s direction, opening it and stepping outside of the bedroom.

 

Akashi quickly crossed the corridor until the other side and knocked on the green haired male’s door. He probably had some bandages and other materials suitable to treat cuts in his room.

 

“Yes?” sounded Midorima’s voice from the other side of the door. Shortly after, he opened the door and his eyes immediately jumped out of its sockets at the sight. “Are you okay, Akashi? There’s blood in your clothes.”

 

“It’s okay. Tetsuya got slightly cut when he broke the mirror,” shortly explained Akashi, looking down to his shirt and then once again to the taller male. “Do you have a first aid kit with you?”

 

“Yes, I do,” acknowledged Midorima, stepping inside of the room once again and motioning over to his closet. He searched around for the box he had there while continuing to talk with the redhead. “Do you need me to have a look at his wounds?”

 

“No, it’s not needed,” answered Akashi, not very patiently waiting for the green haired male to find the kit. He didn’t want to leave Kuroko alone right now so he would be immensely thankful if the taller male could cut the talk short and hurried up in giving him what he came for. “His cuts aren’t that deep, from what I could see. It’s bleeding quite considerably, from the blood on the floor, but he doesn’t need to be stitched.”

 

“If it doesn’t stop bleeding, bring Kuroko here. Even if stitches aren’t needed, he may need to have the deeper cuts glued with surgical glue so it can heal faster,” added Midorima while turning around to deliver the first aid kit to the redhead. As soon as he faced him, the green haired male couldn’t help the shudder that ran down his spine at the cold glare being thrown at him. Maybe he shouldn’t have phrased it like that. Clearing his throat softly, Midorima walked over to the smaller male and gave him the box. “I take it that you know what to do, right?”

 

“I do. Thank you for the first aid kit,” acknowledged Akashi while turning around on his heels and crossing the corridor back to the bluenette’s room.

 

Akashi once again entered inside of the bedroom and closed the door behind him, motioning over to the smaller male that was looking outside to the sky through the window one more time.

 

“Is there something outside, Tetsuya?” asked the redhead while approaching the bluenette, an eyebrow slightly arched. Kuroko readily turned around at the sound of his voice, almost as if he hadn’t heard him come inside once again. Straightening his back in an almost mechanical motion, the bluenette shook his head. Akashi fully stopped in front of him and pulled him softly by the arm to the bed and pushed him down to a sitting position there, sitting afterwards next to him himself. “Can you show me your hands?”

 

“…” Kuroko looked hesitantly to the redhead for brief seconds and then lunged his hands forward in Akashi’s direction, his limbs shaking slightly.

 

Akashi closely observed the still light dripping of the blood from some cuts and opened the first aid kit’s lid, starting to rumble through its insides to take out the materials he would need to tend to the bluenette’s wounds. He suddenly stilled his hands and looked up to Kuroko, a serious demeanor in his face. “Can I ask you why you broke the mirror, Tetsuya?”

 

“…” Kuroko averted the redhead’s gaze almost immediately, gulping down hard as he tried to formulate an excuse for it in his head. Though he figured it would be pretty useless. He knew, based on the conversation that Murasakibara had with Akashi while he was still staying in the redhead’s building, that the purple haired giant knew of Ogiwara’s tries to breach inside of the barrier. So Murasakibara would obviously report to Akashi that the ‘ghost’ had finally managed to enter inside of it. He just hoped that the purple haired male wouldn’t also have knowledge about the conversation he had with Ogiwara.

 

“It’s okay if you don’t want to tell me,” started Akashi, observing intently the cuts to see if there was any small fragment of the mirror inside of the multiple gashes. Since he didn’t found any, he picked up a few pieces of gauze and pressed it on the still bleeding cuts, so it could finally stanch. “I just want to make sure that you didn’t purposely break the mirror to get yourself hurt.”

 

“No! Of course not!” yelped Kuroko almost right away, a shocked expression on his face. “I want to extend my life, not get needlessly hurt. This was just an unexpected accident. I didn’t get hurt intentionally. I… I promised someone that I would never do anything like that…” _again_ , inwardly added the bluenette, gulping down softly in a masked way.

 

“I see. You seem to be the same type of person as me in the regards of keeping promises, so that puts me at ease,” confessed Akashi, his shoulders feeling the pressure that had accumulated on top of them since he saw the bluenette wounded starting to dissipate. He could have sworn his whole body felt ten tons lighter, actually. The redhead carefully removed the bloodied gauze and observed that at least one of his hands had stopped bleeding. He started doing the same to the other. “Does it hurt? Am I hurting you while cleaning the blood?”

 

“It’s okay,” answered Kuroko, averting once again the heterochromatic gaze thrown at him. “Even if it hurts… I’m used to it. And it will be gone by morning time, so you didn’t really need to go out of your way to treat it.”

 

“…” Akashi intently stared to the smaller male. He had indeed noticed that Kuroko had not flinched nor winced in pain since he started tending to his cuts… but he hadn’t realized that it wasn’t for lack of pain, but due to familiarization with it. Once again, the anger he had felt previously while he was observing the photo started bubbling inside of him. The redhead had, however, noticed another particular thing. “You said it will be gone by morning. Is it because of your ability?”

 

“…Well, I guess… My ability is 24/7 functional on my body so even if I don’t fully use it, my healing speed is probably much faster than that of other ‘Users’,” hesitantly explained Kuroko, giving a quick peek to the taller male. It would probably be safe to tell this to Akashi, right? Though he wasn’t so sure if he should talk about it when the green haired male was around. “Every time I got hurt… for whatever reasons it may have been, my ability nullified it and it was like nothing had happened.”

 

“How long did it take you to realize that?” asked further Akashi, cleaning the dried blood of one of the hands and then the other with alcohol-free wipes.

 

“…A few days after my _awakening_ , probably…” answered Kuroko in a cautious manner. He had indeed only noticed it a few days after _awakening_ , but the first time it had happened had been on the very same day he _awoke_ as a ‘User’; however, it would probably be safer for him to answer in that way.

 

“I see,” acknowledged Akashi, softly wiping the last bit of dry blood from the bluenette’s right hand. He put down the used wipes near the bloodstained gauzes and took a few more sheets of clean gauze out of the first aid kit, softly putting them on top of the cuts. “Ah, but the hickeys and bite marks that I left on you didn’t disappear in the next morning.”

 

“…!” Kuroko’s features immediately exploded in a myriad of shades of red, turning his head away from the redhead as quickly as he could. But Akashi had already seen him blushing.

 

“Hm… So you kept them there on purpose,” teased Akashi while smirking slyly. He picked up a bandage and started wrapping it around the sheets of gauze he put on one of the smaller male’s hands.

 

“I-I did not!” yelped Kuroko in a flustered manner. If the redhead hadn’t been tending to his wounds, he would have tried to cover his intensified blush with his hands. It would probably amuse the other male further, but it would still be better than letting Akashi see him blushing like that. “S-Since it wasn’t exactly a life-threatening wound, my ability simply didn’t recognize it as a w-wound at all. That’s why it’s taking the same time as other people to disappear.”

 

“That’s good to know,” acknowledged Akashi, softly smiling while wrapping up the bandage around the other hand after having put the gauze underneath. “I can take that as you saying that you no longer see me as a life-threatening person, right?”

 

“…” Kuroko simply remained silent at that. It wasn’t that he no longer considered Akashi a threat. He knew very well that his life was on his and his reports’ hands. However, he had unconsciously started to drop his guard when the redhead was around. Akashi gave him a sense of safety that he had never gotten before in his entire life and that was probably influencing his ability, telling it that it wasn’t necessary to protect him when Akashi was there simply due to that fact.

 

“Those who break a mirror are said to be plagued with seven years of bad luck afterwards,” suddenly said Akashi, turning the bluenette’s hands around to see if the gauze and bandages were covering all the cuts in a comfortable way. The smaller male would probably not be able to use his hands for a lot of things while they were there. When he looked up to look at Kuroko once again, he saw the strained expression on his face.

 

“…I probably have been breaking mirrors since the day I was born and accumulating years and years of bad luck, then…” softly mumbled Kuroko, his gaze slightly down-casted and directed to no place in particular.

 

“Wait a second,” said Akashi, getting up from his seat on the bed and walking over to the bedroom’s door.

 

“…?” Kuroko observed as the redhead exited his room once again and kept staring to the door, not understanding what was happening right now. A couple of minutes later, Akashi returned to the room and closed the door behind him, a small square object on his hand.

 

Giving a quick glance to the bluenette first, Akashi walked closer to the door of the bathroom, stopping in the middle of the bedroom, and strongly threw the object to the ground. The mirror he went to get from the blonde’s bedroom immediately shattered once it hit the floor. _I will have to apologize to Ryouta for invading his room when he returns. For breaking his things, too._

 

“What are—!?” incredulously yelped Kuroko, his eyes open in surprise at what he just saw the redhead doing in front of him after having said all that. What he did _intentionally_.

 

“Now I will be plagued by seven years of bad luck too,” started explaining Akashi, walking around the broken mirror and approaching the smaller male. “The culprit is you so you have to take responsibility for it.”

 

“Eh!? You were the one who suddenly decided to—“ started complaining Kuroko, but the redhead suddenly cupped his features and leaned his face closer to him when he stopped in front of him.

 

“As such, you will have to spend the next 2,555 day with me until the bad luck ends,” continued Akashi, smiling in a satisfied manner to the male gaping his mouth at him. “And now I only need to find more 999,997 reasons to make the million I told you about this afternoon.”

 

“That’s— …You’re being unreasonable again, Akashi-kun,” pointed out Kuroko, a soft shade of pink dusting his cheeks.

 

“Am I? I told you that I would continue to play unfair until you become mine, Tetsuya, so I’m only keeping my own words,” pointed out Akashi in return, giving a soft bump with his forehead on the smaller male’s while his smile widened a little bit more. “You can admonish me all you want. You can keep ‘threatening’ to headlock me and even really pull such a stunt forward. But none of it will change my mind.”

 

“…gh…” When the redhead leaned his face closer and delivered a soft kiss in his forehead, Kuroko once again felt his face ignite on fire. He tried to convince himself that the only reason why he was happy about it was the fact that the blood would be gathered on his head and not on his hands, which would probably help his wounds to heal faster.

 

Akashi gave one more peck to the bluenette’s cheek and then straightened his back, turning his back to him. He gave a step forward but something immediately pulled at the fabric of his shirt, a muffled sound of something hitting the ground following right away.

 

“…?” When the redhead looked behind, he saw that Kuroko had grabbed his clothes with one of his bandaged hands and had been pulled out of his sitting position on the bed with the momentum of his walking, falling on his knees on the floor.

 

“Ah… I…” started babbling Kuroko in a flustered manner, his eyes darting around to every single inch of the room except in the taller male’s direction but still continuing to hold into the shirt.

 

 _This is exactly one of the things that makes you so cute, you know?,_ inwardly pointed out Akashi, chuckling softly at the half-panicky expression on the bluenette.

 

“I was only going to see the damages in the bathroom, Tetsuya,” explained the redhead while observing the blush on the smaller male’s features intensify by a tenfold. He didn’t release him however. In fact, he held even more strongly unto his clothes. Akashi could only let his heart flutter with happiness. “But you know what? Let’s just leave that for later.”

 

Akashi turned his body around once again, facing Kuroko upfront, and picked him up from the floor by the sides of his waist. He put him once again on the bed and tackled the bluenette’s slim body under his own.

 

“A-A-Akashi-kun?” stuttered Kuroko, his brain starting to enter into overload once again due to the redhead’s sudden and totally unexpected actions.

 

“Start thinking up excuses, Tetsuya,” announced Akashi with a mischievous smirk on his features. “But whatever it is that you’re going to throw at me, I won’t leave this room until morning comes.”

 

“…!” All that Kuroko could do was let his mouth open and close in quick succession as he tried to think up some sort of counterattack to that ‘challenge’. He couldn’t, however. Probably because he wasn’t really that against allowing the taller male to sleep in the same bed as him once again. He felt safe with him nearby, after all. “Y-Yes…”

 

“Oh, you are not going to rebuke my words this time?” teasingly asked Akashi while intently looking to the bluenette, who was doing his utmost to not blush even more.

 

“From what you just said, it would be useless even if I did,” pointed out Kuroko, trying to put on a blank semblance in his features. He couldn’t, though. His mind was currently too distracted by the fact that he had been literally pinned down on the bed by the redhead to focus on anything else, and his body was apparently doing the same, disobeying any command that his flustered brain ensued.

 

“But it would be cute if you tried to. Though… I think that right now you are cute enough as it is,” added Akashi, his smirk widening a fraction. He lifted one of his hands and traced with the back of his fingers the length of the bluenette’s face, running them from the temple down to the jaw line. “I really have to wonder what is running inside of your head right now for you to be showing me this kind of expression.”

 

“…What expression?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, mentally preparing himself for what was about to come. He had the feeling that the redhead was trying to tease him once again so he could ‘observe his reactions’.

 

“An erotic expression,” softly purred Akashi, closing the distance between their faces to mere inches.

 

“I am not!” yelped Kuroko immediately, his brain spinning around with the constant rush of blood to his face that he has been experiencing non-stop for minutes now. The small panic that was bubbling inside of him wasn’t helping either. Just what kind of face had he been doing for the redhead to tell him something like that, teasing or not?

 

“Do you want me to take a photo of it and then show it to you?” slyly asked Akashi, shortening the distance between their faces a little bit more.

 

“N-No, thank you…” answered Kuroko, averting the heterochromatic gaze being directed at his teal eyes.

 

“Or would it be better if I made it become even more erotic?” asked once again Akashi, feeling the heat of the blushing features of the bluenette hitting his skin, such was the proximity of their faces.

 

“Do you want me to headlock you?” suddenly deadpanned Kuroko, turning his face directly to the taller male’s while glaring slightly at him. The redhead was starting to take his teasing too far.

 

“Another time, Tetsuya,” answered Akashi while fully closing their distance and landing his mouth on the bluenette’s lips, kissing him hungrily. He slowly ran his tongue through the lower lip of the smaller male, not that patiently waiting for permission to deepen the kiss even further. All that the redhead had to do was give a soft nip to the moist lip to finally be granted access to the hot inside.

 

“Mmhm… Wai—“ Shivering when he felt the taller male rub his tongue against his own, Kuroko gasped for air so that he could refresh his heating up body. He clumsily motioned his hands up and clutched the shirt of the other male. “Haa… Akas— Ngh…”

 

“Okay, stop,” suddenly said Akashi, more to himself than to the bluenette, while breaking the kiss. He licked his moist lips and then did the same to the other male’s, giving one more peck to the slightly redder lips before putting more distance between their faces and their bodies. “Let’s go to bed and sleep.”

 

“…Eh…?” managed to interject Kuroko in between heavy pants.

 

“What? Do you have other things in mind to do right now other than sleeping?” slyly asked Akashi, arching an eyebrow in a teasing manner while looking straight to the smaller male.

 

“N-No, I have not,” stuttered Kuroko while departing his back from the bed to come to a sitting position, giving that the redhead was moving from on top of him and allowing him enough space to do it. “However, you should change your clothes before that. I dirtied them with my blood when I accidentally grabbed unto you earlier.”

 

“Ah…” Akashi once again looked down to his shirt, dark red stains in the front side. He got up from the bed and looked to the bluenette, giving him a quick smile. “I’ll just quickly go get changed then and return as soon as possible.”

 

“I’m not going to run away, Akashi-kun. You can take your time,” deadpanned Kuroko while looking to the taller male.

 

“I’m not afraid you’ll run away. But I don’t want you to cry all by yourself in your room,” pointed out Akashi as he walked to the door. He motioned his hand up and caught the pillow that had been thrown at him.

 

“Shut up and stay in your bedroom. I changed my mind and now I feel like complaining about the fact that you want to sleep here again,” grudgingly said Kuroko while yet once again blushing.

 

“That’s not how it works, Tetsuya. You can’t just randomly cancel an agreement we have made all by yourself,” explained Akashi, throwing the pillow back to the bed. He opened the door and started crossing it, the bluenette still under his gaze. “I don’t go back on my word, but I also don’t allow others to do it.”

 

As he fully crossed the door, Akashi heard the smaller male mumbling to himself while picking up the pillow from the end of the bed and putting it on its correct place. He couldn’t help but chuckle due to it. Giving quick steps, the redhead walked over to his bedroom and entered inside, gathering his sleeping wear with one of his hands. He was about to motion outside once again when he remembered something.

 

Akashi walked back to inside of his bedroom and stopped in front of his desk, picking up his cell phone to check it. He hadn’t received any calls or messages from Murasakibara or anyone else. What happened inside of the bluenette’s bedroom was bugging him immensely and he wanted to ask about it to the purple haired giant, but he needed to return to near Kuroko the quickest he could. Murasakibara would probably return early in the morning to prepare everyone’s breakfasts so he could use that chance to talk with him.

 

He put the phone back on his desk and turned around on his heels, walking once again to the door and this time fully exiting the bedroom. He motioned right away to the bluenette’s room and entered, closing the door behind him. When Akashi looked to in front of him, he saw Kuroko putting a towel on top of the blood that had pooled down on the floor in the place where he had been looking to outside through the window. “Do that in the morning when your wounds are healed, Tetsuya. I’ll help you clean the broken mirrors too.”

 

“I-It’s okay, I can do this alone,” insisted Kuroko, pressing down hard on the towel to absorb the half-dry blood staining the floor.

 

“Tetsuya, we have made an agreement last week,” sighed Akashi, dropping his clean clothes on the bed on his way to the smaller male. He lunged his hand down and grabbed the bluenette by the arm, pulling him back to a standing position. “I won’t try to steal some sort of sample of your blood while cleaning up. We agreed that we wouldn’t run any type of exams or tests on you or on your ability, didn’t we? I’m not some sort of mad scientist.”

 

“I agree with the ‘scientist’ bit, but I do have my doubts about the ‘mad’ side of it,” deadpanned Kuroko as he let himself be lead once again to the bed.

 

“Do I really come out as that strange of a person?” asked Akashi while letting the smaller male sit on their sleeping place and picking once again his clothes to bring them closer to him.

 

“If we take into consideration that you foolishly touch me while I’m using my ability and grab my shadows barehanded, that you have threatened Kagami-kun several times now, that due to a phone call you almost destroy your surroundings with your ability, that you are continuously calling me… cute…” started enumerating Kuroko but he came into a sudden halt when the taller male just leisurely started to get undressed in front of him. He looked to the other side of his room and gave a quick gulp, moistening his suddenly dry throat. “Taking that into account, yes, you are one of those who can easily be labeled as ‘crazy’.”

 

“I see. I guess different people have different ways of seeing things,” acknowledged Akashi while dressing the clean shirt and covering his bare chest and back once again. “I never considered my actions crazy, though.”

 

“The really crazy ones never do,” deadpanned Kuroko, his face still turned the other way as he started to grow more uncomfortable with the sound of clothes being taken off and put on. He soon stopped listening the rustling so he turned around to the redhead once again, where he saw him looking in his direction while chuckling. “What?”

 

“We are both male so you don’t need to look the other way while I’m changing, Tetsuya,” pointed out Akashi while chuckling some more. Soon it morphed into a mischievous smirk, though. “Or are you afraid that you will like what you see?”

 

“It didn’t occur to you that I may have turned away because I disliked what I was seeing?” tried to deadpan Kuroko, but it only made the redhead laugh at him.

 

“I’ll pretend that I believe you. But your expression tells me otherwise,” added Akashi while folding his used clothes and putting them on the floor near the bed. “You’re—“

 

“If you dare to say that I have the same expression as before, I swear I will kick you out of my bedroom,” warned Kuroko, glaring slightly to the taller male while trying to not blush. He was done with blushing. No more blushing for the day for Kuroko Tetsuya. “I may not be as strong as you are, but my punches hurt so please be careful of what you say, Akashi-kun.”

 

“You are probably the only person in the whole universe who even considers threatening me, Tetsuya,” confessed Akashi while sitting in the bed beside the bluenette.

 

“I-It’s not that I want to threaten you. You just have to understand that some things shouldn’t be said or done,” hesitantly said Kuroko. Maybe he had gone too far with his admonishing on the redhead.

 

“I don’t really see it as a bad thing, though. It’s amusing. I like that part of you,” added Akashi, smiling softly to the smaller male.

 

“…” Kuroko really wished to add a retort to that, especially at the ‘amusing’ part, but his heart was thundering in his chest too hard for him to actually formulate one good enough to have a slight chance of causing any effect on Akashi. If he said the wrong thing, he could only expect to receive more teasing from him. Not that he truly disliked either way it went. The bluenette released a soft sigh and peered to the other male sideways. “Akashi-kun, can we go to sleep now? I’d like to rest.”

 

“Of course, Tetsuya. Let’s sleep,” acknowledged Akashi, smiling at the bluenette. Hearing Kuroko tell him for them to sleep had whole-heartedly made him happy. He wondered if what he was feeling right now was what other people described as ‘so happy they could release fireworks’.

 

Kuroko gave a quick nod with his head and turned around in the bed, fully climbing it and crawling over to the spot he slept on when sharing the bed with Akashi, more close to the wall than when he slept alone. He was about to put himself under the blankets when an arm wrapped itself around his waist and turned him around, pulling at him afterwards.

 

“W-Wait, what are you doing!?” yelped Kuroko when Akashi pulled him down against his chest, wrapping his arms around his waist to prevent him from escaping. “T-This is not how we usually sleep!”

 

“It’s cardiac arrest prevention,” simply said Akashi while nestling in the bed and against the bluenette. When he noticed the completely lost expression in the smaller male’s features, he chuckled and pulled his body closer to his own, circling his waist a little bit tighter. “You have the habit of grabbing unto warm things while sleeping. The first time it happened I didn’t really notice when you grabbed me, but the second time we slept together, you almost gave me a heart attack when you suddenly started grabbing into me. As I said before, I’m not used to sharing the bed with other people.”

 

“T-That doesn’t explain why we have to sleep like this,” mumbled Kuroko while burying his face in the redhead’s chest. He had told himself that he would no longer blush that day and yet again Akashi completely ruined his decision with an unexpected action. “Just put a pillow between us if you don’t like it…”

 

“I never said I disliked it,” confessed Akashi while eyeing the lamp in the ceiling and commanding it to turn off in the back of his mind, sinking the whole bedroom into darkness if the shine of the moon didn’t enter inside through the window. “Actually, I never thought it would feel this good to sleep with someone. Though it’s probably because I’m doing it with you. I doubt I would even allow someone to touch my bed, be it with my permission or without it. But the thought alone of seeing you in it makes me sort of anxious to see that happening.”

 

“…” Kuroko hid his face better in the taller male’s chest, gripping with one of his hands into his shirt. How thankful he was that the room was dark enough to enable him to hide even better his flushed face. “I… I don’t really mind it… When you sleep in the same bed as me, that is. It’s nice… for some reason…”

 

“Then—“

 

“But that doesn’t mean that I want to sleep in the same bed as you every night,” interrupted Kuroko right away, already expecting that to be the next ‘proposal’ that the redhead would make him. “As I told you before, I want to fully use the fact that I don’t have to share my room with anyone. I think ‘privacy’ is something that comes along with ‘freedom’, after all.”

 

“I can understand that, as well as respect it. But it doesn’t change the fact that I want to spend the night time with you too,” complained Akashi, already starting to sulk at the bluenette’s words. He would get to enjoy a full night together with him tonight but he didn’t know when the next chance would be presented. Or if there would even be a next chance.

 

“Well, ‘deal with it’, as you usually say,” simply answered Kuroko, nestling closer to the warm body of the taller male. He could understand very well why his sleeping self grabbed unto Akashi every time they shared a bed – it was extremely soothing to do so. It felt much better than sleeping alone, that’s for sure. But that didn’t change his mind whatsoever on the matter, much less now that Ogiwara had found the weak spot of the barrier. “…Akashi-kun?”

 

“Hmm?” softly hummed the redhead while leaning the side of his face on the blue locks of hair of the smaller male.

 

“Earlier… Earlier you said that you… killed your father,” hesitantly started Kuroko, shifting his head slightly to peer at the redhead. “Why did yo— No, never mind. Let’s sleep.”

 

“Yes, I killed him,” acknowledged Akashi, hugging the smaller male more closely to his body. “I did it to save my mother from the hellish life that she was going through because of him. So I decided to give him a taste of Hell too. Though he never got out of there, afterwards.”

 

“Was it a promise that you made with her that made you do it?” suddenly asked Kuroko. When he felt the arms around his body tense up out of the blue, he no longer needed to hear the redhead’s answer on that question.

 

“It was,” ended up confessing Akashi, relaxing his body once again. In return, he nestled Kuroko even closer to his body. In the middle of the dark of the night and the blankets on top of them, no one would be able to tell which was his body or the bluenette’s, so closely he was holding into him. Akashi wondered if the smaller male was feeling uncomfortable in such a position but he made no attempts to change it so he deemed that he was somehow managing to deal with his clinginess. If the conversation they were having was another, he might have laughed at the thought. “It was because of a promise but, in the end, I never was able to carry it until the end. You said you can’t call your family ‘family’ anymore, didn’t you? And I said I also can’t do it. I don’t have any relative alive and, as such, I can’t really call anyone ‘family’ anymore.”

 

“Your reasons are different from mine, then,” softly added Kuroko, closing his eyes while motioning his free hand up and also clutching at the taller male’s clothes with it. “They are all alive but I… can’t go see them. Never again. Since middle school, they stopped being people who I could call ‘family’. So, in a way, I’m just like you.”

 

“I see. I would ask you why you can’t go see them but I have the feeling that you won’t tell me that,” acknowledged Akashi, rubbing his nose softly through the blue strands of hair of the smaller male. Kuroko had taken a shower earlier so he could mostly smell the fragrance of the shampoo he had used; however, masked by it was the characteristic gentle and sweet scent of the bluenette. Nothing could make him feel calmer than being near its origin.

 

“Mhm. I can’t,” confirmed Kuroko the suspicions of the redhead, sleepiness starting to penetrate in his mind. He hadn’t been able to sleep for pretty much almost 72 hours straight (forgetting the not very restful nap he had in the classroom) and now, with his body being warmed up by Akashi and his heart comforted by his words, Kuroko was feeling all the tiredness hit him all at once. Tonight, he would be able to sleep for the first time in a long, long time during a full moon. And it would be because of Akashi. “What’s the first reason?”

 

“Hm?” softly hummed Akashi, part of him completely lost in this last question.

 

“You said you have three reasons to keep me in Teikou now…” slowly explained Kuroko while trying to muffle a yawn against the redhead’s chest. “I know the second and the third, but I don’t know the first…”

 

Akashi couldn’t help but smile at the answer to the question that the smaller male had made. He gave a gentle kiss to the head of the bluenette and then let his cheek remain there. “If you think a little bit about it, I’m sure you will quickly find the answer by yourself.”

 

“Ugh… I’m too tired for you to give me riddles right now, Akashi-kun…” complained Kuroko in the form of a mumble.

 

“…” The redhead remained silent for a couple of seconds, contemplating in his mind if he should risk asking about what his other self told him earlier that night when he was in his bedroom. “Tetsuya… Have we met before?”

 

“Hm…? We have passed by each other in the corridors… several times during middle school…” slowly answered Kuroko, muffling another yawn. “Though you… didn’t see me because I was using my ability…”

 

“Not like that. Have we fully interacted before?” clarified better Akashi, trying to take a peek at the smaller male’s face. “And by before, I mean before Teikou.”

 

“I don’t get what you mean…” mumbled Kuroko, slowly rubbing his head against the redhead’s chest to find a better position for it. “And even if we did… I wouldn’t remember… My memories from before _awakening_ … are sort of fu…z…zy…”

 

“Tetsuya?” called Akashi, lifting his head slightly from the pillow. He couldn’t see the bluenette’s face from this position but he could faintly see the soft and stable inflating and deflating of his chest. Kuroko had fallen asleep mid-sentence.

 

The redhead chuckled softly and dropped his head once again to the pillow, changing the position of his arms around the bluenette’s waist to a more comfortable position for both of them.

 

It seemed that he also couldn’t get the answer to his own riddle through Kuroko. Akashi didn’t want to resort to the inner beast, though. The interest _he_ was displaying towards the bluenette was starting to morph into addiction and he didn’t want to fuel it even more by allowing his other self to interact with Kuroko needlessly. Akashi knew very well that when in a bad mood or angered, as well as when he himself felt overwhelmed by certain emotions, the inner beast would be able to pop up against his own will and spread terror through everyone around them. It had happened several times in the past and, by the looks of it, it could very well happen again in the future, only probably ten times worse. The cause being, obviously, Kuroko.

 

Akashi heaved a small sigh and softly caressed the sides of the bluenette’s waist with his finger, massaging it with light circling motions. He couldn’t help but think yet again about how relaxing it felt to sleep with Kuroko. He had the inkling that the smaller male also wasn’t that big of a fan of the night time, the way he had been constantly looking outside of the window to the sky. Or it could have been any other thing related to the night. Like the stars or…

 

“The moon… Right, tonight’s a full moon,” softly whispered Akashi, finally understanding why Kuroko had been spending sleepless nights these past few days. The approaching of the full moon must have sent his mind back into reminiscing about the events of the ‘Bloody Night’.

 

He took one of his arms from around the smaller male’s waist and motioned his hand upwards, intending of running his fingers through the silky strands of hair of the sleeping bluenette. Akashi, however, came into a halt when he suddenly heard Kuroko almost inaudibly mumbling while sleeping.

 

“…’m sorr…” sleep-talked Kuroko, tears once again streaming down his closed eyes and wetting the shirt of the redhead. “…sorry… Ogiwara-kun… I’m sorry… Ao…mine-kun…”

 

“…!” Akashi almost jumped into a sitting position when he heard the last word that the bluenette had said, but he luckily managed to maintain his body into a laid down position. He lifted his head from the pillow once again and stared to the sleeping male.

 

_“Aomine-kun”? Daiki? Why do you feel the need to apologize to Daiki… while you’re also apologizing to Ogiwara Shigehiro? Why do you even feel the need to do it in the first place, Tetsuya?_

_Do you have... some sort of connection with Daiki?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ANSWER" by Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Kenshou (our two lovebirds XD).
> 
> Akashi and Kuroko are finally being honest with each other, as well as slowly revealing bits of their own pasts. It was about time, my sweeties!!!  
> And well, we all know that now it won't be only Kagami being constantly death-glared by Akashi, don't we? -.-'
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	94. I felt the inevitable, what are the chances of that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> Remember the episode in KnB 3rd season (Teikou arc) where Aomine kept dirty things inside of his locker? Something similar happened to me recently. I discovered a lunch box that I had taken with me out for classes and when I opened it... oh god, I wish censuring could also be applied on real life -.-'
> 
> Anyways~ Ready to begin a new day in Shattered Miracles? It will be calmer... or maybe not~ You know I like to make things hard for our lovely characters, don't you? Hehehe~
> 
> Enjoy :D

“Nnn…” Closing his eyes more tightly due to the brightness that suddenly started hitting his face, Kuroko shifted his head around against the warm chest of the redhead, trying to find a position where he wouldn’t be disturbed by the light. Unwillingly, he opened just a crack one of his sleepy teal eyes and looked over to where that intense shine was coming from. The sun was illuminating the fragments of the mirror that Akashi had broken and the reflection was coincidentally being pointed in their direction.

 

Kuroko looked in the broken mirror’s direction for a few more seconds, the corners of his lips slowly starting to rise. He released the redhead’s shirt, to which he had been continuously holding unto since before he fell asleep, and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, very carefully to not hurt his sight with the bandages covering his skin. The bluenette stretched his body slightly, feeling the rhythmic rise of the taller male’s chest against his body, as well as the arms still present around his waist. He felt his soft smile widening just the slightest.

 

Lifting his head from Akashi’s chest, Kuroko looked over to the redhead, who was still sleeping. He stayed that way, second after second passing by, simply staring to the other male. That was the first time he saw Akashi actually sleeping. When he was in his building, the redhead was always up already when he woke up from his brief catnaps. And when they slept in the same bed the other two times, it had been Akashi waking him up. So this was the first time that he really had an opportunity to silently observe the redhead without being bothered by anyone, including Akashi himself.

 

Kuroko softly put his chin on top of Akashi’s chest once again, his eyes unmoving from his features. It felt good. It felt good to wake up surrounded by so much warmth – a mixture of his own with the redhead’s, mutually sharing it in the same quantity. It felt very good to wake up completely rested, not having dreamt about anything at all. It felt extremely good to wake up and not find himself completely isolated from other human beings. But what felt the best was waking up to remember all the comforting words that Akashi had told him the previous night, as well as their sharing of some parts of their own lives and pasts. That and the knowledge that none of this was a lie.

 

Akashi had been brutally honest with him, even going as far as putting the countless people the bluenette had killed on the same plate as his murdering of his own father. And… if he hadn’t misunderstood what he had said, Akashi had also put his promise of protecting him from the Japanese government on the same level as his unfortunately broken promise with his deceased mother.

 

Akashi also tried to put himself on equivalent grounds with him, going as far as breaking a mirror in front of him on purpose so they could both spend the next 7 years sharing the same bad luck… and it would have to be done together, since the redhead would obviously force him to take responsibility, like he had told him the previous night.

 

It was those little things and the deep meaning behind them that was making Kuroko get more and more aware of how deeply he has come to love Akashi. Even though he knew he shouldn’t, even though he knew he wasn’t allowed to, Kuroko no longer could deny to himself that he was utterly and foolishly in love with this train wreck of a person. _Well, I, too, am a train wreck of a person._

 

He knew Akashi was a popular male. It wasn’t that he had exactly “kept tabs on his love life”, as the redhead had accused him of while they were beginning his first training, but Kuroko had been forced to gather the most information he could get on all five “Miracles”, for his own safety. So, along the way of his investigations and observation on them, he winded up once in a while assisting to the taller male being confessed by another student or receiving a love letter or two. He wouldn’t even begin to describe Valentine’s Day. All because, if others forgot the fact that he had the personality of a psychopath when in a bad mood or the terrifying habit of working other’s fingers to the bone… Akashi was handsome.

 

Everybody could see that Akashi was a fine example of the male human species. Kuroko obviously wasn’t an exception to that. If Akashi would have been an easier person to approach, Kise would probably have less fangirls flocking around him. The bluenette was coming to be thankful for the messed up personality of the taller male now, if only for that.

 

 _How curious… I would have never expected to be someone so possessive,_ inwardly mumbled Kuroko while releasing a soft sigh. He leaned his head slightly closer to the taller male’s chest and then hid his face there.

 

“Pffft… Aha… hahaha,” started laughing Kuroko, motioning one of his hands up to clutch at his mouth, so he wouldn’t wake up the redhead. But soon, another wave of laughter started to threaten to exit his throat once again and he buried his face more deeply in Akashi’s chest, his shoulders shaking from the strain of keeping quiet.

 

“Well, aren’t we having fun by ourselves here?” suddenly sounded the amused voice of the redhead. “Do you mind telling me what exactly about my face is worth such a laugh attack from someone who doesn’t even smile most of the time?”

 

“A-Akashi-kun!?” yelped Kuroko, immediately lifting his head from the taller male’s chest to find him very well awake already. He clumsily started to move away from him, but the arms around his waist stopped him from escaping. Actually, the arms pulled him even closer to the redhead, making him being more on top of Akashi’s chest, stomach and legs than the bed itself. “Um… C-Can you please release me…?”

 

“Where you staring at my face while I was sleeping?” asked Akashi, a small smirk appearing in his lips.

 

“N-No… I just woke up…” answered Kuroko, averting slightly the amused glint displayed in the heterochromatic eyes of the redhead.

 

“I told you this time and time again, Tetsuya. You are a really bad liar,” pointed out Akashi in between soft chuckles. He pulled the bluenette’s body up with the help of his hands and arms, shortening the distance between their faces. “Where you thinking things like this being the first time you were seeing me sleep in front of you? Or how handsome I am?”

 

“I wasn—“

 

“Give up before you start giving excuses that will be read right away by me, Tetsuya,” interrupted Akashi, touching with the tip of his nose on the pale one of the smaller male. “I know exactly what you were thinking while you were watching me sleep. I know it because I have the exact same thoughts about you when I watch you sleep. Though ‘cute’ is the word I use.”

 

“…gh…” Kuroko suddenly dropped his head and hid his features in the nook of the redhead’s neck. It was still too early in the morning for him to be blushing like that.

 

“By your reaction alone, I see that I have hit jackpot on this one,” softly laughed Akashi, leaning his face closer to the blue locks of hair. He gave a quick peck to the top of the smaller male’s head and motioned one of his hands out of his waist, cupping his pale features with it. When the redhead pulled Kuroko’s face up, Akashi smiled at him. “Tetsuya, can I get a good morning kiss?”

 

“Eh!? A g-good morning… k-kiss…!?” yelped Kuroko, a completely flabbergasted expression on his face. He slowly started to back away his body from near the taller male’s face. “I-I think the answer to that is n-no.”

 

“Is it really a ‘no’?” asked Akashi, pulling once again the bluenette up against his body and circling his waist a little bit more tightly to prevent him from ‘slipping’ away. “Do you really not want to?”

 

“I-I… Um… I…” started babbling Kuroko, darting his eyes around as he tried to answer. He didn’t want to refuse Akashi. He wanted the redhead to kiss him. If he had done it without asking, he would have allowed him to do whatever he wanted. But being asked for permission was too embarrassing for him to actually give an answer to. The bluenette could already feel his face burning with the blush there. He really had to congratulate Akashi on such a feat – Kuroko didn’t remember ever blushing so many times in so little time.

 

“Okay, if you don’t want me to give you a good morning kiss, I guess I can somehow deal with it,” sighed Akashi, faking a sulking expression. However, he couldn’t continue to pretend and a smirk erupted in his features. “If you don’t want me to do it, why don’t you do it?”

 

“…!” Kuroko suddenly felt all the air in his lungs get caught up in his throat. In half-panic, he simply let his mouth open and close in quick succession, digesting what the redhead had just said. He wanted Kuroko to _kiss_ him!? “I-I-I c-can’t do t-that… I c-c-can’t… I…”

 

“Of course you can. You just have to press _this_ on _this_ ,” explained Akashi with a teasing tone, touching with his finger on the bluenette’s lips and then on his own to exemplify what he meant with his words. “You just have to do the same thing I’ve done to you countless times now.”

 

“I-Impossible… I c-can’t…” continued denying Kuroko, shaking his head slightly as his brain continued with its self-destruction countdown. At this rate, Akashi was going to kill him, the way all the blood in his body was rushing to his face and his heart was racing madly. He wondered if this was what a Blue-throated Hummingbird felt throughout its entire life.

 

“You can. I’m not asking you to shove your tongue in my mouth. A little peck is more than enough,” insisted Akashi, chuckling softly when he saw the blush in the smaller male’s features darkening due to his graphic description. “Here, let me give you a little encouragement.”

 

“Hyaah!” yelped Kuroko when he felt the hand around his waist suddenly being inserted under his shirt and touch his lower back directly. The prickling sensation (version 2.0) immediately invaded his body even further and his body shuddered at the warm skin touching his. “A-Akashi-kun!”

 

“Hmm? So how is it going to be, Tetsuya?” mischievously asked the redhead, his hand motioning up on the smaller male’s back, slowly trailing the length of his spine with his fingertips. “Will you give me a good morning kiss or not?”

 

“Ngh… C-Can’t it be after we get out of bed?” suggested Kuroko, his body squirming around against the redhead’s due to the motions of his hand on his skin.

 

“If it’s a good morning kiss, it has to be obviously done while still in bed, after waking up,” explained Akashi, his hand reaching near the base of the bluenette’s neck. He motioned it sideways and started caressing one of his shoulder blades, feeling the skin underneath his fingers shivering slightly. “So… rejected.”

 

“Y-You do know that our mouths are filled with bacteria and germs after waking up, right?” tried to deadpan Kuroko, gulping down hard to maintain a steady voice while the taller male continued with his ministrations on his body.

 

“Then it seems that we aren’t only going to share the bed. We will share bacteria and germs, too,” simply added Akashi, the smirk present in his lips widening a little bit more. “The quicker you do it, the quicker you’ll be able to get up and go brush your teeth afterwards. Though part of me will be sad with it… A part of me and our bacteria and germs that will be eliminated with it.”

 

“…ugh…” softly groaned Kuroko, his heart almost threatening to jump out of his ribcage. He gave a quick gulp to moisten his dry throat and got slightly closer to the redhead’s face. “T-Then… c-close your eyes.”

 

“I want to see you doing it,” said Akashi right away after hearing the bluenette’s words.

 

“If you don’t close your eyes, you might as well spend the rest of your life kissing a pillow,” warned Kuroko with a soft threatening tone behind his words. He sighed softly and hesitantly looked straight to the red and golden eyes of the taller male. “J-Just… close your eyes if you want me to d-do it…”

 

“…” Akashi continued to look to the bluenette and then released a soft breath, closing his eyes. He would have other opportunities to see Kuroko kissing him, so he could allow him to have it his way this time. After all, he was already very delighted with only the prospect of being the bluenette kissing him and not the other way around.

 

Gulping down hard once again, Kuroko stared at the face of the redhead. More precisely, stared at his lips. He had _never_ initiated a kiss before in his entire life. The bluenette felt that the thought of it alone was going to make his face enter into combustion with the heat he was feeling there and make his heart leap out of his body through his throat… But having to really do it was just frightening. What would he do if taking the initiative would make him want to stay with Akashi in Teikou? What if it started to make him become greedy and make him wish for more things out of Akashi? Like his heart, for example.

 

 _Humans are scary,_ simply said Kuroko in the back of his mind as he let his face grow closer to the taller male’s. He would do it as quickly as he could. Just brushing his lips softly in the redhead’s ones and then withdraw his head right away. He would do that and it would end. They would get up from bed, dress their school uniform, go downstairs to have breakfast and then go to school. Yes, that was what was going to happen. His lips were already half an inch away from Akashi’s.

 

“Aka-chin, Kuro-chin! If you don’t come downstairs to eat breakfast, you’ll be late for classes,” suddenly announced Murasakibara while opening the door of the bluenette’s bedroom.

 

Akashi immediately opened his eyes and looked over in the door’s direction. When he saw the bluenette also start to turn his head in the purple haired male’s direction, Akashi hurriedly pushed his face against his chest, getting out of it a surprised yelp followed by a low groan in the moment of impact.

 

“We’ll get down soon,” simply said Akashi, glaring slightly at the taller male. Why was it that there was always some sort of interruption in the critical moments? If Murasakibara had arrived just a few seconds later, he would get to be kissed by Kuroko.

 

“Hagaji… Gan’d bred…!” warned Kuroko, pulling the other male’s shirt with his hands in a panicky motion. The pressure above his head was lightened slightly and he could depart his face just a few millimeters from the redhead’s chest, enabling him to breath once again, but it was still being kept in the same position.

 

“Then hurry up. Today’s breakfast is Japanese style and it will get cold if you don’t come to eat it,” simply added Murasakibara while starting to close the door once again. “Also, Kuro-chin is almost entering into cardiac arrest. Do you want me to call Mido-chin to see him?”

 

“No need. Leave,” ordered Akashi, his glare to the purple haired giant intensifying by a tenfold. The barrier around Fuyu was fundamental for everyone – it had been one of the conditions that they agreed to when talking with the Prime Minister, Shirogane Eiji, and that allowed them to keep their guard on Kuroko. However, Akashi sure felt like tearing it down with his own hands during times like these. Not because of him, he could care less about who knew what they were doing. But Kuroko didn’t think like that.

 

“Yes, yes… No need to get that angry…” sluggishly answered Murasakibara, closing the door behind him when he exited the room.

 

Akashi kept his gaze on the door for a few more seconds and then dropped his head to the pillow once again, heaving an exasperated sigh. _What a waste of such a good opportunity…_

 

“Um… Akashi-kun? Can you please release my head now?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, trying to depart his head from the redhead’s chest while also trying to take a peek with his eyes to the other male’s face. The loud sigh he had released gave him the feeling that Akashi was feeling somewhat troubled right now. Then he felt his head being released, lifting it right away to look at him. However, the body underneath his own started to turn around and his back hit the soft cushions of his bed. “A-Akashi-kun?”

 

“You can’t look at other people with that kind of face, Tetsuya,” softly warned Akashi, closing the distance between both their faces and the body pinned down underneath him. “The face you had on you makes others want to do naughty things to you. And the only person who is allowed to have such thoughts about you is me. The only person who can also do them is me.”

 

“Eh? Mmhm…!” Out of the blue, Akashi kissed him, using the fact that he was speaking at that moment to go straight for the kill and play around inside of his mouth with his slippery tongue. Kuroko slowly motioned his bandaged hands up and wrapped his arms around the redhead’s back, grabbing into his shirt strongly.

 

Yes, it would probably be much safer for him if he just let Akashi be the one kissing him. A part of him felt that the day he was the one to initiate a kiss, he would no longer be able to part ways from Teikou Academy. No, not from Teikou. From Akashi. Kissing Akashi would be the same as surrendering to him and tell the redhead that he was his.

 

So Kuroko wouldn’t stop Akashi from kissing him. He liked when it happened, just like he liked it when he touched him or when they slept together in his bed. However, he wouldn’t be the one kissing him.

 

 _Kuroko Tetsuya is hereby forbidden from initiating a kiss with Akashi Seijuurou,_ inwardly declared the bluenette, feeling a little squeeze in his heart at the thought alone.

 

Akashi softly separated their lips, slightly open as they panted in need for the oxygen they abstained from during the long kiss. A thin thread of saliva lingered between them, glistening with the light illuminating the room, as if a connection was still present between them even while parted. The redhead dropped his head once again and gave a quick peck to the wet, reddish lips of the smaller male, sliding it afterwards to the other male’s neck.

 

“Ahh—!” Kuroko moaned while arching his back above the bed, the bite given to his skin without any warning surprising him. When Akashi left his mouth there and started to strongly suck, the bluenette already knew what he would find when he looked in the mirror. Or not, since he didn’t have a mirror in usable conditions at the moment. “A-Akashi-kun… I told you to… ngh… not leave marks in me!”

 

Giving a soft lick to the red hickey left in the pale skin after departing his mouth from his neck, Akashi straightened his back and intently looked to the bluenette. “It’s your fault. Who told you to make bedroom eyes to Atsushi? So, as prevention against any insect that may start swarming around you, I need to make sure that I leave some sort of proof to warn everyone that you’re already taken. By me.”

 

“Why do you have to make it sound like I go around seducing other people?” sighed Kuroko while releasing the taller male’s shirt. He could only wonder if, even after telling him time and time again that he didn’t belong to the redhead, Akashi considered him already part of his territory. _At least he isn’t going around scent marking me like lions do…_

 

“Even if you aren’t doing it with the intention of seducing others, it doesn’t change the effect that it may cause in them,” pointed out Akashi, getting out from on top of the bluenette.

 

“Why are you always so unreasonable…?” sighed Kuroko once again, motioning his body up into a sitting position while he observed the redhead get up from the bed. If he didn’t even have any intention of starting a relationship with Akashi, why would he go around making ‘bedroom eyes’ to people that he had no romantic feelings for? He took a deep breath at that thought and looked over in the direction where the redhead had gone to – the bathroom. Akashi was probably checking the damages like he said he would.

 

Kuroko let himself stay in the bed, running around his mind through the latest events in his life. He gave a quick glance to the bed and its jumbled blankets and then looked down to his own clothes. The bluenette took a peek in the bathroom’s direction and saw that the redhead wasn’t in sight. So he softly pulled the front of his shirt and motioned it up to his nose, giving a quick sniff to it.

 

“Ugh…” Kuroko let his body fall to the bed once again, covering his bright red face with his hands.

 

Oh, Akashi was definitely scent marking him too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> Seriously, Murasakibara? You too!? Since Midorima wasn't enough as cockblocker (not forgetting the self-cockblocker Akashi), you just also had to join the fun, didn't you? -.-' Kuroko and Akashi were acting so cute and lovey-dovey!!! Damn it, Mukkun! Himuro won't approve!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	95. Before I lose out to some go-getter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> I have to say... If I wrote small summaries to each chapter, for this one it would be "Kuroko's advices - ft. Aomine almost being fulminated by Akashi's death glares" XD
> 
> Read to find out more :3

“Akashi-kun, I can get dressed alone…” sighed Kuroko, observing the redhead finishing to button up his uniform’s blue shirt. “I have my hands bandaged up, I haven’t become crippled.”

 

“Hm,” hummed Akashi in acknowledgment, although his hands didn’t still and he continued working his way around to dress the smaller male. Once the last button was done and the necktie put on its place, he motioned his hand to the bed and grabbed the school jacket, putting it behind the bluenette’s back and softly inserting each of his arms on the sleeves.

 

Kuroko released another sigh and simply let the redhead have his way. It felt good, after all. Being treated gently wasn’t something that he had encountered a lot during his life. Those who had actually shown him genuine kindness were so few they could be counted with one hand. So, even though he took great pride in being an independent person, being pampered by Akashi from time to time wasn’t something that he would be really that refusing to do.

 

After having given a last adjustment to the necktie of the smaller male, Akashi started buttoning some of the buttons of the school jacket, like Kuroko usually did, and then took a step backwards, observing his little ‘masterpiece’. Giving a quick nod in acknowledgment, the redhead gave a soft smile to the male in front of him. “Okay, you are all set. Do you want to change your bandages before breakfast?”

 

“No, it’s okay,” answered Kuroko, starting to motion to his desk to grab his school bag. “I think that in a few hours I can take them off. I don’t feel any pain on my hands anymore, after all.”

 

“Okay, but if it starts to hurt, come to my classroom,” said Akashi while picking up his own bag. He had earlier gone to his bedroom to get changed and get his things for school, as well as the documents that he had already worked on. “Shintarou is in the same class as me so he can take a look at it, if needed.”

 

“Ah… I don’t think that will be necessary,” insisted Kuroko while turning around with his bag and motioning to the door, opening it right away. He no longer felt any pain or soreness in his hands, which meant that the wounds had already been nullified by his ability. So, if he could avoid it, Kuroko didn’t want to show his completely scar-free hands to the green haired male and spur him to continue to pursue his goal. “I told you that my hands would quickly heal, didn’t I? So you don’t need to worry about it anymore.”

 

“As soon as I see it with my own eyes, I will stop worrying,” acknowledged Akashi, stepping outside of the bedroom and closing the door behind him. He positioned himself beside the bluenette and they started walking to the stairs, but another door being opened made them come to a halt.

 

“Oh, ‘mornin’…” greeted Aomine while closing his bedroom’s door with one hand and stifling a huge yawn with the other. When he looked over to the redhead, he felt a sudden shudder creep up his spine, such was the coldness in his glare. “Um… Akashi? Have I caused any problem… again?”

 

“No, you didn’t. At least that I’m aware of,” almost hissed the redhead, his golden eye beginning to get a more accentuated shine to it. His sleeve was suddenly tugged and he dropped his gaze down, where a bandaged hand was holding into him. When Akashi looked up in the bluenette’s direction, he saw him frowning.

 

“What was it that you said yesterday, Akashi-kun? You said you wouldn’t glare to the other ‘Miracles’ even if I got friendly with them,” admonished Kuroko, sternly looking to the heterochromatic eyes of the redhead. When he saw that Akashi was going to speak, he interrupted him and continued. “And you also have been claiming that you always keep your own word. Right?”

 

“Yes, I did say all that. But you—“ Akashi suddenly interrupted his own words and silently kept staring to the bluenette, who looked right back at him with a look on his face that told him that he wasn’t understanding anything of what was happening right now. He threw a quick sideways glance to the tanned male, who housed a similar expression on his face, and looked right back to the smaller male. “Let’s go have breakfast. Atsushi said it was Japanese style and I do agree with him in terms of the temperature of the food served.”

 

“Ah, wait…!” exclaimed Kuroko when the redhead suddenly grabbed his hand and enlaced their fingers, softly tugging at him so they could start going down the stairs. He quickened his steps slightly so he wouldn’t be outright pulled by Akashi and threw a completely lost look to Aomine first, looking afterwards to Akashi. “Akashi-kun, did something happen with Aomine-kun? I can absolutely guarantee you that he isn’t planning anything with Kagami-kun again. Not after what you told them on Kagami-kun’s apartment.”

 

“…” Akashi simply continued to lead the bluenette to the dining room. He knew very well that they weren’t planning anything. However, that didn’t change the fact that Kuroko had said Aomine’s name while crying during his sleep. He had said his name and the name of the ‘User’ he had killed during the ‘Bloody Night’. And he had _apologized_ to them… with the most sorrowful voice he had ever heard in a human being. What kind of thing had Kuroko done for them to deserve such an apology? What was his past? What had he been doing before with the people in that photo? Why couldn’t he go see his family never again if they were all alive? Who was the person known as Kuroko Tetsuya?

 

And why was _everything_ that was linked to him surrounded by so much mystery?

 

Akashi was forced to a sudden halt when the body he had been pulling along with him came into a full stop. He started turning around to look to the bluenette when two hands grabbed his face and pulled it slightly down.

 

“Why are you panicking so much, Akashi-kun?” asked Kuroko, intently staring to the red and golden eyes of the taller male. When he saw the surprised look on the redhead’s face, he softened his hold on his face slightly. “Calm down. Okay?”

 

“…I’m sorry,” answered Akashi almost immediately, his gaze unmoving from the teal of the smaller male’s eyes. He motioned his hands up and softly put them on top of the pale hands holding into his face, straightening his back in the process. “I’m sorry, Tetsuya. I’m the type of person who needs to have the answers to every question. I currently have thousands of them in my mind that I have no answer whatsoever to at the moment. I think my brain sort of crashed when I saw Daiki.”

 

“I don’t really want you to apologize. With you saying that, I’m partially to blame, right?” pointed out Kuroko, starting to released the face of the redhead, even with Akashi’s hands still on top of his. “You are only trying to do your own duties and I’m complicating everything, aren’t I? So if someone should apologize, it’s m— Mmff!”

 

“I don’t want to hear you apologizing either, Tetsuya,” interrupted Akashi, covering the bluenette’s mouth with his hand. “You are doing it to protect yourself, right? So you can preserve your own life. I don’t think that deserves an apology. Also, it isn’t through apologies or excuses that things are solved. Whatever has been done in the past is done. Nothing that one says will ever be able to change that.”

 

“…” Kuroko pulled Akashi’s hand away from his mouth and let it fall to the sides of the taller male’s body. “I—“

 

“I’m not saying all of this because of you,” interrupted Akashi almost instantly, already expecting what would be his next words. “They were directed to you just as much as they were directed to me. I was trying to remind myself that I can’t change anything that has happened. Whatever it may be.”

 

Akashi looked up in the direction of the stairs, where Aomine had stopped midway to not bother their conversation. He knew how good the tanned male’s hearing was, so of course he had heard everything, but they were the ones at fault for stopping right in front of the dining room’s door. The redhead once again grabbed Kuroko’s hand and started motioning inside of the room, walking over to their respective seats. The bluenette this time didn’t protest at all about sitting next to him.

 

“It was about time,” grumbled Murasakibara while getting up from his seat to go inside of the kitchen, a bag of marshmallows on his hands. “You took so long that I had to put small barriers around your food to preserve the heat.”

 

“I apologize for the trouble, Atsushi,” said Akashi as he motioned down to his chair. He saw from the corner of his eye that Aomine had entered inside of the room and was sluggishly walking to his own seat, dropping his head on top of the table as soon as he sat down. “Daiki is also here to have his breakfast.”

 

“Okay,” acknowledged Murasakibara from inside of the kitchen. He came out of it carrying two trays and put them in front of the redhead and the bluenette, walking back inside to go get the tanned male’s food.

 

In the tray put in front of them were five different dishes in the whole: a bowl with steamed rice and another with Miso Soup, accompanied by three smaller plates that had a few slices of Tamagoyaki, Hourensou no Gomaae (spinach salad with sesame seeds) and Tsukemono (pickled vegetables), respectively.

 

Akashi picked up his chopsticks and gave his thanks for the food, but as he was going to put a little bit of rice in his mouth and looked sideways to the bluenette, he saw Kuroko simply staring to the food. “You aren’t going to eat, Tetsuya?”

 

“A-Ah, yes,” acknowledged Kuroko, motioning his hand forward to his chopsticks and holding it in a clumsy way, due to the bandages covering them. “Itadakimasu.”

 

When Akashi saw the smaller male picking a bit of rice only to drop it once again due to his not-fully-operational hands, he released a soft sigh. “What do you prefer – me feeding you or eating with a spoon?”

 

“Eh? Ah, no, it’s okay. I can eat by myself, using the chopsticks,” answered Kuroko, giving one more try to pick the rice up. When it once again fell to the bowl, he released a soft grunt and down-casted slightly his face. “I’ll politely accept the spoon.”

 

Akashi gave a quick nod in acknowledgment, inwardly sulking that he wasn’t going to hand-feed the bluenette, and looked over to the kitchen’s door. “Atsushi, can you bring a spoon for Tetsuya?”

 

“A spoon? O~kay,” answered the purple haired male’s voice from the inside of the kitchen. After a few seconds, Murasakibara entered once again in the dining room, carrying a tray in one hand and a spoon on the other. He put the spoon on the bluenette’s tray and then motioned over to near the tanned male, who was still with his face plastered to the table. “Here you have, Mine-chin.”

 

“Hah…? Ah… thanks…” mumbled Aomine while raising his head. He looked at the tray in front of him, the same things on it as the ones given to the two smaller males, and released a very long and exasperated sigh. “Murasakibara, is there more food inside?”

 

“Eh? Why? Is that not enough?” asked Murasakibara, arching slightly an eyebrow as he once again dropped his body in his chair to continue to leisurely munch on the marshmallows. “Are you going through another growing spur?”

 

“No… Ugh!” Aomine once again dropped his head on the table, making the trays on top of it clatter with the impact, such was the strength behind it. “I just… want to take more time to go to school… for the next three years…”

 

“…” Kuroko intently observed Aomine as he continued with his face on the table, grumbling inaudibly to himself. He tilted his head slightly as he picked the spoon up and put a bit of rice on it. “Did anything happen between you and Kagami-kun?”

 

“EH!?” Aomine lifted his head in a single motioned, looking over to the bluenette with his eyes almost popping out of their sockets. “W-W-W-Why are you asking that!?”

 

“No, it’s just that you are behaving in the same way as Kagami-kun was yesterday,” simply answered Kuroko, putting the spoon on his mouth and munching on the rice. After he had swallowed, he continued talking. “When I arrived to the classroom in the morning, he was slamming his face on the desk and grumbling non-stop to himself.”

 

“H-He was…?” hesitantly asked Aomine, one of his eyebrows arched high on his tanned forehead.

 

“If you two are having an argument or some sort of dispute, please solve it quickly,” added Kuroko, picking up the bowl with the Miso soup and giving a quick slurp to it. “It’s distracting to see Kagami-kun smashing his head on the desk and making so much noise with his grumbling and groaning.”

 

“I-It’s… It’s not a matter of arguing or disputes, okay!?” answered Aomine in a quite frustrated voice. If he couldn’t even talk face-to-face with Kagami, how could the both of them be arguing? He didn’t even freaking know why he was being avoided by the redhead in the first place! Though he had probably worsened the situation by a tenfold when he just kissed him all of a sudden. Why did he even do it, damn it!?

 

“Both of you are natural-born idiots, so I don’t think you will be able to solve whatever it is that’s going around between you two with words,” suddenly said Kuroko, dividing one of the slices of the Tamagoyaki in two and putting one of the bits in his mouth, delightfully chewing on it afterwards. “Why don’t you challenge him to play a one-on-one basketball match against you?”

 

“Eh?” Hearing those words, Aomine immediately perked up, looking at the smaller male with a certain curiosity. Why would he recommend them to play basketball when the tanned male wasn’t even sure if he could have a decent conversation with Kagami?

 

“You are the type of person who communicates better with their body than with actual words, right?” pointed out Kuroko, looking at his plate while he divided the rest of the Tamagoyaki slices.

 

“Ah… Yeah…” hesitantly acknowledged Aomine, thinking deeply about what the bluenette had said. He did give a reason for Kagami to avoid him through his body, not through words. So maybe… maybe he could understand what he had done wrong to the redhead through his body too. Like with one of the games that he played against him several times now. “Yeah… I guess you’re right.”

 

“But please don’t destroy the court. Try to keep the damages to the bare minimum,” deadpanned Kuroko while looking to the tanned male.

 

“Of course we won’t! What do you think we are? Barbarians?” roared Aomine, pulling the tray in front of him and digging in his food, sulking slightly at the warning being through at him. He and Kagami wouldn’t really go that far only to solve this… this _something_ that was happening between them. They wouldn’t, right?

 

Akashi simply silently continued to eat his breakfast while intently observing the interaction between the bluenette and the tanned male. After he put a piece of Tsukemono in his mouth and swallowed it, having thoroughly chewed it before, he finally opened his mouth to speak. “For someone who claims to dislike being with the ‘Miracles’ so much, you seem quite used to deal with Daiki.”

 

“…!” As soon as the redhead finished those words, Kuroko accidently let the spoon slip out of his grasp, heavily falling on the tray. He gulped down hard and picked it once again, his hand trembling just the slightest. “R-Really…? I think it’s normal…”

 

“Well, I’m not that much of a complex person,” pointed out Aomine with his mouth full of rice and Tamagoyaki. He swallowed everything and grinned at them. “I’m quite easy to accommodate, actually.”

 

“I think the word you want to say is ‘simpleton’, Mine-chin…” suddenly said Murasakibara in between bites of marshmallows.

 

“Shut up!” fumed Aomine, putting more food in his mouth. Now he had a sudden urge to hurry up and go to school. Which was plainly weird for him. He wasn’t a person who liked to go to school – he actually didn’t care a bit about it. However, right now, ‘school’ was synonymous to ‘Kagami’. He would only be able to find him there, in the classroom next to his, since he had a feeling that he wouldn’t open him the door if he went to pay a visit to the redhead’s apartment.

 

After that, Kuroko simply ate his food, not saying anything else to any of the people present in the dining room. However, nothing else needed to be said. If Akashi didn’t know… he had already a suspicion.

 

Kuroko had a feeling that Akashi knew that he had met Aomine before in the past. A meeting deep enough for him to understand the tanned male as well as he had displayed just now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Hengen Jizai no Magical Star" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> It seems that things on regard Aomine and Kuroko's shared past are slowly starting to come up, aren't they? How will everyone deal with it? Mfufufu~ *evil smirk*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	96. I mean it when I say that one day, the results obtained will be sent by a message

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san. Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> Today I'm later than usual, I know, but I went out to celebrate and only returned home now. (Today... I achieved victory for the first time! It wasn't me suggesting to leave! And I'm always the first to do it. I was so entertained writing the 2nd part for the Bounty Hunter AU that I didn't even want to leave :P)
> 
> Well, enjoy :D

“Tetsuya, I’ll come once again during lunch break so we can go to the cafeteria to eat, okay?” informed Akashi when both him and Kuroko stopped in front of the bluenette’s classroom’s door.

 

“…Does it really have to be the cafeteria…?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, peering shyly to the redhead. He really disliked being in places with lots of people… and Akashi was someone that involuntarily attracted the attention of other. That was also another thing that made him feel uncomfortable – being under other people’s gazes.

 

“Well, if I could choose, I would prefer a more private setting too,” teasingly answered Akashi, a mischievous smirk popping up in his features. “However, this is for your own good. Take it as a part of your training. Also, like I told you yesterday, you have to get used to deal with places with a lot of people or you won’t be able to attend the pastry competition. You probably won’t even be able to reach the building if you don’t.”

 

“…I-I know…” acknowledged Kuroko, lowering his face a little bit to try to hide the soft shade of pink that had appeared on his cheeks at the mention of the pastry competition he would go with the redhead. He suddenly felt the taller male’s lips being pressed on the top of his forehead and the bluenette readily looked up once again, the pinkish blush getting slightly more accentuated.

 

“I’ll see you later, then,” added Akashi, smiling softly to the bluenette. He ran his fingers softly through his locks of hair and started to walk in his classroom’s direction, further down on the other side of the corridor.

 

Kuroko observed the redhead leave and then turned around to the door, softly sliding it open as he released a quick sigh. He noted that most of his classmates were already inside of the classroom, chatting with one another. The bluenette also noticed that Kagami was already in his seat… once again with his face plastered against the surface of his desk and groaning and mumbling in an almost frenetic motion.

 

“Kagami-kun, please quickly solve your arguing with Aomine-kun,” suddenly voiced out Kuroko as he pulled his chair to sit down. “It’s weird and, honestly, sort of scary to see you doing that.”

 

“Eh!? Aomine!?” yelped Kagami right away, giving a sudden jump on his seat, which made the chair noisily clatter against the floor and the desk. He quickly turned around to face the bluenette. “W-W-What about Aomine!? N-Nothing’s wrong between me and that dirty… old man…”

 

Kagami once again slammed his face against the table, this time using the bluenette’s desk as a victim. He groaned loudly and then took a deep breath. The redhead lifted slightly his face from the desk and peered to the smaller male, who was taking his notebooks out of his school bag as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening right in front of him. He cleared his throat and straightened his back once again.

 

“W-What happened to you?” asked Kagami, looking at the bluenette from head to toes (well, from head to torso, since he couldn’t see more due to the sitting position of the other male). “Your eyes are red and you have bandages on both hands.”

 

“Akashi-kun made me cry yesterday night,” simply answered Kuroko, softly putting his notebook on top of the desk. When he looked up to the taller male and saw him staring at him with a scandalized expression on his face, which was accentuated with the deep shade of red that had flooded its entirety, the bluenette understood that his words had been misunderstood to the extreme. “U-Um, Kagami-kun… I-It’s not what you are thinking. I just—“

 

“Oh, don’t! Please spare me the details!” yelped Kagami right away, taking closer notice to the bluenette’s currently appearance. Swollen eyes, bandaged hands and a dark red hickey on his neck… Yes, he definitely didn’t want to know what had happened last night. He feared that if he knew, he wouldn’t live enough time to see the next day. Actually, not even enough time to enjoy his dinner. “Whatever you and Akashi do together is your business. I won’t interfere with it in the least! B-But… be careful of what sort of plays you let him do to you. Safety first.”

 

“T-T-That’s not it!” stuttered Kuroko as a bright red blush appeared in his features. He hurriedly lifted his hands from the desk and started to unwrap the bandages. Once his skin was fully on display, he showed to the taller male his completely unblemished hands. “See! There’s nothing here. P-Please don’t start to house weird misunderstandings about me and Akashi-kun… As I told you before, we’re not a c-couple or anything of the sort…”

 

“Right… Kuroko, I don’t know if you’re aware of it or not, but…” started explaining Kagami, softly rubbing the back of his neck as he thought about a way of explaining it to the bluenette. “Every single thing that you do with Akashi is what people who are dating usually do. Why don’t you talk with him about this and—“

 

“What are you and Aomine-kun arguing about?” interrupted Kuroko with a completely blank face as he looked straight to the taller.

 

“I-I-I told you we’re not arguing!!” roared Kagami, stuttering along the way with the wave of heat that invaded his features all of a sudden. He grudgingly turned around to face his desk once again, grumbling almost inaudibly about the misconception that Kuroko was having about him and the tanned male’s current situation. Well… he wasn’t exactly wrong per se, but…

 

Kuroko released a soft sigh when he saw that Kagami would continue to groan by himself for a little bit longer and lowered his hand to the shelf underneath the tabletop to take from there the school book that he had left there, since he didn’t need to use it in Fuyu the day before. As he motioned the book up, a piece of paper slipped from underneath its cover and fell to the floor.

 

“…!” Kuroko hurriedly picked up the paper and crumbled it in his hand, which he stuffed inside of his pocket almost instantly. He peered over to the redhead and then took a quick peek down to his pocket.

 

“Hey! You just changed the subject of what we were talking, didn’t you!?“ suddenly barked Kagami after a few minutes since he faced the front of the classroom had passed. He quickly turned around to look at the bluenette once again but he found the seat behind him completely void of life. “Kuroko?”

 

The redhead looked around in the classroom but he also didn’t find any signs of the smaller male anywhere inside of that room.

 

-.-

 

Kuroko silently crossed the corridors of the school building, putting forward the quite useful ability that he had, at least in situations where he needed others to not sense or see him. Nullifying both his visibility to others (aka becoming completely invisible) and any sound that he could make while walking to the exterior of the building, he took the paper out of his pocket and read what was written there. He didn’t really need to do it since he already knew what kind of message it had but he decided to play safe and check it nevertheless.

 

Under his current circumstances, he couldn’t exit the premises of Teikou Academy and he had to warn any of the “Miracles” if he wanted to change his locations. However, Akashi had actually helped him in finding the perfect excuse to disappearing without warning any of them. He just had to make it become true after he successfully completed the little “request” being made to him through the note that had been left on his desk.

 

 _Well, I already expected to receive a note from her sooner or later so I’m not really that surprised of seeing this once again in my desk,_ inwardly pointed out Kuroko as he stepped outside of the building where classes occurred. He walked for a few minutes through the school grounds and got deeper and deeper into its territory.

 

He didn’t need to fear being seen. Takao Kazunari was probably in his classroom already and, as far as he knew, he was the only person capable of seeing him while he was using his ability to nullify his presence. So, whoever he would pass by, they wouldn’t see him in the least.

 

Soon enough he reached a small two-storied building and opened the front door, closing it afterwards the quickest he could (it would probably raise the attention of other people if they saw a door suddenly opening by itself, after all). Once he had certified himself that no one was in sight, he dropped his ability and his body became visible to the eyes of everyone.

 

Kuroko casually climbed the stairs to the upper floor and crossed the long corridor until the very end, turning left afterwards to be greeted by a big wooden door. He put his hand on top of the knob and released a soft sigh. Once he had taken another look around his surroundings, he opened the door and stepped inside of the big room.

 

“You came sooner than I thought, Kuroko-kun,” greeted a voice as soon as the door closed once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "FANTASTIC TUNE" by Ono Kenshou (our still mysterious and sneaking around bluenette).
> 
> What kind of secrets is Kuroko trying to hide right now? Who was he meeting in that building of Teikou? And what did he went to do there? Muwahahahahaha! So many questions~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	97. Makes you feel like jumping up and down, you say?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> In a few hours I will have a job interview to finalize everything to move to England... *bites nails* God... I'm nervous...! I'm so freaking nervous!!!! Please pray to the yaoi gods for me and send me lots of courage with your prayers :D
> 
> Well, enjoy this chapter~

With heavy steps, Aomine crossed the door to return to the school building where the classrooms were situated. Momoi had suddenly popped up before first period started with work for him to do and, due to said work, he couldn’t even attend his classes during all morning. Which meant, he still hadn’t managed to talk with Kagami.

 

“Argh… damn it…” It wasn’t like him to behave in such a way. It wasn’t like him to just obediently do what others told him to just so he could avoid talking with the redhead – and it was all because he was feeling _nervous_. He was nervous that if he went to talk with Kagami, the other male would look at him with disgust written all over his face and tell him to never show up in front of him ever again.

 

And Aomine didn’t want that to happen. He wanted to continue to play basketball with Kagami. He wanted to continue to plan schemes with him to know more about the unexpected events going around Kuroko and Akashi (even if he would have to suffer even more consequences in the future because of it). He wanted to continue to have the same silly arguments they were constantly having. He wanted to be invited once again to the redhead’s apartment.

 

 _Fuck, I’m starting to sound like a stalker now,_ mumbled Aomine in the back of his mind as he rubbed the back of his neck. He looked to in front of him and came to a halt. The school bell was about to ring and lunch break would start. So he should just man up, open the door to Kagami’s classroom and go talk with him about playing a one-on-one basketball match after classes. It would be as simple as that.

 

Like he was expecting, the school bell rang through the entire building and the doors started to open, the teachers that were lecturing the students at the moment exiting the classrooms. Voices from the students could be heard throughout the entire corridor.

 

Aomine gulped down hard and took a deep breath. He resumed his steps and slid the door open, walking to inside of the classroom in the redhead’s direction, who was closing his school books while yawning.

 

“Y-Yo, Kagami,” awkwardly greeted Aomine, his eyes not 100% directed to the other male. “Can I have a talk with you?”

 

“Ah, h-hi…” greeted back Kagami, just as awkwardly as the tanned male had. He put his books on the shelf underneath the tabletop and started to turn his body in the taller male’s direction. He hesitantly peered up at him while still sitting on his chair. “W-What is it that you want?”

 

“Can we—“ started asking Aomine, his eyes still avoiding to look at the redhead. But when he noticed that the desk behind him, usually occupied by Kuroko, was empty, he came to a sudden halt. “Wait, did Akashi already come to pick Kuroko up for lunch?”

 

“Eh? Ah… I haven’t seen Akashi today yet. And Kuroko… I haven’t seen him since before first period started. He missed all of his classes,” answered Kagami, turning his head sideways to look to the desk behind his seat.

 

“I haven’t heard anything about him skipping clas— Oh shit!” All of a sudden, Aomine bolted outside of the classroom, running in the heterochromatic redhead’s classroom’s direction.

 

“What? What’s wrong?” asked Kagami in half panic, immediately running after the tanned male. What was the problem of skipping classes? The bluenette had been pretty tired lately (or so it looked to him) so maybe he simply decided to return to his room to sleep.

 

“I haven’t heard anything about Kuroko not being in his classroom from any of the others,” explained Aomine while continuing to run in the corridor. “And we agreed that all five of us needed to always know where he is. So, if he wants to go outside, all of us know where he’s going with any of us. If he wants to go somewhere inside of Teikou’s grounds, he can go alone but he will need to tell us to where. And I haven’t heard absolutely anything of it.”

 

“Are you saying that he ran away?” asked Kagami, an eyebrow slightly arched. Now he was really starting to worry about the bluenette. He wasn’t connected to the ‘Miracles’ nor the Student Council in any way, but he had a feeling that a _certain someone_ would put fault on him if Kuroko really escaped from Teikou while sitting right behind him.

 

“I have no idea. And that’s the problem,” answered Aomine, already seeing the classroom correspondent to the Head of the ‘Miracles’. He never really believed that Kuroko would try to run away from Teikou Academy. He knew that the bluenette was perfectly aware that if he made a wrong move on anything, Teikou would lose the guard they acquired on him and he would have to be promptly collected by the Japanese government. Aomine really doubted that was something that Kuroko wanted to see happening. The tanned male came to an abrupt stop and opened the door. “Akashi!!”

 

“Don’t yell in the corridors, Daiki,” admonished Akashi right away, looking over to the tanned male who was coming inside of the classroom. When he saw that he wasn’t alone, a frown appeared in his features. “What is it that brings you two here?”

 

“Kuroko’s missing,” announced Aomine right away, stopping in front of the heterochromatic redhead. When he saw the smaller male looking at him while arching slightly an eyebrow, he sighed and started explaining. “He’s not in his classroom and Kagami said he doesn’t see him since before first period started.”

 

“What?” interjected Midorima, who was coming closer to the other two ‘Miracles’ and Kagami. “I didn’t hear anything about Kuroko skipping classes. And I don’t think Akashi did either.”

 

“Yes, I didn’t,” acknowledged Akashi, starting to run his head on this unexpected situation. “I took Tetsuya to his classroom and told him that I would come get him so we can have lunch together again. And I haven’t heard anything from Atsushi saying that he would take him anywhere, nor from Tetsuya himself saying he would go somewhere inside of T—“

 

“What? What is it?” anxiously asked Aomine when the smaller male suddenly interrupted his own words. He must have remembered something… or Kuroko really was giving the first attempt to rebel against them and run away from Teikou Academy.

 

“Pfft… Ahaha,” started laughing Akashi all of a sudden, softly hiding with his hand the amusement he was feeling at this current situation and the reason why the bluenette had disappeared without warning any of them.

 

“A-Akashi…?” hesitantly called Midorima, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose as he intently looked to the smaller male. He had never heard or seen Akashi laughing before. And for the first time to be on this exact moment, where there was a possibility that the bluenette had ran away… Had he gone completely insane?

 

“Ah, you don’t need to worry,” suddenly said Akashi, still chuckling softly. He looked up to the other ‘Users’, who were looking at him as if the end of the world had arrived, and mischievously smirked. “I know where Tetsuya is. I’ll go meet with him now.”

 

“If you could wait just a few minutes before going, I would appreciate it,” announced a new voice when the redhead was getting up from his seat. All of them looked over to its source and saw both Murasakibara and Momoi entering inside of the classroom. “I have come to give you my report on the things that happened yesterday. Be it inside of Fuyu, be it the things that Muro-chin told me about it.”

 

“Ah… It seems that I’m not needed here, so I’m going back to my own classroom and then eat,” interrupted Kagami, starting to walk to the classroom’s door. He didn’t want to get involved more than necessary with their own issues, though he was feeling extremely worried about the well-being of the bluenette.

 

“Kagami,” called Aomine, looking over to the taller redhead. When he saw that he was looking at him over his shoulder, he added, “I still want to talk with you. Can we meet in the main gate of Teikou after classes?”

 

“…” Kagami kept staring to the tanned male for a few more seconds and then turned around once again, resuming with his walking to the corridor. “If you’re late, you’re paying the bill on Maji Burger.”

 

“A-Ah, yeah, I will! I really will!” acknowledged Aomine, giving quick nods with his head as he observed the redhead disappear in the corridor. He had accepted. Kagami had accepted to at least talk with him. For some reason, the tanned male was feeling like jumping around through the whole school grounds.

 

“Well~ Someone sure looks happy right now~” teased Momoi, a smirk erupting in her lips as she walked closer to her childhood friend. “I haven’t seen you this excited… in years! You have the same look on your face from when you brought your first gravure magazine as a child. Eyes sparkling with enthusiasm~”

 

“S-Shut up, Satsuki!” roared Aomine in embarrassment, averting the pink haired girl’s gaze. “W-Why are you even here?”

 

“I ran into Mukkun and he said that he was going to relay some things to Akashi-kun. I also have a… little something to tell him… so I came along!” cheerfully announced Momoi, looking first to the tanned male and then to the other ‘Miracles’, to who she waved her hand to.

 

“I would tell you to be quick about it but I see that I can’t,” sighed Akashi, once again sitting on his chair. He would have to wait a little bit longer to go meet with Kuroko for them to eat. He would most likely have to bring something for them to eat there, instead of going all the way back to the cafeteria. The redhead could only wonder if the smaller male had done it on purpose so he could avoid eating there.

 

“I’ll try to explain it quickly then,” answered Murasakibara, feeling the impatience in the redhead’s whole body. “So, from what Muro-chin told me, Kuro-chin has probably created some sort of dimension or realm. It’s from there that the ghost appears and it’s probably connected to the accident spot and the black smoke around that area.”

 

“’Ghost’?” repeated Midorima, Aomine and Momoi at the same time, not understanding what the purple haired giant was talking about.

 

“Yes, there’s a so-called ghost trying to get inside of Fuyu,” explained Akashi, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked to the ‘Users’ in front of him. “To be more precise, the ghost of the ‘User’ that was together with Tetsuya during the ‘Bloody Night’ and that I killed, Ogiwara Shigehiro.”

 

“Ugh…! Ah…” Aomine suddenly lunged his hands up and clutched at his head, feeling a strong bolt of pain invade his brain and spread through his whole body in several waves that made him ache all over.

 

“Aomine-kun! Are you feeling alright!?” yelped Momoi in alarm, motioning her hands forward to support the staggering male.

 

“Ngh…” Aomine looked over to the pink haired girl, a pained frown on his face, but he couldn’t hear any of what she was saying. He couldn’t even see her or anyone clearly; such was the current cloudiness of his eyes. All he could hear was one single sentence, which was being repeated again and again in his head. All he could really see (if he could even call it such) was two shadows in front of him, one of them hovering over him with a long and sharp object on its hands while the other desperately tried to pull it away from him.

 

_“Stop, Ogiwara-kun! Don’t hurt Aomine-kun anymore!”_

 

“Ahh…! Ngh…” groaned Aomine, falling down on his knees, clutching at his head with one of his hands while supporting his stiff body with the other as he clawed with his nails on the floor.

 

“Dai-chan!” screamed Momoi, lowering her body to grab into the tanned male and stop him from falling face down to the floor.

 

“Let’s take him to the infirmary,” abruptly announced Midorima, motioning with quick steps to near the tanned male and putting one of his arms around his waist to pull him to a standing position.

 

“Atsushi, help Shintarou take Daiki to the infirmary. We can talk later about this,” added Akashi, getting up from the chair in a single motion and walking over to the pink haired girl, who was still frighteningly holding into her childhood friend. “Satsuki, calm down. Daiki will be okay. He—“

 

“…n’t go…” started mumbling Aomine as he felt his consciousness slip away from his body. “…don’t… go with… them… Tet…”

 

_“I’m sorry, Aomine-kun. I’m so sorry! Please… Please forget about everything!”_

 

“…don’t… don’t do… it… don’t… make me… forget… Te…” continued mumbling Aomine, slowly motioning his hand forward in the direction of the shadow in front of him. “…don’t… go…”

 

_“Forget about these past two years. Forget about me!”_

 

“No… Tets—“ The shadow in front of him started to disappear as his vision was invaded by a sudden darkness, engulfing both the small shadow and his consciousness.

 

“Dai-chan!” yelped Momoi when the tanned male’s body slumped down and became completely inert in Midorima’s and Murasakibara’s arms. “Dai-chan! D-Dai-chan!”

 

“…” Still intently looking over to Aomine even after he had passed out, Akashi started processing all the lost words he had managed to catch while the tanned male was, from what he could understand, talking to someone only visible to his eyes. He turned around to the pink haired girl and gave a soft squeeze to her arm. “Satsuki, calm down. Go with them to the infirmary and, if necessary, call an ambulance to take Daiki to the hospital so he can be examined there once again.”

 

“Y-Yes…” acknowledged Momoi with a shaky voice, getting up at the same time as the green haired male and purple haired giant motioned Aomine’s body up. When she noticed that Akashi was staying behind while the other two males were walking to the door, the pink haired girl peered down in his direction, her eyes slightly watery. “W-What about you, Akashi-kun?”

 

“I think I need to have a conversation with Tetsuya right now,” simply announced Akashi while keeping the tanned male closely under his gaze. “It’s time to get answers to one of the questions in my mind.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "CATALRHYTHM" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> Muwahahaha! The way this chapter ended sure is promising, isn't it? While I was writing it, I was jumping in my seat, yelling at the screen of the computer. Please, Aomine!!!! Remember everything about Tetsu!!! PLEASE!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	98. Our path won’t be straight, it’ll be through trial and error

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> So, I have good news! I passed the interview with flying colors! I'll be leaving to London on March 26th XD Having said that, and taking into consideration that I will be quite busy from now on, arranging all the final details and whatnot, I will have to slow down my releases. Slow down, not put in hiatus! All of my current fics will have to slow down quite a bit, so check my profile here on Ao3 to know the new release schedule of both Shattered Miracles and the other series.
> 
> Returning to this chapter~ Fufufu! I told you so :P Enjoy!

With a satisfied sigh, Kuroko closed the book on his hands and let his back slid down against the railing of the bandstand. He snuggled against the pillow he had been sitting on and pulled another two, which he put beneath his back and head, also nestling against them when they were in a comfortable position.

 

He let his hands, together with the book, rest on top of his stomach and closed his eyes, the light of the sun hitting his whole body and warming him up in an extremely soothing way. All he could hear around him was the singing of the birds, the soft rustling of the leaves of the trees around him and the occasion jump of the fishes that apparently inhabited the lake where the bandstand was located on top of.

 

After he finished everything that had made him receive the already expected note, usually left on his desk, Kuroko immediately went to the bandstand, following the exact same path that Akashi had taken him by while he was still staying in the redhead’s building. Akashi showing him this place and allowing him to come here whenever he wanted, with his authorization to not tell anyone else about it so it could be kept hidden, was the ultimate and most perfect excuse to disappear without being followed by anyone else. He could go wherever he wanted (well, at least inside of Teikou Academy) and only tell Akashi later that he had gone to the bandstand.

 

Most likely, Akashi had already realized that he wasn’t in the classroom. He would also probably hear from Kagami that he suddenly disappeared during classes. Kuroko figured that, at first, the thoughts of all ‘Miracles’ would automatically go to ‘Kuroko has ran away’ but he knew that the redhead soon enough would recall his own words and come meet him in the bandstand.

 

Kuroko would probably hear complains later on from Akashi and the other ‘Miracles’, but he didn’t care about it right now. He simply wanted to rest for a little bit more and bask on the warm sunlight. The full moon had gone by, not without trouble arising unfortunately, but he managed to survive it. He had lived through another full moon.

 

 _I no longer know if I should be happy about having survived it or not, though,_ inwardly confessed Kuroko, softly snorting at it. He opened his eyes once again and looked up to the roof of the bandstand, raising one of his hands up in its direction. Opening and closing it while intently staring at his limb, the bluenette couldn’t help but also snort at the sight. _How can I be called anything other than a monster if I can’t even get scars after having gotten such cuts?_

 

Kuroko once again dropped his hand on top of the book, a soft thumping sound being produced due to it, and closed his eyes one more time, silently enjoying the total privacy that he was experiencing for the first since almost over a month.

 

No one was around. No one could sense his presence through a barrier. No one would be observing him and trying to read what was going around inside of his mind. Kuroko could finally enjoy some time alone. Or so it was what he hoped to get out of coming to the bandstand, even if it was only an excuse to mask the reason of his true disappearance.

 

The distance he had acquired from Akashi by coming here in secret was bothering him slightly. He kept hearing a tiny voice in the back of his mind softly whispering to him that he was too far away from the redhead. That he wasn’t safe with said distance. That he wanted to see him. That he shouldn’t leave him ever again. That he should tell him everything that he had been keeping secret.

 

However, Kuroko knew that what the voice was saying were foolish thoughts. Keeping his distance from others would be playing safe, both for him and for the other party. He knew perfectly well that a day would come where he had to part ways from Akashi, probably to never see any of the people attending Teikou Academy ever again. And telling his secrets to Akashi (or actually anyone else)… would be the same as pressing the button to launch a nuclear bomb against ten tons of other bombs of the same magnitude. Instant death – not only for him, but also for the person that got to know of the secrets.

 

Ever since he _awoke_ as a “User”, Kuroko lost his right to pursue his future. Joining Jabberwock made such loss become a permanent and everlasting scar on his life, even if no one could find traces of it on his body – that scar was buried deep in his heart, after all. As such, no matter whomever he would meet in the future or whoever it was that he came to love… nothing would change.

 

“…Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves… regret for the past… and fear of the future…” softly whispered Kuroko, burying his nails on the cover of the book as he tightly maintained his eyes closed.

 

“That’s a quote from Fulton Oursler, if I’m not mistaken,” suddenly added the voice of the redhead. Kuroko softly opened his eyes and looked in its direction, Akashi appearing in his field of view coming from the bridge that linked the bandstand to the lakeshore. “I see that your interest in literature doesn’t only stay in the national grounds but expands far enough to reach American writers.”

 

“I try to keep an open mind to different authors,” simply answered Kuroko, straightening his head once again in the pillow and staring to the roof above him. Considering it was already lunch time, from what he could tell by the high position of the sun in the sky, he wasn’t that surprised that Akashi had suddenly popped up there. He was actually already expecting him to do so.

 

“I’ve brought you something to eat,” said Akashi while walking closer to the laid down bluenette. He leaned forward and put two small packages of melon pan on top of his chest, motioning down afterwards to sit on a pillow near the smaller male’s head. “I figured you’d be hungry by now, even if you don’t eat all that much.”

 

“Thank you,” acknowledged Kuroko, picking up the two packages and the book and putting them down on the bandstand. He lifted his body to a sitting position and turned around, leaning his back once again on the railing. Then the bluenette picked one of the packages again and opened the plastic wrapping, looking sideways to the other male. “Akashi-kun, you didn’t bring anything for yourself?”

 

“It must have slipped my mind. I was feeling down over the fact that we wouldn’t be able to eat in the cafeteria since the menu today would include Mabo Tofu,” confessed Akashi, putting a pouting expression on his face. He was indeed feeling regretful over missing the said dish but he would gladly put it away if it meant he could spend some time alone with the bluenette, not running the risk of having anyone interrupt them once again. “I’ll eat something once we return to the school building.”

 

“You can have one of the melon pans, if you’d like,” offered Kuroko, grabbing the second package and motioning it over to the redhead. One of these breads would be more than enough as lunch for someone with a stomach as small as his (well, if it wasn’t for something vanilla flavored, that is). “It’s not like I want you to die from hunger just because I decided to come here. Also, if you knew I was here, you could have very well had eaten the Mabo Tofu before coming.”

 

“I wanted to hurry up and come to see you,” simply said Akashi, motioning his hand sideways to the melon pan. However, instead of grabbing the plastic package, he grabbed the bluenette’s hands, softly pulling it closer to him. “You really weren’t lying when you said the wound would be gone in the morning. You have absolutely no traces of the cuts in your skin.”

 

“Ah… Y-You’re making it sound like I’m constantly lying to you,” stutteringly pointed out Kuroko while awkwardly pulling his hand from the redhead’s grasp. He put the melon pan near the taller male’s legs and retreated his hand immediately, holding into his own food with both of them so he could have an excuse to not show them more closely to Akashi.

 

“You don’t lie per se. But it’s not like you tell me the truth either,” answered Akashi, opening the plastic package and motioning the bread to his mouth after having pushed the top out of its wrapping. “And don’t misunderstand me. Having secrets is perfectly normal for everyone. All of us have things that we don’t want others to know about, be it for whichever reason it may be. But not telling others about them when the other party is already somewhat aware of it can be interpreted as lying.”

 

“…” Kuroko only gave a small bite to the bread as an answer. Yes, now he was sure about it. Akashi knew that he was somewhat connected, or was previously connected, to Aomine. Possibly to Momoi too, by association. However, as long as the redhead only kept it to himself and didn’t start to inquire him about it, he was still safe. All of them were still safe.

 

“About Daiki…” started Akashi, looking sideways to the smaller male while taking a bite of the bread. Though it wasn’t a very noticeable movement, Kuroko did flinch at his words. “Why did you advise him to play basketball with Kagami Taiga to solve their arguing, during breakfast? Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to you if you kept your… friend… away from us ‘Miracles’?”

 

“Y-Yes, it probably would be. However, just because I have my own problems with all of you, it doesn’t mean that Kagami-kun has to share them,” explained Kuroko, still averting the redhead’s gaze.

 

_Stop, Akashi-kun…_

 

“Hm… But why basketball, out of all things?” asked further Akashi, giving another bite to the bread and then slowly chewing it as he kept looking to the steady grown of discomfort on the smaller male’s body. “How did you know that basketball would be the best thing for both of them?”

 

“I-It was based on the conversations that Aomine-kun and Kagami-kun had while I was having dinner at Kagami-kun’s apartment,” continued explaining Kuroko, motioning the melon pan to his mouth to take another small bite of it. He could feel his hands shaking just the slightest as he did so. “They kept going back and forward about how Kagami-kun still hadn’t managed to win a match against Aomine-kun, even though they had played again and again.”

 

_Please stop asking, Akashi-kun…_

 

“Tetsuya, do you know—“ When Akashi decided to stop going on about this particular topic in a roundabout way and just ask the bluenette directly about his suspicions, he came to a halt. Though Kuroko’s expression had remained exactly the same, he could see fright written all over his teal eyes. “—how to see the hours of the day without any clock around?”

 

“Eh…?” softly interjected Kuroko, looking over to the redhead with a surprised demeanor. He could have sworn that Akashi was going to ask him more questions about Aomine and his relationship with him.

 

“No, it’s just that you never seem to be late in waking up or arriving to classes,” elaborated Akashi, keeping the bluenette under his gaze as he observed the fear slowly dissipating from his eyes. “You don’t have a cell phone and, from what I know, you also don’t have any clock or watch in your bedroom.”

 

“Ah… Well, yes… I learned how to see the hours of the day through the position of the sun on the sky,” explained Kuroko, looking once again to the bread and taking another small bite to it. He had no idea what made Akashi change the topic of the conversation all of a sudden… but he was whole heartedly thankful for it. “I can’t… depend all that much on electronic things after all.”

 

“Anyone who heard you say that would think you are a specialist in survival in the wilderness,” pointed out Akashi, chuckling softly.

 

“I wouldn’t say in the wilderness… but I did have to find my own methods to keep on living, I guess,” suddenly confessed Kuroko, going forward to take another bite of the bread but halting his head just as he was about to do it. “And one of the things that I have learned is that there are some questions that are safer when you don’t know the answer to them.”

 

 _So that’s your way of saying ‘Don’t ask because I will not tell you anything’,_ inwardly pointed out Akashi as he intently looked to the bluenette.

 

Akashi really would have liked to press forward in this regard. He wanted to know what kind of connection… what kind of _relationship_ Kuroko has or had with Aomine. With the “User” he killed, Ogiwara Shigehiro, too. However, seeing that dead frightened glint in his teal eyes immediately told him that asking further would be the same as intentionally stepping on a landmine. Something could go terribly wrong if he made the wrong move.

 

So, for now, the redhead would continue on observing them. He would also have to go have a talk with Aomine in that regard. With Momoi too, since the same was most likely happening with her (though probably in a softer scale seeing as she didn’t display the same reaction that the tanned male did during the topic of the “ghost”).

 

What was the connection? What was it that linked Kuroko to Aomine… and indirectly put Ogiwara Shigehiro in the picture? The tanned male had displayed no symptomatic reaction like that while they were fighting against the “User” during the “Bloody Night”, much less any sign that he had seen, meet or heard of him before. What exactly made him react like that now? And why was he telling someone to not make him forget?

 

 _Is it possible that the reason why Daiki and Satsuki are currently suffering from amnesia on several parts of these past few years since Teikou Academy was founded… is because Tetsuya somehow ‘nullified’ their memories of him?,_ suddenly realized Akashi, fully turning his head to look to the bluenette. He arched an eyebrow slightly as he continued to observe Kuroko silently munching on the melon pan, absent-mindedly looking to the bridge that connected the bandstand to the lakeshore.

 

_If that’s the truth… why did Tetsuya need to do it? What was it that Daiki and Satsuki found out about him that made him erase their memories of him? And most important of all… just how far can his ability go?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Future Line" by Ono Kenshou (our lovely bluenette).
> 
> Akashi, oh, Akashi... You really won't be satisfied until you know everything, will you? -.-' But, Kuroko's right on this one... It's safer if you don't know about it. It's safer for everyone but especially for Aomine, since I have a very strong feeling that you will try to kill him due to jealousy when you hear about it *bites nails with nervousness*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	99. Try to ask questions like "How is it?" and "How far can I go?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> Man, I feel like crying... This will be the last chapter with two digits... *sniff* But that means... next chapter will be the 100th chapter!!! We have to pass to the three digits chapters with a bang, don't we? So~
> 
> Warning: NOSEBLEED ALERT! (I advise you to have 2-3 tissue boxes around :P)
> 
> Enjoy :D

“Can I ask you something, Tetsuya?” suddenly said Akashi after having taken a peek at his cell phone. It was almost time for them to return to the school building, seeing as lunch break was almost ending.

 

“You can, Akashi-kun. But I can’t guarantee that I will be able to answer said question,” acknowledged Kuroko, running his fingers through the pages of the book he had brought to read, even though he had already finished it.

 

“Why did you decide to remain in Teikou, even after the ‘Bloody Night’ had occurred?” asked Akashi, intently staring to the bluenette sitting next to him. When Kuroko raised his eyes from the book and looked over at him with a lost expression, he added, “Yes, I know I’m making you this question for the third time. However, I just can’t understand why you stayed after that happened. With your ability, you could have very easily remained hidden from us, even if you didn’t stay in Teikou.”

 

“You call me stubborn but you are quite persistent yourself,” sighed Kuroko, looking down to the book once again and turning one more page. He took a deep breath and then released the air inside of his lungs. “The price you must pay for your own liberation through another’s sacrifice is that you in turn must be willing to liberate in the same way, irrespective of the consequences to yourself.”

 

“That’s… a quote from Dag Hammarskjöld, isn’t it?” asked Akashi, arching slightly an eyebrow. “If I’m not mistaken, it’s from the book ‘Markings’.”

 

“I don’t really like that quote… but I can’t help but agree with it,” started explaining Kuroko, tightly gripping the sides of the book in his hands. “The ‘liberation’ I achieved when the ‘Bloody Night’ happened was exactly that. Thousands of people died. Other thousands got hurt. I made all those people sacrifice themselves for me. I even made Ogiwara-kun sacrifice himself for me. None of it was supposed to have happened in such a way. If things had gone smoothly, I would be far, far away from Teikou right now. But that night… I forgot something that I should never, ever forget about.”

 

“Which is?” asked further Akashi, turning his body around to fully face the bluenette.

 

“Destiny can’t be changed. And if it has the slightest of chances of being changed, it probably can only be achieved through some sort of personal sacrifice,” continued Kuroko, softly closing the book with his trembling hands. “During the ‘Bloody Night’, none of the two happened. Because my destiny isn’t something that I want to accept and, as such, I can’t fully change it at my will. And because I was too weak to chose to make my personal sacrifice, even if I had the slightest of chances to change it. As such, others had to do it for me.”

 

“I don’t understand what you’re trying to say with all this,” pointed out Akashi, the arching of his eyebrow getting slightly more accentuated. “What does that have to do with why you continued to stay in Teikou?”

 

“It has to do with it. In a roundabout way, staying in Teikou is my own personal sacrifice. And I will only be able to leave once I successfully complete that. Though it’s a pretty small one and probably won’t change anything at all,” explained Kuroko, a strained small smile on his features. “Staying in Teikou means I will have you five around, who are probably the only people in the world who have the small possibility of stopping me if I start losing control of my ability. Though that can almost be called a double-edged sword, taking into account one of the particularities of my ability. Staying here also means that the Japanese government can collect and execute me, if I give them the slightest of reasons to.”

 

“So your current personal sacrifice is staying in a place where you can be killed at any moment by the government’s hands?” asked Akashi, a part of him completely surprised for such a reason. “Aren’t you contradicting yourself, Tetsuya? You have told me several times that you want to preserve your life. If so, why do you keep on risking it?”

 

“You see it as risking it, but I see as fighting for it,” simply pointed out Kuroko, raising his eyes from the book and looking straight to the heterochromatic eyes of the redhead. “It won’t be by running away from my problems or from the consequences of my actions that anything will turn for the better. I also don’t want to spend the rest of my life being forced to hide from everything and everyone. And I know, for a fact, that the Japanese government won’t execute me.”

 

“How can you be so sure of it?” asked Akashi, the arching of his eyebrow getting more accentuated once again.

 

“Because of what you said, Akashi-kun,” answered Kuroko, down-casting his gaze a little bit as the corners of his lips perked up just the slightest. “You promised me yesterday that you wouldn’t let the Japanese government execute me, didn’t you? I… I believe in those words. I don’t really understand why you made such a promise, taking into consideration what I _am_ , but I… want to believe in them.”

 

“…”

 

“Ah… T-That must sound weird, seeing as I’m someone who dislikes all of you ‘Miracles’,” started babbling Kuroko, suddenly feeling extremely bashful over the words he had just told the redhead. He straightened the book on top of his legs and started preparing his body to get up from the pillow. “Y-You also haven’t really given me all that much reasons to believe in you. As far as I know, you could be trying to manipulating me in some sort of way so I can trust you and stop seeing you as an enemy. Now that I think of it, it’s extremely foolish of me to do so. Please don’t mind me. It’s time for the afternoon classes to begin so we should probably return to the school building.”

 

As soon as he came into a full standing position and gave a step forward in the bridge’s direction, Kuroko felt a sudden tug to his wrist, which made him sit back down on the pillow. When he looked to in front of him, he saw Akashi positioning himself on top of him, his hands siding his legs as he intently stared into his teal eyes.

 

“I’m not trying to manipulate you,” confessed Akashi, a completely serious demeanor in his features. “I promised to protect you from the Japanese government, but I don’t want to protect you from only that. I don’t want you to feel pain nor sad. And I know how much the thought of being manipulated hurts you. So I won’t _ever_ try to manipulate you, Tetsuya. And, as far as I can go, I won’t let others manipulate you either. If I’m not allowed to do it, then no one is.”

 

“Y… You have a weird way of seeing and doing things, Akashi-kun…” shyly pointed out Kuroko, a light shade of pink dusting his cheeks. “What makes you think that you’re that omnipotent?”

 

“I’m Akashi Seijuurou, that’s why,” simply said the redhead, leaning his head forward and touching with his forehead on the bluenette’s. “There’s no one who can go against my commands. And the only person who can… well, it’s amusing and highly entertaining to argue with him and try to convince him into succumbing to my whimsical requests.”

 

“You are such a cocky person…” deadpanned Kuroko, releasing a soft sigh. He departed his forehead from the taller male’s and stared straight to his eyes, a small smirk tugging at his lips. “Please don’t go thinking that I will ‘succumb’ that easily. I don’t want to lose. And I don’t go down without a fight first.”

 

“I really want to see you trying to do that,” challenged Akashi, a smirk also surfacing in his lips. “But I will warn you beforehand, Tetsuya. My victory is an undeniable truth. I am absolute, after all.”

 

“Mmhm…” softly whimpered Kuroko when the redhead joined their lips. He closed his eyes and just let himself be swept by the gentle kiss. The way Akashi’s warm lips worked against his, every so often licking or nibbling on them, always made his body go completely limp. He wondered if it was because of the prickling sensation or if Akashi just simply had that sort of effect on him.

 

“Tetsuya… Open your mouth,” whispered Akashi against the bluenette’s lips. He motioned one of his hands up and cupped his pale cheek, trailing with his thumb the slightly moist lips. The redhead softly pressed his finger forward and parted the lips just a gap, enough to see the pink and slick tongue inside of the hot cavern. He could only shiver at the sight, together with the lovely blush covering most of the bluenette’s features. “I want to kiss you more. More deeply.”

 

“Aka— Nn!” Feeling the sudden intrusion inside of his mouth, in the shape of an eager and sensually wet tongue, Kuroko’s whole body shuddered. As the redhead proceeded with the kiss, entwining not only their tongues but also mixing their saliva to form a new concoction, he steadily started to feel heat pooling down on his lower abdomen and he couldn’t help it when the initial stages of a pleasurable haze started blurring his mind. “Haa… Akashi…kun…”

 

“Ngh…” Hearing the mellowed purr of his name coming from the panting bluenette was only making Akashi’s predatory side even more noteworthy. He circled Kuroko’s waist with his arms and pulled him up, making him sit on top of his folded legs while pushing his back strongly against the railing of the bandstand, continuously savoring the insides of his hot mouth.

 

The redhead didn’t want to corner the smaller male nor cut off any of his escape routes if he wanted to stop, but he couldn’t restrain himself from trying to prevent such from happening. He didn’t want to stop. He wanted to keep on kissing and touching. But he also didn’t want to scare Kuroko with his immeasurable desire to have him.

 

Contradictions, so many contradictions. Akashi’s mind got flooded not only by questions, but also by contradictions since Kuroko has appeared in his life. He wanted to touch but not break. He wanted to defile but keep the purity. He wanted to cage him but give him freedom by doing so. The only thing the redhead didn’t feel contradictions about was on wanting to keep Kuroko with him – he didn’t want the bluenette to leave in any way.

 

Opening his eyes at the sensation of the bluenette tightly gripping at his shoulders, Akashi just couldn’t hold himself back anymore. The expression full of lust on Kuroko’s face didn’t allow him to. His own want and desire for him didn’t allow it either. He pulled the bluenette’s waist closer to him, pressing their tight and suppressed erections together, and lunged his torso forward closer to the smaller male, making his back stay even more leaned over the railing. “Tetsuya… Haa… Do you want me to stop?”

 

“Stop… don’t… ahh… stop…” answered Kuroko in between heavy panting, a half-moan escaping his throat. He gripped even more tightly to the taller male’s shoulders, burying his nails on the fabric of the school jacket. However, breaking the kiss with Akashi, even if just momentarily, made his head become a little clearer and his brain, sweetened with pleasurable sensations, came to work in a more proper way. “But… haa… classes…”

 

“You skipped all morning, right?” pointed out Akashi, lowering his head closer to the bluenette’s neck. He gave a long lick to its length, enjoying the body in his arms shivering at it. “Skip the afternoon classes with me.”

 

“The Student Council president… wants to skip classes… ngh… Would you look at that…” deadpanned Kuroko while panting heavily. He tried to shift his body around, but it only caused friction between his and the redhead’s crotch so he immediately stilled his body once again, trying this time to regain the tiniest bit of control over his breathing and heart rhythm. The bluenette did, however, have the feeling that Akashi would make it worse in a few seconds. No, not a feeling. He was _sure_ he would.

 

“Am I not allowed to skip classes just because I’m the Student Council president?” asked Akashi, continuing to run his tongue and lips on the bluenette’s neck. When he sensed that Kuroko was about to rebuke his words once again, he licked the length of his neck once again and gave a soft bite to the flesh between the earlobe and the end of the jaw, making the smaller male mewl in pleasure. “But forget about that for now. Forget about that and focus on what we are doing right now.”

 

“Ngh… Ahh—“ Feeling Akashi switch between licks and nibbles on his Adam’s apple while tugging his necktie off made Kuroko whole body tremble. Not knowing what were the redhead’s plans or intentions towards his body was frightening and a small part of his brain was warning him continuously to stop him from proceeding even further. However, not knowing was also exciting and only intensified his arousal more and more. And even though Akashi had asked him if he wanted to stop… both of them knew they wouldn’t be able to do it, if such was their call to make. “Aka…shi-kun… Haa…”

 

“Ngh… Can I touch you more?” asked Akashi, pulling the necktie completely out of the bluenette. For some reason, knowing that he was the one who put it the smaller male and then that he was the one who took it off was only making the said action seem much deeper than he would usually give it credit for. It made Akashi want to undress even more pieces of clothing out of Kuroko.

 

“Why are you… haa… making so many questions today?” asked Kuroko back, his body twitching slightly when the taller male motioned his hands to the front part of his school jacket and gripped into it.

 

“I don’t want to give reasons for you to threaten to headlock me. Not right now,” answered Akashi, trying to control the urge he felt to just rip the jacket out of the bluenette. Not only the jacket, but every single layer still covering his snow-white skin.

 

Kuroko rolled slightly his eyes and gave a squeeze to the taller male’s shoulders, departing his back from the railing he was being leaned on and approaching Akashi’s face with his. A magnificently dark red blush popped up in his features, covering his face plus the back of his neck and the tips of his ears, when he got aware of how embarrassing his next words would be. “Please stop asking questions… Haa… and just do it like you usually do.”

 

“Tetsuya, don’t tempt me,” warned Akashi, his voice husky with the wave of arousal that bubbled inside of him at the smaller male’s words. He hurriedly unbuttoned the jacket and then the first few buttons of the blue shirt, immediately sliding the fabric down the bluenette’s shoulders and upper arms while still maintaining the rest of his body covered by it. Not waiting even one more second after he put his eyes on the delicious-looking skin, he opened his mouth and sank his teeth on one of the shoulders.

 

“Ahh—! Akashi-kun… you said touch… not bite… Ngh…” pointed out Kuroko with a voice that almost sounded like a cat purring, even to his own ears. When he felt the redhead strongly suck on the place he had bitten, his body shook in rapture and it wasn’t the pickling sensation that was causing any of it. “Ngh… Haa… Haa…”

 

“Touching doesn’t mean I have to do it with my hands,” explained Akashi, running his tongue through the hickey and bite mark he had left on the bluenette’s pale skin. He softly scrapped his teeth on another spot and then sank them fully on it once again. “I can also touch you with my lips, tongue and teeth.”

 

“Pervert…” suddenly said Kuroko, feeling somewhat irked at the fact that Akashi seemed so familiar with the arts of seduction. “I wonder what would… ngh… the girls who have confessed to you before say… if they heard you just now…”

 

“I don’t know. I never said it to anyone else. But I’ll try to do it if the chance occurs,” teasingly answered Akashi as he gave long kisses to the bluenette’s collar bone, feeling extremely satisfied right now. Kuroko had just displayed jealousy over the girls that had confessed to him in the past. Being someone who was inserted in the scoop of the other male’s possessiveness felt one hundred times better that he would have expected. It added more fuel to the fire burning inside of him. It made him want to love Kuroko even more and make him love him in return. “However… Aren’t you quite the perverted one too?”

 

“Ahhh—!” As soon as Akashi pulled his waist closer to him and made the friction on their crotches even more intense, Kuroko lost momentarily all strength on his body and all rationality on his mind. He couldn’t take it anymore. He needed the redhead to touch him more, to touch his body even more directly. He also wanted to touch the other male, even though he knew very well that he should refrain himself from taking initiative with him in any form.

 

But Kuroko wanted it. He just needed it so very much that he couldn’t think about anything else at the moment. Maybe he really was perverted like Akashi had mentioned because all he wanted – all he _needed_ and could _think_ of – right now was take off the rest of his clothes, that were smothering his feverish body, and let his hard-on burst free, achieving his climax through the redhead’s ministrations on him.

 

“Haa… Akashi-kun…” whimpered Kuroko, leaning his face more closely to the taller male’s. “I want… more of yo—“

 

They heard a sudden and loud creaking sound and the wooden floor beneath their bodies disappeared. Next thing they heard and felt was their free fall to the water of the lake that surrounded and was located under of the bandstand. Though the lake didn’t have all that much profundity, the strong impact of their fall on it made the water splash everywhere and rise well above their heads, raining down on top of them afterwards with the help of the forces of gravity.

 

“…” Completely lost on what had just happened and why they ended up in the lake without any apparent reason to, Akashi and Kuroko mutually looked at each other, their bodies half submerged in the cold water. They looked up and noted that the area of the bandstand where they had been sitting on had vanished without a trace.

 

“Ah… Oops…” softly interjected Kuroko, feeling an extreme urge to slam his hand on his face. Which he actually did when Akashi just burst out laughing at the fact that the bluenette had accidentally partially nullified the bandstand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Can Do" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> I think I took the expression "throw cold water at" a little bit too literally... and to the extreme, too -.-' But... I mean... AHAHAHAHAHA! I couldn't help myself with this one! The circumstances were just so perfect to create this scene XD But now seriously - I'll try to control my "cockblock writing tendencies" just a little bit (or not :P)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	100. Start running from this line, it will now become your answer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with... the 100th chapter! Yay XD
> 
> Shattered Miracles has unlocked yet another milestone! Thank you for all of your support up until now. It truly means a lot to me >.< To think that when I began writing this fic I was in a total mental slump regarding pretty much all about my life and now I'm getting ready to leave to another country... I believe that shows just how much writing Shattered Miracles (all the other fics too, but mainly this one) has helped me overcome my own problems. I hope it helps you too, even if just too bring a smile to your faces when having a bad day ^^
> 
> And I have to say... this chapter is quite suited to be the 100th. It sort of makes me laugh that this actually only happened after 100 chapters of story :3
> 
> Enjoy!!

“For how long exactly will you continue to laugh?” asked Kuroko in a sulking motion, his arms hugging his torso as his drenched body shivered slightly. Spring might have arrived already but it wasn’t warm enough to dive into a lake just yet. Even less with their clothes on and nothing to clean their bodies with or change into afterwards.

 

“I’m not laughing, Tetsuya,” answered Akashi, continuing to chuckle at the situation they had fallen victim to (in the most literal of senses). As they were immersing themselves more and more in their little passionate escapade, the bluenette had inadvertently released his ability and actually nullified the area around them, which resulted in them falling to the lake surrounding the bandstand.

 

 _I no longer know if Tetsuya hates me touching him so much that he needs to activate his ability to run away from it… or if he likes it so much that he completely lost himself while we were at it,_ inwardly pointed out Akashi, a smirk tugging at his lips. He had a strong feeling that it was more the latter than the former. And that made him start to chuckle once again. Akashi was far too happy with it to be able to contain it fully inside of himself.

 

“You say you’re not laughing but you haven’t stopped showing this creepy grin since we got outside of the lake,” deadpanned Kuroko, looking sideways to the redhead and catching him once again chuckling. “Not to mention the fact that you’re still trying to control your laughter insi— Achoo!”

 

All of a sudden, Kuroko softly sneezed, his body feeling a particularly strong shudder due to the coldness and wetness covering its entirety. He would most likely not feel this cold if his body hadn’t been so hot previous to falling on the lake. The shock of the temperature difference was numbing his body in an extremely uncomfortable way and he just couldn’t help the constant shivering.

 

“Are you really that weak to the cold?” asked Akashi, looking over to the bluenette, who seemed to be having quite a hard time at the moment. Even though he was quite cold himself and just as wet as the bluenette, he wrapped his arms around Kuroko, tightly hugging him to try to warm him up, even if just enough for him to not be teetering uncontrollably.

 

“A-Akashi-kun?” called Kuroko, surprised by the sudden hug. He wasn’t exactly weak to the cold, but the mixture of the water and the fact that he had unconsciously used his ability was apparently a combination that he was not ready to physically withstand.

 

“Let’s go to my building. We can take a shower there to warm up and I have clothes that we can change into afterwards,” softly said Akashi, pulling Kuroko closer to his body. He had a feeling that the smaller male’s body was much colder than his own was. It must have been because of such that he was shivering in a more accentuated way than he was. “We can get there from here much quicker than to Fuyu or the Student Council building too.”

 

“…Nn…” softly grunted Kuroko in acknowledgment. When the redhead parted their bodies once again, it was a herculean task for him to just not grab into his clothes and pull him back against him one more time. They were cold, really cold, but it was much more comfortable sharing the little warmth present in the midst of the coldness, even if it was only a metaphorical one.

 

However, even though Akashi had fully released his body, he still motioned his hand sideways and held into his hand, once again entwining their fingers in what was starting to become a daily occurrence. Kuroko could only let the corners of his lips perk up just the slightest at it. Silently, they started crossing the small forested area to go in the privately-owned buildings area’s direction.

 

As soon as the building where the bluenette had been closed on for nearly a month was in sight, Akashi picked up their pace a little bit more – Kuroko was still shivering madly and he was starting to worry that, the way things were going, he would get a cold soon enough.

 

 _I can’t let Tetsuya get sick. Not Tetsuya,_ chanted Akashi in the back of his mind, tightening slightly the hold to his hand. As soon as they reached the front door, the redhead immediately commanded the door to be unlocked and promptly opened it, letting the smaller male enter first before him, so he could close the door once again.

 

“I still have some of my clothes in the room I used to change while you were staying here,” said Akashi, finally interrupting the silence that had settled between them. They climbed the stairs to the second floor and stopped in front of the door of the room that Kuroko had used previously. “Get inside while I go fetch them. Actually, go to the bathroom already and undress those wet clothes. You’re still shivering a lot.”

 

“You’re in the same position as I am, Akashi-kun,” pointed out Kuroko, opening the door and stepping inside of the so familiar bedroom. He looked over to the redhead and saw him staring fixedly in his direction. The bluenette could only tilt his head at the weird expression that the redhead’s features currently housed. “Akashi-kun?”

 

“I’ll be right back,” simply said Akashi, turning around on his heels and continuing to walk along the corridor to the room next to that one.

 

What strange thoughts was he starting to have? Just because Kuroko got wet, it didn’t mean he would get sick due to it. Even if he had a frail looking body and lack of stamina, he seemed to be considerably healthy. And his ability had completely nullified the wounds he got in his hands. So, even though he might get a cold or a slight fever because of the fall to the lake, nothing out of the ordinary would happen to him.

 

Kuroko didn’t have the same sickly constitution that his mother had while she was still alive.

 

“…” The redhead came to a stop as he was opening one of the drawers of the closet in the room. He clicked his tongue loudly and ran his fingers through his wet hair, in an attempt to take his mind out of that particular subject. All of his worries were completely unfounded, as far as he knew.

 

Then again… What exactly did he know about Kuroko? Most likely, only what he showed in the surface. Akashi didn’t know anything that was inside, with the exception of the multi-colored core situated in his heart. Besides that… he knew absolutely nothing.

 

Clicking his tongue one more time, the redhead continued gathering clothes for both of them. Luckily he had enough pieces of clothing still stored in that room for two people to use. Holding into them carefully, so he wouldn’t wet them with his current drenched body, Akashi once again got outside of the room and walked to the one the bluenette was occupying.  When he stepped inside, Kuroko was still in the same place as when he had left.

 

“I told you to go to the bathroom and take the clothes off, didn’t I?” sighed Akashi, rolling his eyes slightly. He walked over to the bluenette and gave him his share of the clothes, pushing him by the back to lead him to the bathroom. “You need to warm up your body as soon as possible, Tetsuya.”

 

“But you—“ started Kuroko, but he immediately interrupted his own words shortly after. When he reached to the bathroom’s door, he stopped under the frame and looked behind to the taller male, who was staring at him with a quizzical expression, as if he didn’t understand what he was talking about. “…Never mind.”

 

As Kuroko fully stepped inside of the bathroom and was turning around once again to close the door, he noticed that Akashi was following right behind him.

 

“Akashi-kun, why are you coming inside too?” asked Kuroko, arching slightly an eyebrow. He sure had a bad feeling about this. “You’re… not thinking that you will take a bath with me once again, are you?”

 

“Of course I’m going to have a bath with you,” simply answered Akashi, also arching an eyebrow at the bluenette’s question. “Where else would I have a bath?”

 

Instead of freaking out at the redhead’s words, Kuroko took a deep breath and then released the air stored in his lungs. He cleared his throat and looked directly to the heterochromatic eyes of the taller male. “Are there any other bathrooms in your building?”

 

“Yes, there are,” shortly acknowledged Akashi, also nodding his head softly.

 

“And is there any problem with them?” asked once again Kuroko, still keeping the same semblance on his whole body.

 

“No, they are fully operational,” answered Akashi, looking back to the bluenette in the same way as he was being stared at.

 

“Then, please go use one of those other fully operational bathrooms,” declared Kuroko, starting to close the bathroom’s wooden door while the other male still hasn’t stepped beyond the frame. When a hand grabbed the side of the door and stopped its closing motion, the bluenette could only roll his eyes at it. “Akashi-kun, what have we talked about? Freedom equals privacy. As I told you time and time again, I’m not going to run away.”

 

“I know you won’t. Now much better than before,” acknowledged Akashi, pushing the door more open so he could see the bluenette more clearly (and enable him enough space to sneak inside of the bathroom). A mischievous smirk popped up in his lips as he formulated his next words. “But I want to take a bath with you, Tetsuya. I need to certify myself that your body gets as warm as it was earlier in the bandstand. Maybe we should continue where we left off, before we fell to the lake. I’m really curious about what you were saying when that happened.”

 

“…!” Kuroko’s face immediately exploded in a myriad of shades of red at the things that Akashi was saying. So, in the midst of his embarrassment, he fully opened the door, yanking the hand that was gripping it with said motion, and then quickly slammed it close, a loud thudding sound echoing from outside. When the bluenette heard the soft groaning coming from behind the door, he knew what that thud had been. He hit Akashi, probably in the face, with the door as he closed it. “Ah… U-Um…”

 

“I believe I’ve said this before, Tetsuya, but it’s rude to close doors on other people’s faces,” sighed Akashi, trying to sound annoyed at what had just happened. That, apparently, was impossible since he was doing his utmost to not begin laughing at it. “I think your trainings should also include etiquette lessons, and not only your control on your ability and familiarization with society.”

 

“What am I? Some child that was found in the middle of the forest after being lost there since baby and that was raised by wolves?” deadpanned Kuroko, rolling his eyes at the redhead’s words. Part of him felt bad for having hit Akashi with the door; but after hearing him say that, his consciousness was as clean as it could be, taking his past into consideration. “Please go take a bath using another bathroom. If you even dare to open this door, for whatever reason it may be, I swear I will—“

 

“You will what?” interrupted Akashi, grabbing the knob of the door with one of his hands while the other softly massaged his sore forehead. “You will headlock me? Dislocate a shoulder or two? Slam another door on my face?”

 

“No, I will put a ban of one meter around me,” simply said Kuroko, releasing a soft masked sigh. “Which means, you won’t be able to touch me, k-kiss me… or sleep in the same bed as me. You also won’t be able to sit next to me during breakfast, lunch or dinner, and if you want to walk with me to and from school, you will have to walk a meter away from me.”

 

“…” The hand that was starting to turn the knob immediately stilled when he heard those words. Knowing Kuroko (or actually, basing himself on the interactions he had been having this last month with him), Akashi knew very well that the bluenette would find a way to do it. He really would put a ban or something like that on him. “But I—“

 

“Please go take a bath already, Akashi-kun. Both of us will catch a cold if we don’t hurry up and warm up our bodies,” interrupted Kuroko, releasing one more sigh. “If you do me this favor, I’ll do you the favor of skipping the afternoon classes with you. We can stay here reading or go to the gym to continue my trainings or any other thing. Ah, except continuing what we were d-doing in the b-bandstand.”

 

“…” Akashi continued to closely eye the door in front of him. Then he fully released the knob and let his hand fall back to the sides of his body, releasing a deep sigh. Frowning slightly, he took a step backwards and finally announced his decision. “So you’re saying we can do anything I want, as long as it’s not what we were doing in the bandstand, correct? Fine. I’ll use the bathroom next door so make sure to warm yourself properly, Tetsuya. I don’t want to see you getting sick.”

 

After a few seconds of total silence, Kuroko heard the door of the bedroom closing and then another wave of silence hit his surroundings. He could only thank the gods for at least hearing his prayers this time around. He stepped away from the door and fully motioned inside of the bathroom; though he came into another halt almost instantly.

 

Teal eyes were staring at him from the mirror that the bathroom had, located on top of the sink in the wall. He felt a shudder ran down his spine and he could swear that his body temperature dropped even more at the sight. Without waiting even a minute, Kuroko went over to the shelf where the towels were being kept and grabbed two of them, motioning afterwards to the mirror. Carefully, he covered the entire surface of the mirror with the fabric, carefully tucking the hems of the towels on the gap between the mirror and the wall. When he certified himself that the towels wouldn’t fall while he was bathing, he released a soft sigh and turned around, now with the intention of finally warming up his body under hot water.

 

As he worked his way out of the drenched clothes, carefully to not splash droplets of water all over the floor of the bathroom, the bluenette’s brain once again entered in his self-admonishing mode while a soft shade of pink started to color his pale features.

 

 _What was I about to say back there?,_ inwardly said Kuroko while unbuttoning the final buttons of his blue shirt. Falling to the lake had truly been a blessing – it helped him once again regain his rationality and fully extinguish the arousal he had been feeling at that moment. If he hadn’t unconsciously activated his ability and caused them to stop right there… how far exactly would they have gone? What words would have slipped out of his mouth? How much further would he have allowed Akashi to deepen their relationship?

 

Because, even though it didn’t have a name or a status, he and Akashi had some sort of relationship. They weren’t enemies per se. But they also weren’t friends. They have had different types of encounters based on a sexual nature and Kuroko was in love with the redhead, but they weren’t lovers either. Actually, none of these categories could be applied to them.

 

Akashi was protecting him from the Japanese government so he couldn’t call him his enemy. Akashi had killed Ogiwara right in front of him so he couldn’t call him his friend. And, even though he loved him and even if the extremely small chance of Akashi loving him back actually occurred, they could never be lovers.

 

Taking the last piece of clothing out of his body, Kuroko entered inside of the shower and turned the faucet, not fully warm water falling down on top of him. He pushed the blue locks of hair behind with the help of his fingers and looked up, feeling the water fall on top of his face directly. He stayed in that position for a few seconds, the temperature of the water steadily growing warmer and warmer. Then, all of a sudden, Kuroko just crouched down his body, covering with his hands an extremely red blush.

 

_I want to put a name on my relationship with Akashi-kun… And I don’t want it to be “enemies” or “friends”… I want to monopolize him and be monopolized by him in return. I simply want him._

 

Kuroko let his hands slip out of his face and slammed it against the wall of the shower, in an attempt to calm down his thundering heart. “Now I’m starting to sound like Akashi-kun…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Future Line" by Ono Kenshou (our lovely bluenette that has finally admitted to himself which is the name that he wants to put in his relationship with Akashi XD)
> 
> Dear lord, why are the both of you so freaking cute!? Your bickering gives me life and Kuroko slamming a door in Akashi's face and hitting him with it just had to happen at some point :P But YES, Kuroko! Become lovers with your devilish angel already, for god's sake! I want to see it happening *does puppy eyes*  
> (And btw, congratulations on actually winning a round against Akashi! You're finally getting the hang of it ;D)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	101. I’ll put my faith in those words

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> I know, I know... It's late compared to the usual hour. But... I feel asleep :P Writing also burns calories and yesterday I wrote for almost 7 hours straight (with some breaks, of course) so I really needed my beauty sleep.
> 
> But it's here! As such, enjoy :D

Freshly out of the bath and with dry clothes already dressed, Kuroko sighed with relish while tousling his hair with a towel to take the most water out of it that he could. He ended up staying underneath the shower for almost half an hour – the coldness of his body wasn’t only caused by the fall to the lake, after all. But now, with his body temperature back to its usual one, the bluenette could rest his worries away. It seemed that he didn’t use his ability enough for the other “symptoms” to show up.

 

Kuroko walked over to the covered mirror and tip-toed so he could reach the top to take the towels still preventing his reflection to be shown in its surface. Once the two towels were out of there, he folded them once again and put them back on the shelf from where they had been taken from. He towel-dried his hair for a few more seconds and then put the used towel on the laundry basket, where his wet uniform had also been put.

 

At the sight of his uniform, the bluenette looked down at the clothes he was currently using. Since he and the redhead didn’t have that much of a height difference, the clothes fitted his body quite well but… they smelled like Akashi. The same thought of that morning crossed his mind once again – whether the redhead was doing it consciously or unconsciously, he was being scent-marked by Akashi. And that thought no longer seemed as frightening as it had earlier in the day, even if just barely.

 

Kuroko had come to like Akashi’s scent. Just like the redhead’s body temperature, his scent was extremely soothing and warm. He hadn’t seen his family for years now, but it somehow gave him the same feeling as being with them – at least, during the time before his world started to crumble down. And right now, his whole body was surrounded by said scent.

 

Walking over to the door while his forearm rested near his nose, every so often breathing in the fragrance impregnated in the sleeve, Kuroko opened the door so he could exit the bathroom. When he saw Akashi already inside of the bedroom, he awkwardly dropped his arm to the side of his body the quickest he could. “Y-You’re here already?”

 

“That sure was a long bath,” pointed out Akashi, looking from the shelf he was in front of to the bluenette, a smirk tugging his lips upwards. “Did it really take that long for you to warm up? Or did you have other matters to attend while you were warming up?”

 

“D-Did not!” stutteringly yelped Kuroko, a deep red coloring popping up in his features. He absolutely had not done what the redhead was currently implying with those words, even if he had been continuously thinking about him.

 

“Hm… Is that so?” acknowledged Akashi, turning his face back to the shelf as he took a book from there, the smirk still present in his features. With the book on his hands, he started walking in the bluenette’s direction and stopped in front of him, only a few inches separating them. Akashi obviously couldn’t allow such distance and lowered his head closer to the side of Kuroko’s face, softly purring in his ear as he bumped the book in the smaller male’s chest. “I did.”

 

“…!” Hearing those words come out of the redhead’s mouth, as well as the hot breathe that tickled his earlobe, Kuroko’s blush intensified even more and he tilted his head slightly to the other side, trying to put some distance between their faces.

 

Akashi mischievously smirked and delivered a quick and soft peck to the bluenette’s cheek, stepping once again away from him after having left the book on his hands. “I think you will enjoy that book. Give it a try when you have the time.”

 

“Y-Yes…” acknowledged Kuroko with a soft nod of his head. He looked down to the book that the taller male had given him and arched slightly an eyebrow at it. It was a picture book. Tilting his head slightly once again as he looked down to the book, he quizzically raised his glance just a fraction and observed Akashi. He had told him that he kept an open mind about books and writers but for him to tell him to read a book rated for young children… The bluenette could only think of it as some sort of teasing that the taller male was trying to perform. _Why does Akashi-kun even keep a picture book in his building?_

 

“You said we can do anything that I want during the afternoon, right?” suddenly asked Akashi, pulling one of the chairs on the table in the middle of the room and sitting down on it. He looked over to the bluenette and pointed with his hand to the chair that was located on the seat in front of him. “Have a seat, Tetsuya.”

 

“…” An extremely large part of him was highly suspicious of what was about to come his way. What would Kuroko do if the redhead started to question him once again? What if he tried to dig around more about his past, whether it involved Aomine or not? Because… whatever question he made about those two regards, he could answer none. No matter way, he couldn’t tell Akashi any of it.

 

Kuroko gulped down hard and slowly started to walk to the seat that had been offered to him. Trying to take the most time possible with his movements, he softly pulled the chair, set the book on top of the table and sat down on his seat. Then, his face featuring the most unreadable expression he could manage at the time, Kuroko looked straight to the redhead.

 

“About your ability… Have you ever tried to undergo some kind of training on it?” asked Akashi, putting his elbows on the table and crossing his fingers near his chin.

 

“…” In a masked way, Kuroko gulp down and make his utmost to not avert the redhead’s gaze. He hadn’t undergone any training per se but he did have some ‘help’ on how to more usefully apply it to his daily life. “I didn’t. But I did learn how to perform a few tricks with it.”

 

“I see,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a quick nod with his head. “You don’t really seem to lack that much control on your ability when you’re in your ‘under control’ self and you can put it to good use, as the little ‘tag game’ we had yesterday proves.”

 

“How can you say that when we just fell to the lake because of my ability?” shyly deadpanned Kuroko, down-casting his face slightly while keeping his eyes on the taller male.

 

“It’s not like you nullified that bit of the bandstand on purpose, right?” pointed out Akashi, chuckling softly as he saw the apologetic look on the bluenette’s features. “And even I lose control of my ability from time to time. Remember me who is the one constantly making the lamps on the ceiling burst?”

 

“That’s not lack of control on your ability, it’s lack of control on your emotions,” fully deadpanned Kuroko this time, releasing a soft sigh.

 

“Which equals to the same, taking into consideration that our abilities are more easily under control if we are also emotionally stable,” added Akashi, putting his chin on top of his entwined fingers. A soft smile suddenly appeared in his lips. “Though, recently, I’ve discovered that emotions are something extremely hard to control.”

 

 _Tell me about it…_ inwardly agreed Kuroko, sighing slightly. He had lost count of how many times he had made a decision in regards of the redhead, then completely broke it and made another totally different, only to go back to his initial one with some slight differences and improvements. Or how many times he had ended up giving in to his whims, like what is happening right now. And the only culprit for all of that are his continuously growing feelings for Akashi.

 

“But let’s return to the topic of the discussion,” announced Akashi, softly clearing his throat. “Have you ever tried to control the shadows?”

 

“Eh? The shadows?” repeated Kuroko, arching slightly an eyebrow as he quizzically looked to the redhead, suspicion starting to grow inside of his mind.

 

“You told me that they are one of the physical manifestations of your ability and that, at an initially stage, they are meant to protect you,” explained Akashi, lifting his chin from his hands and staring intently to the smaller male, a serious demeanor on his face. “Taking that into consideration, wouldn’t you be able to control them and make them do what you want them to do, instead of just let them randomly attack those, whether they have bad intentions or not, that get near you?”

 

“I-I can see where you are trying to get at. But…” hesitantly started explaining Kuroko, his eyes departing from the redhead and dancing around the whole room. He gulped down hard and once again peered to the male sitting in front of him. “But I never managed to control them. And that means I can’t summon them, as we can call it, at my beck and call. They… simply appear at times. Mainly when I’m in some sort of dangerous situation or feel extremely threatened by something or someone.”

 

“Have you ever tried to summon them?” asked Akashi, continuing to observe the fidgeting bluenette.

 

“I-I haven’t…” ended up confessing Kuroko, down-casting his gaze to the surface of the table completely. Of course he hadn’t. Every time the shadows had appeared, someone died. If there wasn’t any mortal victim, then someone got extremely hurt. So it was obvious that the bluenette would never knowingly summon the shadows, whether in a situation where he was completely safe or in a situation where he _wasn’t_ completely safe. He just… really disliked resorting to the usage of the shadows, no matter what sort of circumstances he was under.

 

“Do you want to try?” simply asked Akashi, separating his fingers and softly lowering his forearms fully to the table. When he saw the smaller male abruptly lifting his head, surprise written all over his face, he gave a quick turn to the corners of his lips. “Right now, all students and staff are in their correspondent classrooms and posts, working on their duties. So there are zero chances of someone approaching the gym that has been designated for your training. It will be just me and you there. Be it inside of the building, be it on that entire area. As such… there are zero chances of someone being hurt on the process.”

 

“But… what about you?” asked Kuroko, arching slightly an eyebrow as he heard the explanation given to him by the taller male.

 

“I’m not someone who gets that easily hurt, even if I can’t use my ability directly on you, Tetsuya,” answered Akashi, a smirk popping up in his features. “So, what do you say?”

 

“Do I even have the right to say no?” deadpanned Kuroko, looking intently to the redhead. They had agreed to do what Akashi wanted to do as an exchange for him to bathe alone, after all. He didn’t really like the sound of just letting the taller male to pull him along with his objectives or whatever it was that he wanted to accomplish with this training in particular… but an agreement was an agreement. Kuroko disliked even more breaking his own word on things he had agreed on beforehand – even if that trait of his sometimes led to his downfall.

 

“I don’t want to force you to do anything, Tetsuya,” added Akashi, exchanging his smirk for a soft smile. “If you don’t want to undergo such training, you don’t have to. However, I do think it would be a beneficial thing for you. If you manage to control the shadow, it means that less people will run the risk of being hurt in the future. I believe that’s a burden you would like to take off of your shoulders, isn’t it?”

 

“…” It was. If it meant that Kuroko would not hurt another human being in his entire life, it would be immensely beneficial for him. He didn’t need any more deaths or injuries to be added to the long list he already held. He didn’t need any more guilt weighting him down.

 

However, who knew how well that would go. What if he fully unleashed his shadows and began another “Bloody Night”? Yes, the possibility of that was much lower, now that the full moon has passed. But it was something still accomplishable. And… what if he hurt Akashi? Or worse yet, what if he killed him? Kuroko most definitely did _not_ want to see such appearing. He didn’t want to hurt the redhead. He didn’t even want to put him in any sort of situation where such could happen.

 

“Tetsuya,” suddenly called Akashi. When he saw the bluenette lifting his gaze from the table once again and look over in his direction, his soft smile widening all but a fraction as he also intently stared to the male sitting in front of him. “Nothing wrong will happen. I told you the same yesterday and absolutely nothing bad happened, right? Well, if we forget about the things that went over in Fuyu. When we had lunch in the cafeteria, everything went according to plans too, didn’t it? Also, if you believed in my word when I told you that I would protect you from the Japanese government, then believe in me when I tell you that nothing wrong will happen today too. Or tomorrow. Or the day after that. Or in all the other ones that are yet to come. Even if you dislike me and all the other ‘Miracles’, trust in my words. Trust _me_.”

 

“…Okay,” answered Kuroko almost instantly, catching the redhead off guard. Hell, even he was surprised at how easily he actually agreed to his words. But he couldn’t help it. It wasn’t the prospect of safety (well, part of it was) that made him agree to it – it was the prospect of a future. Kuroko knew he wasn’t allowed to have one. But he could still hope (not wish) for it.

 

 _‘Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us,’ right?,_ added Kuroko in the back of his mind as he continued to peer to the taller male, the corners of his lips faintly lifted.

 

“Okay,” acknowledged Akashi, nodding his head with a quick jerk. Well, that was unexpected. He was definitely not expecting the bluenette to answer him in that way. He wasn’t expecting him to agree into trusting him. The redhead had previously gotten extremely happy at the unconscious possessiveness that Kuroko displayed over him but, compared to how he felt right now, that was nothing but a small outburst of satisfaction. What he was feeling right now was pure bliss. “Shall we move to the gym, then?”

 

“Yes,” answered Kuroko, getting up from the chair as he saw the other male do the same and walking around the table to reach the door, to where the redhead was also walking to. He, however, took a few steps backwards and picked up the picture book that Akashi had told him to read, and then this time fully walked to the door. “Ah, but I will set a condition about this.”

 

“Which is?” asked Akashi, arching slightly an eyebrow at that sudden addition.

 

“Please don’t touch me during the trainings,” said Kuroko, a serious glint in his eyes as he intently looked to the heterochromatic ones of the redhead. “And I’m being completely serious on this. Whatever happens, don’t touch me, Akashi-kun.”

 

“I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try,” shortly acknowledged Akashi, motioning his hand forward to open the door. He made way for the smaller male to cross it and then followed after him.

 

As they traveled through the corridor in the stair’s direction, the redhead continuously kept the bluenette under his gaze, intently observing him as he walked a couple of steps in front of him. Then he motioned his hand forward and softly tugged at the back of Kuroko’s clothes.

 

“What is it?” asked Kuroko, turning his head in the taller male’s direction.

 

“Nothing,” answered Akashi, releasing the fabric and letting his limb fall back to the side of his body. He continued walking, passing by the bluenette and grabbing his hand on the way, readily entwining their fingers.

 

“You’re acting weird, Akashi-kun,” said Kuroko as he tilted his head slightly. Akashi was once again with the ‘creepy-looking grin’ on his face.

 

“Why do you stubbornly continue to call me weird, I wonder?” sighed Akashi, faking a sulking expression.

 

“I can use variations of the word, if you’d like,” pointed out Kuroko, a complete deadpan look on his features. “I can call you ‘eccentric’ or ‘crazy’. ‘Peculiar’, ‘unconventional’ and ‘insane’ too. Which one would you prefer?”

 

“Should I find variations for love, too, then?” teasingly asked Akashi, a smirk appearing in his features as he peered sideways to the smaller male. “Like  ‘darling’ or ‘dear’. ‘Honey’, ‘sweetie’ and ‘sugar’ could work quite well to, seeing as I’ve been tasting you so many times lately.”

 

“I-I-I’ll stop calling you weird from now on,” stutteringly conceded Kuroko, turning his head the other way so he could prevent the taller male from seeing the majestic blush that covered his whole face. One more round lost for his side.

 

“You will? That’s such a pity,” taunted Akashi in between chuckles. “In a roundabout way, I quite like it when you call me weird.”

 

 _In a roundabout way, I like it when you call me love too,_ inwardly confessed Kuroko, the blush in his face darkening considerably. _Which is why I don’t want you to do it. Don’t feed my feelings for you, Akashi-kun… or I really won’t be able to cut them off when the time comes._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "The Other self" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Progress to the story, progress to AkaKuro relationship... So much progress going around! However...  
> Akashi! What you do while in the shower it's your business!!! Don't embarrass your lovely bluenette (and me!) by telling him what you entertained yourself with while warming up -.-' And Kuroko! Sniffing other people's clothes in secret is a quite stalker-ish behavior! *face-palms* What am I supposed to do with you two? And I forgave you completely after the last bickering scene >.<
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	102. When you accept freedom, you’ll struggle and face instability

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> So I wanted to announce something. I will stop following a release schedule and simply release the chapters as I write them. It's quite stressful to follow a tight schedule, after all, and I've been doing it for over half an year now... I need a break from it. So every time I finish writing a chapter, it will be readily released here - that will be applied to EVERY fic (except the B-day's series, in a way). You know how high-paced I am at the moment, right? So you'll probably get a daily release of one of my fics, whatever I feel like writing about at the moment ^.^ And that also means you might get several chapters in a row of Shattered Miracles ;D
> 
> Enjoy ^.^

Akashi leisurely slid the gym’s door open and stepped inside, Kuroko entering in the big building right after him. The redhead had been absolutely correct on what he had said: they didn’t pass by a single student or staff member on their way to the gym and all the buildings around that area were completely empty. So the only possible victim to get hurt or killed truly was Akashi solemnly. Kuroko just couldn’t swallow down the lump in his throat that the thought alone caused in him.

 

“Do you think it’s even worth it turning on the lights?” asked Akashi, stopping in front of the electric panel of the gym and looking over in the smaller male’s direction.

 

“They will probably stop working at some point so you can choose, Akashi-kun,” answered Kuroko, feebly playing with the hem of the sleeve with his fingertips as he avoided looking directly to the redhead.

 

“…” Akashi kept staring to the bluenette for a few more seconds and then closed the hatch of the electric panel, ending up not touching any of the buttons. Taking the bluenette’s current demeanor and stance into consideration, it would be more comfortable for him if the lights didn’t suddenly go off while on the training. He returned to near the smaller male and softly ruffled his hair, gaining from him a quizzical look. “I can still touch you, right? The training hasn’t started per se, after all.”

 

“I-I guess,” acknowledged Kuroko, lifting his gaze a little bit to peer to the taller male.

 

“Then, before we start…” announced Akashi, walking around the bluenette and stopping behind him. He wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled both of their bodies down, sitting Kuroko between his legs. “Let me make you a couple of questions.”

 

“Eh? Ah… Um…” started babbling Kuroko, at a completely loss if he should just push the redhead away from him or if he should be the one to pull away from his hold on his lower stomach.

 

“Birthday,” simply said Akashi. When he saw the smaller male turn his head around to look at him with an even more lost semblance, he chuckled softly and smiled at him. “Your birthday is?”

 

“Um… January 31st,” answered Kuroko, still trying to understand what exactly the other male wanted to get at with that question in particular.

 

“Ah… That means we weren’t born in the same year, taking into consideration that you’re a first year in high school,” added Akashi, his smile widening a little bit more. “I was born on December 20th. Have you always been living in the Tokyo area? Or are you from other prefecture from Japan?”

 

“Y-Yes, I’ve always lived in Tokyo,” answered Kuroko, still slightly taken aback by this sudden quiz.

 

“I was born and raised in Kyoto, but I fully moved to Tokyo when the construction of Teikou Academy began,” added Akashi once again, changing the answer the bluenette had given to fit his own circumstances. “I would ask you what is your favorite food but I already know the answer to that one. Mine is Tofu soup. Are there any foods that you dislike to eat?”

 

“There aren’t but I’m not very fond of carbonated drinks,” answered Kuroko, now fully lost in all this. Why was the redhead making him such questions?

 

“I also don’t have anything in particular that I dislike. Well, except benishouga and seaweed, whichever way or shape they came in,” added Akashi one more time, chuckling softly when he saw the blank expression that the smaller male threw at him when he first began to answer. “Which is your favorite book or author?”

 

“I don’t have any. I’ve read far too many different books and authors to choose between all of those that I liked,” answered Kuroko, remembering the book that the taller male had told him to read. He still couldn’t understand why but he would probably get a clue about it once he read the story.

 

“I will answer the same way to this question,” acknowledged Akashi, chuckling softly. He nestled his chest closer on the bluenette’s back and leaned his chin on top of his shoulder, always keeping the slightly turned face of the other male under his gaze. “You don’t really need to answer this one but I used to live with my mother and father. And I’m an only child, though sometimes I have the feeling that I have an extremely mischievous and twisted younger brother inhabiting the same body as me.”

 

“That’s a strange way to put it,” pointed out Kuroko, softly chuckling as he turned his face to look at what was in front of him. “But yes, I will not answer that question.”

 

“Hmm… A place you would like to go?” asked once again Akashi, making a slight pause to think of another question.

 

“That’s an even stranger question, taking into consideration that I’m pretty much restricted from leaving Teikou,” deadpanned Kuroko, turning his face once again to the taller male. However, he decided to answer nevertheless. “Maybe a bookstore. Or Maji Burger since I miss drinking their vanilla milkshakes.”

 

“You will get to go outside of Teikou this weekend, though,” pointed out Akashi, a sudden mischievous smirk popping up in his features. “Speaking of which… Have you ever gone out on a date before?”

 

“That’s not a strange question, that’s sexual harassment,” deadpanned Kuroko once again, pinching softly the skin beneath the fabric of one of the arms around his stomach. When he heard the male behind him starting to laugh, his deadpan expression morphed to a slightly pouting one. “What’s so fun about it?”

 

“I’m sorry, Tetsuya,” apologized Akashi, still laughing a little bit. He tightened his hold around the bluenette’s lower half slightly and smiled at him. “That was a mean question. You don’t have to answer it.”

 

“And what’s that supposed to mean? Are you trying to say that I would never go out on a date with someone?” asked Kuroko, a slightly offended tone surfacing in his voice.

 

“No, that’s not it. I would get extremely jealous if you had gone out on a date with someone before we go on a date ourselves, so it’s better if I don’t know the answer to that question,” confessed Akashi, widening his smile a little bit more.

 

“…” Kuroko readily looked back to in front of him once again, trying to conceal the blush that was currently dusting his cheeks with a red coloring. He tried to do his best to calm down his thundering heart since he knew very well that the taller male would be able to feel his heartbeat with their close proximity.

 

“You seem much more relaxed now,” suddenly said Akashi, departing his chin from the smaller male’s shoulder. He lightened his hold on him and straightened his back once again. “Are you now ready to start the training or do we need to continue with these little questions for a little bit longer?”

 

Kuroko immediately turned his face around to look at the redhead. So that was the purpose of the questions. Somehow, he was feeling a small pain in his chest. It wasn’t that Akashi was interested in knowing him better – it was only a strategy to calm his nervousness over the training. “…Yes, we can start. Ah… Akashi-kun?”

 

“Hm?” softly hummed Akashi, looking over to the bluenette with a half serious, half relaxed expression.

 

“If you don’t release me, I won’t be able to get up,” explained Kuroko, softly tugging at the sleeves of the other male’s clothes, the arms still wrapped around his waist.

 

“Ah… That’s true. And I won’t be able to touch you during the whole training, either,” acknowledged Akashi, a sulking expression suddenly popping up in his features. He sighed and leaned his forehead on the back of the smaller male’s neck. “I was also having fun with the beginning of my new sexual harassing scheme.”

 

“I told you this before, Akashi-kun. You have absolutely no skills in telling jokes,” deadpanned Kuroko, rolling his eyes slightly as he switched his gaze elsewhere once again. “I will advise you to not say something like that in front of others because they will misunderstand your words and truly think that you are trying to sexually harass someone.”

 

“Then there’s no problem since the only person I want to sexually harass is you,” honestly pointed out Akashi, still maintain both his face in the bluenette’s neck and his arms around his waist.

 

“Idiot…” softly mumbled Kuroko, a bright red blush surfacing in his whole face. “What’s the catch of sexually harassing me? If I was a girl, I could somewhat understand… but I’m male. And I’m ‘The Phantom’…”

 

“What does any of those things have to do with it?” asked back Akashi, once again tightening his arms around the bluenette’s waist when he felt him softly grabbing into his sleeves. “Whether you’re male or ‘The Phantom’, I still consider you cute.”

 

“You have a really weird concept of cuteness, then,” sighed Kuroko, a small smile tugging the corners of his lips slightly upwards.

 

“Oh, you called me weird again,” teasingly pointed out Akashi, tightening his hold on the smaller male and motioning his back backwards to the floor of the gym, pulling the body in his arms together with him.

 

“Wait, what are you doing?” asked Kuroko, wiggling his body around as he remained laid down on top of the taller male’s body, stuck in that position since he continued on ‘total lockdown’ due to the limbs around him.

 

“Indirectly speaking, you also called me strange several times,” continued Akashi, ignoring the attempts that the bluenette was making to escape from him. “Strange is a variation of weird so I guess I should also use a variation myself, shouldn’t I?”

 

“Please don’t! I apologize for calling you weird and strange, even if only indirectly, so do—“

 

“Turtle dove,” softly whispered Akashi near the bluenette’s ear.

 

“Eh? ‘T-Turtle dove’…?” repeated Kuroko, not expecting to be called that. No, it wasn’t that. He simply got completely lost over why he was being called that.

 

“You don’t know what it means?” teasingly asked Akashi, lowering his head once again to the floor. “Then, even before the training begins, I’ll assign you some homework. Go search in a dictionary what that word means. You can also check the zoological definition it has, but the important one is the one used in literature.”

 

“O-Okay…?” hesitantly acknowledged Kuroko, still partially lost in this… endearment? Was those words supposed to be some sort of endearment? _But… a bird? Why is Akashi-kun calling me a bird? I would actually call him weird again but I fear for what he would say if I did it…_

 

“Okay, it’s time for us to get down to it,” announced Akashi, fully releasing the lower stomach of the bluenette. When Kuroko rotated his body and got out of on top of him, he also motioned his body to a sitting position, readily getting up to a full stood up position afterwards. The redhead peered down to the smaller male and extended his hand to him. “Let’s see how much progress we can make until the end of this week.”

 

“Yes…” acknowledged Kuroko with a short nod of his head. He grabbed the hand that had been held out for him and motioned his body upwards too. The bluenette stared for a couple of seconds to the hand he was grabbing and then released it, switching his gaze to the redhead. “And, as you promised you would, don’t touch me from here on out.”

 

“I said I would try, but who knows how well that one will go,” pointed out Akashi, a small smirk appearing on his features. He cleared his throat and straightened his back slightly, putting a serious demeanor on his face. “Have you found a way to ‘summon’ your shadows? Or do you think it will be necessary to put you under a dangerous situation for them to appear?”

 

“I don’t think that would really work,” answered Kuroko. If he felt safe around the redhead, no matter what sort of situation he would put him under, the shadows would not appear, seeing as, deep down, his brain wouldn’t fully consider it a dangerous situation. Well, if Akashi did start questioning him about certain topics, there was a chance that he would start to panic and the shadows would appear – but Kuroko had a feeling that wasn’t a strategy that the taller male wanted to resort to. “But there must be some sort of way to make them appear, I guess. I’m not really sure if they will show up right away, though. I told you that I never managed to control them.”

 

“They appear when you are under stressful situations, mainly when your life is in danger, right?” pointed out Akashi, motioning his fingers up to his chin as he closely thought about it. “Then why don’t you request for their help?”

 

“Request them to help me?” repeated Kuroko, arching slightly an eyebrow as he looked to the redhead with a confused expression. “But I don’t really need their help right now. I do think it’s safer if I manage to control them but that’s as far as my current purpose for them goes.”

 

“Then try telling them that,” simply said Akashi, shrugging his shoulders. When he saw the expression of the bluenette morph from confused to straight out doubtful, he continued explaining. “If there is something that I learned by being a ‘User’ is that there are two essential things to control our abilities. The first one is what I said earlier in my building – when our emotions are under control, our abilities are also more easily under control. The other is communication. If we have well defined objectives or goals to accomplish in our head that involve our ability, directly or indirectly, our ability will somewhat react to it. I’m not telling you to talk with your ability or something like that. I’m just telling you to define what you want to do right now with it in your head, in the most precise and clear way that you can. In a way, you just need to tell your ability your purpose for it.”

 

“…” Kuroko took a few steps backwards and put some distances between him and the taller male, inwardly ruminating about what he had said.

 

What were his goals? What did he want to accomplish? At the moment, there was just one thing – learn how to _not_ hurt anyone by the means of his ability.

 

Why? Because he was tired of it. He was tired of the constant fear that he had to live under, with the always present chance of him accidentally unleashing his ability and actually kill an innocent person. He was tired of perpetually adding more guilt to his consciousness when such an event happened. But, most of all, because it was unfair. Why would other people have to get hurt or killed because of him? They didn’t have anything to do with him so why would they need to suffer just because he wasn’t strong enough to prevent his ability from running free?

 

_I want to be strong. Not to win… but to protect. Not myself… but other people._

 

A sudden shiver crawled up his spine. Kuroko readily looked down to the floor and saw his shadow quivering just the slightest. He gulped down hard and tightly clenched his fists, trying to control the small panic that was starting to spread in the back of his mind. He needed to remain calm so that everything would go well, just like Akashi had said it would.

 

Taking a shaky deep breath, Kuroko proceeded with his thoughts (aka “communication” with his ability). He took one more glance to the floor and to his shadow and then lifted his gaze slightly, focusing it in no place in particular.

 

_I’m a weak person by nature. That’s why I let all those things in the past happen. That’s why I have to depend on others and find a light to guide me, a shadow. I’m weak and I would have continued to be a victim if my ability hadn’t appeared. No… I would be dead right now if it wasn’t for my ability. But, just because I’m weak and have an ability that enables me to survive through the means of sacrificing others, it doesn’t mean I want to hurt them._

_So I don’t want to be weak anymore. Not for the same reasons as before. It’s because I’m done with being a weakling who only knows how to continue on living by stepping on other people. And if I have to learn how to control this despicable side of me to be able to do it… so be it. If I have to get hurt so I can stop others from getting hurt by me… so be it._

_But I don’t want… No, I will not hurt anyone else with my ability ever again!_

 

Kuroko felt one more shudder crawl up his spine, from head to toes, and his body started to steadily grow colder. When a wave of pain coursed through his whole being, making his hair stand up like a scared cat, he couldn’t help the groan that escaped his throat nor bending his body forward, desperately clutching at his clothes.

 

“Tets—“ called Akashi, ready to walk over to near the bluenette. When the other male raised his hand and told him to stay where he currently was with the movement, he stilled his body once again, impatiently waiting for what was to come. Akashi could only hope that the bluenette wouldn’t get hurt with this. That or return to the self-imposed comatose sleep.

 

Taking another deep breath, Kuroko looked once again to the floor. His shadow was quivering in an even more frenetic motion, quick flashes of red appearing in its surface every now and then.

 

 _If you want to come out, then come out. But don’t destroy anything. And much less hurt Akashi-kun or anyone else in Teikou Academy,_ chanted the bluenette in the back of his mind, closing his eyes for brief seconds.

 

“Ugh—!” One more wave of pain throbbed through his body and his knees readily buckled down. He used one of his arms to stop his body from fully falling to the ground while he raised his other hand to prevent Akashi from once again going in his direction.

 

His whole body ached but it was a pain he was used to deal with. Every time the shadows appeared, he felt it. When he went out of control in the first week of school, the pain was much bigger than the one he felt at the moment. And compared to the pain that overcame his whole being during the “Bloody Night” and after it had ended… this pain was equivalent to have a finger being prickled by a needle.

 

Kuroko once again looked down to the floor, to his shadow. He could now clearly distinguish the dark red veins that partially covered the shadows created by his ability. _Just a little bit more,_ inwardly muttered the bluenette, dropping the arm that he had raised to the floor and curling his fingers into fists.

 

“Are you okay, Tetsuya? Do you want to stop for a little bit?” worriedly asked Akashi, indecisive over whether he really should just get closer to the bluenette or stay in his current location, like the other male had told him to.

 

“I-I’m fine. This will pass in a little bit.” _Probably,_ inwardly added Kuroko, feeling another shudder shake his body from head to toes. “And I think I’m almost getting there. Stopping right now would mean that I would have to start this all over again.”

 

“Okay. But if you sense the smallest of danger, you’ll stop,” added Akashi, stilling completely his body once again as he observed the bluenette closely. “I don’t want you to get hurt so stop if you think something bad will happen.”

 

“You know that you’re the one who has more probabilities of getting hurt here, right?” whispered Kuroko while snorting softly. Even if he would be the one in danger, Akashi still wanted to prevent him from getting hurt. In a way, the redhead had his own way of protecting, just like his shadow had. “Ah…”

 

Akashi used sometimes messed up arguments to get what he wanted but, in the end, wanted to keep him safe from the Japanese government. His shadows resorted to deadly ways to keep him safe from external factors, mainly dangerous ones. Then maybe he could use the same methods he took to deal with Akashi to deal with the shadows.

 

_Okay, shadows. You are probably tingling to get out, right? You have been suppressed for years to no end, ever since I’ve awoke as a ‘User’. The times when you got released, it was done against my will and you were readily contained once again. So let’s bargain a little on this. If you do as I say, I’ll summon you more frequently and let you run around free, as long as you don’t hurt anyone or cause a lot of damages. In exchange, you can make my body feel as much pain as you want. Though I would actually appreciate it if you went easy on me on that one. Unlike what Akashi-kun has previously said, I’m not a masochist._

 

“Ngh…” Kuroko felt one more bolt of pain course through his body. In a sort of weird way, he figured it was his ability agreeing partially with what he had told it since he could already see small peaks surfacing from his shadow on the floor.

 

_Are you still not satisfied with our deal? I don’t think you will get better concessions out of me so hurry up and make up your mind. You do understand that if you are well behaved, I won’t run the risk of being executed, right?_

 

All of a sudden, three strings of black and red shadows popped out of the bluenette’s true shadow, hovering above his body with incoherent movements. Kuroko released a shaky deep breath, feeling one more wave of pain. But, at least, the shadows seemed to be behaving in a civilized way.

 

“Well,” started Akashi, observing both the bluenette still on the floor and the shadows that remained near him, almost if they were extremely wary of their surroundings and didn’t want to risk leaving their owner’s side. “It seems that the first part has been somewhat comp—“

 

Akashi only had time to move his head to the left when one of the shadows suddenly decided to grow bold and actually attacked him. He felt a certain wetness slide down through his cheek and before he had enough time to motion his hand up to wipe the blood out of his face, another shadow lunged forward in his direction. The redhead jumped out of its colliding route and sent a quick peek to the smaller male, who seemed to be struggling quite a bit at the moment himself.

 

As soon as the shadow landed on the floor, creating a large crack in the surface around it, the shadow that had made the first move readily started motioning in the redhead’s direction one more time. Akashi gave a quick glance to one of the benches that they had used in the previous day to have a snack and commanded it to come in his direction. The bench started floating in the air and immediately lunged in the redhead’s direction, crashing noisily with the attacking shadow and fracturing in several big splinters with the impact.

 

When Akashi noticed that yet another string of shadow was coming in his direction, he commanded the other bench to do the exact same as the one now completely destroyed. However, before the bench got near him, the lunging shadow changed its course and crashed against the bench, also leaving it completely deformed.

 

 _Ah, so that’s the reason,_ inwardly said Akashi as he observed the smithereens of wood on the floor. He looked over to the bluenette, whose body was still curled up on its own. “Tetsuya, can you hear me? You have to give them an objective, a mission or whatever you would like to call it. If not, they will grow bored of waiting to have something to do and just start to randomly attack any moving thing.”

 

He obtained no answer whatsoever from Kuroko. When one of the shadows started once again to motion over in his direction, Akashi flexed his legs to jump out of its way. The shadow, however, suddenly changed its course and flashed to the ceiling, hitting one of the lamps.

 

“An objective… you say…” spoke Kuroko all of a sudden as he motioned his body to a standing position. “Outside of protecting me, their only other function is to nullify things, Akashi-kun. To destroy.”

 

“Then make them destroy things,” simply answered Akashi, relaxing a little bit his body now that he knew that the bluenette was aware enough of his surroundings to somewhat ask the shadow to destroy one of the lamps in the ceiling and not attack him. “As long as you do it to the things inside of this building, destroy as many things as it’s needed until you find another function that you can apply to the shadows. And hopefully it will be a good one.”

 

“I highly doubt that…” pointed out Kuroko, a weak and strained small smile on his features. “But I don’t think we will be able to find about it today. I’m too tired…”

 

The shadow that continuously hovered over the bluenette slowly started to disintegrate to dusty black particles and the other three that remained near the redhead soon followed. Once they had fully disappeared, Kuroko let his body slump down to the floor once again, panting heavily as he stopped feeling the waves of pain.

 

“Haa… Ngh…” Gulping down hard the air around him, Kuroko lifted his head, finding that the taller male had kneeled down in front of him so he could check on him. He didn’t give him an opportunity to speak, such was how quickly he motioned his hands forward in his direction and grabbed his face. “A-Are you okay?”

 

“…” Slightly taken aback by the bluenette’s worry over him, Akashi kept silently staring to the smaller male. When he felt him slowly moving the trembling hand that was grabbing the right side of his face, he dropped his gaze down and saw Kuroko cautiously wiping the trickle of blood flowing down from the cut with his sleeve.

 

“Did you get hurt anywhere else?” asked once again Kuroko, still softly wiping the traces of blood smearing the redhead’s features. He lifted his gaze from the wound and stared to the heterochromatic eyes of the taller male. “Akashi-kun?”

 

“I’m fine, Tetsuya,” answered Akashi, softly smiling to the bluenette. He grabbed his wrists and slowly pulled them out of his face, giving a quick peck of the back of his fingers. “We just have to put a band-aid in this small cut and it will be healed in three days, if not earlier. So it seems you have one more homework to do once we arrive to Fuyu.”

 

“Yes…” acknowledged Kuroko, the corner of his lips perking up just a fraction. He heaved a heavy sigh and let his body fall back to the floor of the gym, rotating his body so he would be laid down on his back.

 

“What did you tell the shadows for them to appear and do as you say?” asked Akashi, fully sitting down on the floor near the bluenette’s head while running his fingers through his hair.

 

“…” Kuroko lifted his gaze and looked over to the redhead. He felt a sudden urge to start to laugh but managed to simply release some soft chuckles. “I used the same tricks that I use when I deal with you.”

 

“I don’t really know how I should feel about that one…” admitted Akashi, peering over to the bluenette. He ruffled his hair, gaining from the other male a groan as a complaint, and then bended his upper body over him, delivering a soft kiss on his forehead. “I told you that nothing would go wrong, didn’t I?”

 

“You did,” acknowledged Kuroko as he motioned one of his hands in his head’s direction and pulled away the hand still present there. He closed his eyes and let his hand fall to the side of his head, still holding into the taller male’s one. “You did say that…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the title of "CATALRHYTHM" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> Please don't go search for the meaning of "turtle dove" if you do not know it! It will give more dept to the scene when Kuroko learns about it ;D
> 
> Boy, oh boy... Our lovebirds are getting more and more lovey-dovey by the day, aren't they? *squeals* I can't take all of this sweetness inside without squealing like a lunatic! AkaKuro is my madness XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	103. But such lip service can’t move my heavy hips

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> I don't know why, but I feel like that now that I don't straight out follow a release schedule, I'm writing more quickly and more chapters per day (this is the 2nd of the day!) Pressure helps but freedom gives a different taste to when we successfully accomplish something :D
> 
> Enjoy!!

As he motioned his hand forward to open the front door to Fuyu, Akashi couldn’t help himself but trail with his fingertips the piece of gauze stuck to his cheek with a small bit of adhesive for the hundredth time, a soft smile in his lips.

 

“Does it hurt?” abruptly asked Kuroko as he shyly peered over to the redhead, a small glint of guilt in his expression.

 

“Not at all,” answered Akashi, his smile widening a little bit at the worry that the bluenette had been displaying about him since before that day’s training had started. “Ah, but if it scars my handsome face, you’ll have to take responsibility over it.”

 

“I-I will,” softly acknowledged Kuroko with a nod of his head as he turned around to enter more deeply into the entrance area of Fuyu.

 

“You will? Then I supposed that if I can’t get married in the future because of the scar that this cut may leave on my face, you will take responsibility over it and marry me?” teasingly asked Akashi, a smirk suddenly popping up in his features. Now he really would like this wound to leave some sort of mark on his skin, even though he knew very well that such thing would not happen due to the higher healing speed that all ‘Users’ possessed in comparison to normal humans.

 

“I would take responsibility over it but I wouldn’t go as far as marrying you,” added Kuroko, starting to climb the stairs to the second floor. “Marriage between people of the same sex isn’t even legalized in Japan. Please save such type of teasing to someone who is willing to be teased in that way. Also, a marriage built on something like taking responsibility over the other party would fail completely, since there wouldn’t be any love involved in it.”

 

 _There would be love on my side, though I’m not really sure how you would feel about it,_ inwardly pointed out Akashi as he climbed the stairs right behind the bluenette while staring intently to his back. He couldn’t help the satisfied smile that appeared in his lips at hearing the smaller male’s answer.

 

“Atsushi is probably preparing dinner already since the area downstairs is filled with the scent of food,” announced Akashi as he stopped in front of his bedroom’s door while observing the bluenette motion to his own. “I will be checking on both him and Shintarou so you can do whatever you want. But don’t close yourself in your room if you want to read. Remember what I told you yesterday about the other ‘Miracles’.”

 

“…I will take it into consideration,” answered Kuroko as he opened his bedroom’s door and crossed it to dive into the insides of the division, softly closing the door behind him afterwards.

 

Akashi could only sigh at it. He really would like to spend more time with the bluenette but he had been continuously around him that whole afternoon, seeing as after Kuroko wasted all of his stamina by summoning his shadows intentionally for the first time they had returned to his building and simply stayed there skirting around the countless shelves with books that he had there as they exchanged a few words about them. When the sun started descending, they were forced to return to Fuyu seeing as Akashi needed to deal with his own work.

 

Opening the door of his room and stepping inside, the redhead walked over to his desk after having closed the door once again, turning his computer on to check his email inbox. The electronic device seemed to steadily work slower each day that passed and he had a strong suspicion that it was due to the proximity to Kuroko’s bedroom – the bluenette had warned him about it, after all. Seeing as the computer was taking its sweet time to become fully operational, Akashi decided to go talk with the purple haired male in the meantime.

 

He once again exited his bedroom, throwing a quick glance in the smaller male’s bedroom’s direction, and went down the stairs, turning to the dining room when he reached the first floor. The fragrance of food being prepared was much more intense there and as soon as he opened the door to the kitchen, the redhead’s nose was assaulted by mouth-watering scents of different spices. It seemed they would have curry for dinner that night.

 

“Atsushi, how are things going?” asked Akashi as he stopped near the counter filled with remnants of the initial stages of the preparation of the main dish.

 

“Ah, Aka-chin. Welcome back,” greeted Murasakibara as he looked over his shoulder to peer in the redhead’s direction while slowly stirring the big pot on the stove. “Nothing out of hand happened, if that’s what you’re asking. Mido-chin and Sat-chin ended up taking Mine-chin to the usual hospital. He was extremely restless as he was sleeping and his ability caused quite a few damages to the infirmary so we didn’t have any other option than take him there. But Mido-chin is back already so you can ask him about it. He’s in his bedroom.”

 

“I will,” acknowledged Akashi with a sharp nod. “Did Satsuki stay in the hospital together with Daiki?”

 

“Nn, she did,” shortly answered Murasakibara as he fully faced the stove once again.

 

“Then I guess I will need to go see them to the hospital. There’s something I have to discuss with the both of them,” added Akashi, crossing his arms over his chest. “You come with me too, Atsushi. I want to hear about what Tatsuya had to say about the ‘ghost’ and your version of what happened inside of Tetsuya’s bedroom yesterday.”

 

“Dinner is still not finished, though,” pointed out Murasakibara as he motioned his right hand to the counter beside the stove and picked a cookie from the open package laid on its surface, putting it on his mouth right away and delightfully munching on it.

 

“We’ll only be leaving after dinner so there’s no problem,” answered Akashi, leaning his lower body slightly on the counter. “I do have to go talk with Shintarou first to understand better Daiki’s current situation. I also don’t want to miss a meal with Tetsuya.”

 

“Speaking of Kuro-chin…” started Murasakibara, putting the lid on the pot after having taken out the wooden spoon. He turned around and walked to the counter, starting to straighten all the used cooking tools and the unwanted scraps of the ingredients for the curry. “He has come downstairs so ask him if he can set the table. I don’t like the thought of feeding someone I don’t know every day without getting something in return, even if you would tell me to do it.”

 

“I will,” acknowledged Akashi, dropping his arms to the sides of his body and departing himself from the counter. He turned around on his heels and walked over to the living room, where he figured he would be able to find the bluenette reading a book. When he saw Kuroko on the same sofa he had used the previous day, his body sort of curled up while an open book remained on his hands, the redhead couldn’t really help the soft smile that appeared in his face. The smaller male was actually taking his suggestions into account. “Tetsuya, do you think you could help Atsushi by setting the table?”

 

“Eh?” interjected Kuroko as he looked away from the book to peer at the redhead.

 

“Atsushi wants you to do some labor work in exchange for the dishes that he cooks,” said Akashi with a sort of amused tone in his voice.

 

“O-Okay,” answered Kuroko, getting up from the sofa and putting down the book on the low table in front of the seat, marking the page where he had left off with a loose paper. He started walking in the redhead’s direction and when he was passing by him in the dining room’s direction, Akashi suddenly tilted his head in front of his face and kissed him. “Mmn!”

 

“Ugh…!” groaned Akashi when his stomach was suddenly hit by a powerful blow, the exact same one that the bluenette had inflicted on him when they slept together for the first time and gave him his very first claim on him by leaving his neck covered with hickeys. He clutched at his abdomen with one arm and took a step backwards. “That’s the second time you do this, Tetsuya… I’m starting to think that you are as masochistic as sadistic.”

 

“I’m none of the two!” yelped Kuroko, his face covered with a bright red blush as he covered his lips with one hand. “And it’s your fault I did it! Why did you kiss me?”

 

“We agreed that I wouldn’t do anything during the whole afternoon. I kept my word on it,” started explaining Akashi, lowering his arm to the side of his body once again as the pain was starting to subside. A smirk slowly started to appear on his features as he continued to speak. “But I think we are already in the evening and not in the afternoon. So now I can do whatever I want. And you’re mistaken on something. It wasn’t my fault that I kissed you – it was your fault. Your cuteness is quite hard to resist.”

 

“You’re being weir—“ started deadpanning Kuroko but when he saw the mischievous glint on his eyes at what he was going to say and realized that he was about to fall in one more ‘trap’ set by the redhead, the bluenette readily interrupted his own words. He cleared his throat and continued walking. “Never mind. Please stop kissing me at any given opportunity. And I don’t want to hear the words ‘It’s because you drop your guard that I do it’ coming from your mouth. I’ll be going to help Murasakibara-kun now.”

 

Akashi observed the bluenette entering inside of the dining room while chuckling softly at the blush still present on his face as he walked there. However, kissing him had really been his fault. He truly had not been expecting Kuroko to comply with his suggestions – not this early in the game. The way he was making an effort and trying to get more approachable to others was completely adorable, mainly because it was being done due to his words, but part of him felt worried about it. Especially if the bluenette would take the same actions in regards of Aomine.

 

The redhead sighed and started walking in the stairs’ direction. It was now time to go consult Midorima on what had happened to the person that now seemed far more dangerous than Kagami did to his steadily developing relationship with Kuroko, even if he knew the tanned male for almost as long as he had _awaken_ as a ‘User’.

 

It seemed that it would be hard to really keep his word on not glaring or sound threatening to the other “Miracles” if they started to grow close to Kuroko… especially in Aomine’s case.

 

-.-

 

Kuroko remained frozen in front of the closed door that gave access to the kitchen, a red blush covering the entirety of his features. He softly bit on his lower lip as he tried to lessen the heat in his face and the wild heartbeat on his chest.

 

It wasn’t due to Akashi’s sudden kiss that he had accidentally gut-punched the redhead… It had been because, for a fraction of a second, he fell slave to it and was already preparing himself to surrender himself fully to it. Dangerous… So very dangerous…

 

He took a deep breath to calm down. He knew Murasakibara would be able to sense his current distress and, since he would be interacting with him (or so he thought he will) while setting the table, he wanted to avoid feeling even more embarrassed over it. He really had to wonder how much the purple haired giant knew of his feelings towards Akashi through solemnly the barrier, as well as the events that have happened while inside of the house. Kuroko could only thank the gods that when he got into even more intimate moments with Akashi he wasn’t inside of Fuyu but… he was inside of his bedroom when yesterday’s incident happened.

 

“…” Kuroko motioned his hand forward to open the door and laid it on top of the surface of the door, but didn’t lunge it completely and opened it. He took one more deep breath and then finally proceeded with his current mission of setting the table for all of them to have dinner. With the delicious smell that was seeping out of the kitchen, they would have curry and it would be ready quite soon.

 

Once he entered in the kitchen he saw Murasakibara crouched down on the floor picking up a bunch of packages of snacks and sweets. The cabinet on the upper wall was open and from there a few more boxes and packages were being stored. Most likely they had fallen when the purple haired male opened it (and the reason should have been due to overcapacity of the storage space, with the amount of things sprawled on the floor). The bluenette kept staring to the other male for some seconds and then released a soft sigh when he started hearing him grumbling over the chore that picking the snacks was and that he should let them stay on the floor.

 

“Here,” said Kuroko while picking up a package of Nerunerunerune from the floor and motioning it over in the purple haired male.

 

“Ah… Than—“ Murasakibara lifted his gaze from the floor and started looking over to the bluenette when his brain was suddenly struck with an extremely accentuated bolt of pain. He dropped the packages on his arms once again to the floor and supported his body on the lower part of the counter, two voices echoing in his mind with an extremely deformed tone.

 

_“Here.”_

_“What’s that?”_

_“You don’t know this candy? It’s Nerunerunerune. You can have it if you want to try it. After all, if I go out of the store with this, then the others will steal it from me. If I’m not going to eat it, then I prefer to choose who I want to let my snacks being eaten by.”_

_“Thank you…”_

_“You’re not from this area, are you?”_

_“I’m from Akita and came here with my school in a field trip but… I got lost.”_

_“I can help you if you want. My name is ----------. What’s your name?”_

_“Murasakibara Atsushi.”_

_“Nice to meet you, Murasakibara-kun.”_

 

“Ngh…!” Murasakibara immediately lifted his hands to his head, clutching at his purple locks of hair as the pain continued to spread through his brain in several waves.

 

“Murasakibara-kun, are you feeling alright?” asked Kuroko, getting slightly worried at the sudden pale and pained demeanor that appeared in the taller male. “Do you want me to go call Akashi-kun or Midorima-kun?”

 

All of a sudden, the pain disappeared completely. Murasakibara dropped his hands once again and stared to the bluenette with a confused expression. What had just happened to him? What were those voices that he started to hear out of the blue? What was that conversation with an unknown person which he had absolutely no memories of having? Why had his head felt extremely painful when he saw Kuroko give him the package and then disappeared once again when he looked over at him? “Ah… No… It’s not needed. I’m fine now… I think.”

 

“I’ll help you put your snacks on the cabinet once again if you want,” offered Kuroko, tilting his head slightly as he looked to the taller male, still a little bit worried over him. It was weird. He wasn’t supposed to feel worried over someone that he disliked – over one of the people who had killed his best friend. And yet… there he was, actually trying to help him out. Then again, he also wasn’t supposed to have fallen in love with one of said killers. _Destiny sometimes has such cruel ploys._

 

“No… it’s not needed,” answered Murasakibara, his head still trying to rationalize what had happened. “Just set the table and then you can return to do whatever you were doing in the living room.”

 

“Okay…” acknowledged Kuroko with a nod of his head. He got up from his crouched position and motioned over to the cabinet where the tableware was being kept. The bluenette took a quick sideways glance to the taller male and then awkwardly resumed with gathering the plates on his hands.

 

“You only need to set the table for four people, Kuro-chin,” announced Murasakibara, resuming with his gathering of the fallen packages. “Mine-chin won’t eat dinner tonight. And Kise-chin is still in… ah, whatever place Aka-chin sent him to.”

 

“Okay,” acknowledged Kuroko once again, putting back in the cabinet the extra plate that he had taken. Aomine was most likely solving whatever argument he had gotten with Kagami with the help of his suggestion. He truly hoped that it would go well since the redhead was quite distracting to be near with all the non-stop grumbling and sudden bolts of slamming his face on the desk. With the looks of it, his desk wouldn’t be able to reach the next semester in usable conditions. As he was gathering the silverware used for eating curry, he gave one more glance to the purple haired male, who was messily pushing the packages into his snack’s compartment, and then put the silverware on top of the plates, starting to motion to the dining room. He stopped in front of the door. “Um… Murasakibara-kun?”

 

“Hm?” distractedly hummed Murasakibara as he gathered the last few sweets from the floor. He really wished that none of his snacks or sweets had gotten damaged with the fall from the cabinet. He would most likely have to tide it up one of these days… but he felt too lazy to actually do it so such task would never be accomplished.

 

“Thank you for cooking for me, even though I don’t belong to the ‘Miracles’,” said Kuroko, staring to the door in front of him. He motioned one of his hands forward while using his other arm to secure the tableware and opened the door slightly. “If the chance occurs, please teach me how to make vanilla milkshakes. If you know how to make them, that is.”

 

“I do,” answered Murasakibara as he lifted his head above the counter to look in the bluenette’s direction. He arched slightly an eyebrow as he intently stared to the smaller male. “I guess I can teach you how to make them. But do you know how to cook?”

 

“Only boiled eggs,” answered Kuroko as he fully opened the door and exited the kitchen.

 

Murasakibara continued to stare to the now empty door and tilted his head slightly. After a few seconds passed by, he resumed with gathering the rest of the snacks. “Kuro-chin is a weird person… But I guess that if he wasn’t, Aka-chin wouldn’t love him enough to actually propose to marry him, since he absolutely despises the concept of marriage between two human beings. And the answer Kuro-chin gave him made him happier than it would have happened if he had said yes to it, actually.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Start it right away" by Hyadain.
> 
> You must be wondering: Murasakibara too!? But I'll say this right away - it isn't the same case as Aomine/Momoi! It's the exact same case of a certain each-passing-chapter-more-love-struck redhead ;D
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	104. Thinking too much and letting the chance of today slip away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^^
> 
> I couldn't release any chapter yesterday because I was out all day arranging the flight and other things to move to England. On that note, I must warn you beforehand that I will not be able to release ANY chapter from March 26th to April 1st, since it will be my first week on England and I'll be most likely too busy to really write anything.
> 
> But, anyways, let's enjoy one more chapter, shall we? :D

“You’re late, Akashi,” admonished Midorima right after he opened the door of his bedroom and saw the redhead there. He adjusted his glasses and then crossed his arms over his chest, a sour expression on his face. “Where have you been the whole afternoon to only return now? We had a very well grounded reason to skip classes, which was keeping Aomine’s ability under control and prevent him from causing damages everywhere. Would you be kind enough to enlighten me over what kept you so busy since lunch that you wouldn’t even answer your cell phone?”

 

“I was with Tetsuya, undergoing his trainings to control his ability,” answered Akashi while giving a few steps backwards and leaning his back on the wall opposite to the green haired male’s door, his arms also crossed over his chest.

 

“You’ve been training with him the whole afternoon until this late in the day?” asked Midorima, an eyebrow slightly arched at the smaller male’s answer.

 

“Not the whole afternoon,” explained Akashi, a soft smile suddenly perking up the corners of his lips. “After we fell in the lake, we had to go to my building to take a bath and get changed. Then we went to the gym to start the first official training session. Tetsuya somehow managed to not kill me and control his shadows, and then we went back to my building, so he could rest for a while after he exhausted himself with it.”

 

“Huh? Fell in the lake?” repeated Midorima with a completely lost expression on his face. Had Akashi taken Kuroko outside of Teikou Academy and then they went to some park or something? He really would like to yell at the redhead if that was the case but he would most likely regret having done so afterwards. He would appreciate it immensely if none of the inner beast’s twisted punishments were directed his way right now. He cleared his throat and continued speaking, “Since you don’t seem all that hurt, with the exception of the bandage on your face, I take it that the training went according to your plans?”

 

“I can’t really call it going according to my plans,” confessed Akashi, the soft smile on his lips widening a little bit more. “Far too many unexpected things happened for me to say everything went according to what I had planned. And if the training was completed, as we can call it, successfully, it was only because Tetsuya managed to do it. Like I said before, he’s the one who has to work it out alone. Just like all of us did.”

 

“That’s true,” acknowledged Midorima in the form of a sigh. He dropped his arms to the sides of his body and then motioned one of them up to adjust his glasses in the bridge of his nose. “Anyway, you didn’t come here for that. You came to know about Aomine, right?”

 

“Yes,” shortly answered Akashi with a sharp nod of his head. He remained silent for a couple of seconds, the green haired male looking in his direction as if waiting for permission to speak. Midorima was most likely catching some sort of vibe from him that told him he wasn’t happy about this whole situation in the slightest. If that was the case, then he was absolutely correct. “What happened to Daiki after you took him away? Atsushi told me that he’s in the hospital with Satsuki.”

 

“Well, yes, he is,” acknowledged Midorima, releasing a heavy sigh. “We took him to the infirmary first, in hopes that he would wake up. He did wake up in a few minutes but his ability was completely out of control. We were forced to sedate him and take him to the hospital, putting him under isolation, in case his ability goes berserk once again. The infirmary is in dire need for a remodeling thanks to it.”

 

“Did you hear him speaking before he passed out?” asked Akashi, a completely serious demeanor in his features while intently staring to the taller male.

 

“Not very clearly, but I caught some lost words while he was mumbling to himself,” answered Midorima, also with a serious expression on his face. Both ‘Users’ remained silent for a couple of minutes. Heaving a soft sigh, he decided to just come out straight and ask the redhead about it. “Do you think it was Kuroko who caused both Aomine and Momoi to lose their memories?”

 

“…” Akashi narrowed his gaze for a fraction of a second and then nodded his head in acknowledgment. “I can’t say with 100% of conviction but most likely that’s the case. For some sort of reason, Daiki and Satsuki found out something that Tetsuya had been keeping hidden and he was forced to nullify their memories of it. No, that’s not correct. Tetsuya, Daiki and, probably, Satsuki _knew_ each other and Tetsuya was forced the nullify _all_ of their memories of him.”

 

“How do you know that?” asked Midorima, an eyebrow slightly perked up. “Did Kuroko tell you something about it?”

 

“No, he didn’t tell me anything,” answered Akashi, shaking his head slightly. “However, the way he acts around Daiki and his expression when I was about to ask him about it were more than answer.”

 

“Then… was it Kuroko who attacked both of them that night?” asked Midorima further, the arching of his eyebrow getting more accentuated.

 

“Like I said, this is only a suspicion that I have, based on Tetsuya’s behavior,” added Akashi while releasing a soft sigh. “I don’t know anything about their former relationship or what has happened between them for Tetsuya to do something like that, if it was really caused by him.”

 

“I can’t really find any other explanation at the moment for it, though,” pointed out Midorima while looking intently to the smaller male. “Humans can’t develop amnesia on only some parts of their life, in a completely random way. Usually it affects a continuous period of time and doesn’t jump around to erase only some bit of said period.”

 

“I know. But let’s leave it at that, for now,” said Akashi, a small glint of a glare in his heterochromatic eyes as he looked over to the green haired male. “I will go with Atsushi to the hospital after dinner to speak with Daiki, if he’s already awake, and Satsuki, since she said she had some things she wanted to report.”

 

“Are you going to ask them about Kuroko?” asked Midorima, leaning his shoulder slightly on the frame of his bedroom’s door.

 

“Yes and no,” answered Akashi, departing his back from the wall. “I will ask Daiki a few things about what exactly happened in the classroom but I will not tell them about my suspicions about Tetsuya being the culprit of their amnesia.”

 

“Why not?” asked Midorima right away, a frown appearing on his features.

 

“I have my reasons,” cryptically answered Akashi, walking closer to the green haired male. As the taller male was about to open his mouth to speak, he interrupted him and continued, “Since I’ll be away with Atsushi, Daiki is in the hospital and Ryouta is out in a mission, you’ll have to stay here with Tetsuya, Shintarou.”

 

“…!” When Midorima saw the redhead’s golden eye flicker momentarily, a shudder ran down his spine and a large lump appeared in his throat.

 

“I take it that I can trust you on you not causing any sort of distress on Tetsuya that may put his well being at risk, correct?” asked Akashi while intently looking to the taller male’s green eyes. It sounded more as a threat than a question itself to the green haired male any time of the day.

 

“Y-Yes, you can go to the hospital without any worries,” acknowledged Midorima while averting his gaze from the smaller male. He took a backwards step to inside of his bedroom and adjusted his glasses. “I have some things to research tonight so I’ll be mostly inside of my bedroom. Not a single problem will arise while you’re away.”

 

“That’s reassuring to hear,” shortly acknowledged Akashi as he turned around and started to cross the corridor back to the stairs, so he could go downstairs once again. “Dinner is pretty much done so come to the dining room to eat.”

 

“…” Midorima remained under the doorframe for a few more seconds, observing as the redhead walked down the stairs. Then he went fully inside of his bedroom and closed the screen of his PC, motioning afterwards to outside of his bedroom and closing the door behind himself. “I sure am curious about your reasons to not tell them about Kuroko…”

 

-.-

 

After dinner had ended and he had helped Murasakibara with the dishes, Kuroko was walking back to his bedroom, book in hand, while being followed by the oversized lion youngling by the name of Akashi Seijuurou.

 

“Akashi-kun, you’re starting to act like a stalker once again…” sighed Kuroko as he reached the top of the stairs and turned around to walk to his bedroom. “Please tell me that we’re not about to have another arguing about you wanting to sleep in my bed.”

 

“It highly pains me to say this, but we’re not,” confessed Akashi with a slight pouting expression on his face. Both of them stopped in front of the bluenette’s bedroom and the taller male could only sigh at his own next words. “I will have to leave with Atsushi for a while to take care of some things and I don’t know at what time I’ll be able to return. So we’ll have to postpone our ‘arguing’ to tomorrow night.”

 

“Can we please postpone it to a still unknown future date?” deadpanned Kuroko while motioning his hand to the door’s knob.

 

“Unfortunately for you, we can’t,” answered Akashi while chuckling softly. He motioned his hand up and softly ruffled the blue locks of hair of the smaller male, who turned around to look at him with a quizzical expression on his face. The redhead took a step forward and pushed Kuroko’s head closer to his own, leaning his forehead on the pale one of the bluenette. “Behave while I’m away, Tetsuya.”

 

“I don’t know what kind of image you have of me, but I am not a delinquent,” deadpanned once again Kuroko, this time with a soft shade of pink on his cheeks due to the proximity of both of their faces.

 

“Says the student who skipped classes the whole day,” teased Akashi with a sly smirk tugging at his lips.

 

“Says the Student Council president who forced the said student to skip the afternoon classes with him,” pointed out Kuroko with a slight sulking expression on his face. “You’re just as guilty about it as I am, Akashi-kun.”

 

“Hm… Is that so?” asked Akashi as he slowly departed their forehead. He tilted his head just the slightest while intently looking to the bluenette, a smirk still present on his features. “Does that make us ‘partners in crime’?”

 

“N-No, it doesn’t… It doesn’t make us ‘partners’ in anything,” corrected Kuroko, averting the redhead’s gaze so he could hide the darkening of the previously soft blush on his cheeks. Why was he so quick to blush when Akashi was involved? He was starting to fear to be nearby the redhead, for his body would one day break down due to the constantly blood rushes to his head. At the very least, it was more common to rush upwards than downwards. Kuroko suddenly cleared his throat to break free from his own thoughts, which were starting to get directed to a subject that he definitely didn’t want to touch right now. “G-Good luck with your work. I’ll be going now.”

 

“Tetsuya,” called Akashi as the smaller was opening the door to his bedroom. “Shintarou will remain in Fuyu with you, as a safety measure. And no, it’s not against you running away. He said he would remain in his bedroom doing his own work, so if you need something from him, you can find him there.”

 

“I don’t think I’ll need anything from Midorima-kun seeing as I’ll be reading,” pointed out Kuroko as he motioned inside of his bedroom. As he was closing the door, he came to a sudden halt and peered over to the taller male. “G-Good night, Akashi-kun.”

 

“Yes, good night, Tetsuya,” answered back Akashi, a soft smile on his features as he observed the bluenette fully close the door this time.

 

The redhead remained in front of the door for a few more seconds, a sudden wave of leaving the hospital visit for the following day just so he wouldn’t miss the chance of sleeping in the same bed as Kuroko once again hitting him. He knew, however, that such wouldn’t happen. Not right now. The matter regarding the bluenette’s mysterious shared past with a member of the “Miracles” was in dire need to be solved and that visit would most likely be the first step to get some clues on the said mystery.

 

With a heavy sigh, Akashi turned around and started to motion downstairs, where the purple haired male was waiting for him near the front door of the house.

 

“Are we going to leave now?” asked Murasakibara, munching on a pocky stick. “The car to take us to the hospital is already in front of the main gate.”

 

“Yes, we’re leaving,” acknowledged Akashi with a sharp nod of his head.

 

Both “Users” crossed the brief path that gave access to the gate and the wall surrounding the building named Fuyu and followed further inside of the grounds constituting the restricted area of Teikou Academy, walking side by side.

 

“You know…” suddenly started Murasakibara, giving quick bites to a pocky as he peered sideways to the smaller male. “If you go as far as asking Kuro-chin to marry you, even if resorting at a terrible attempt of a joke, why don’t you confess to him already?”

 

“…” Akashi remained silent at those words. He continued to look at what was in front of him while walking and then heaved a soft sigh. “Tetsuya continues to think that we’re trying to manipulate him. I don’t think a confession would be welcomed taking that into consideration.”

 

“Both of you like to complicate things that are so simple,” groaned Murasakibara as he looked down to the package of pocky and took another chocolate covered cookie stick. “If you want to touch, then touch, even if you’re not allowed to do it. If you want to confess, just confess already, even if he will think you’re trying to deceive him or anything along those lines. If that happens, you simply have to show him what the true nature of the feelings and intentions that you have towards him is.”

 

“…”

 

“You’re probably thinking, ‘It’s not that simple’, aren’t you?” said Murasakibara when the redhead remained completely silent once again at his words. “Unlike you, Aka-chin, I can’t touch the person I love. We had our problems before and after Muro-chin got stuck in the mirage realm, but it wasn’t by keeping our feelings bottled up inside that anything got solved. Words are convenient, just like actions can be. Why not mix both to get a better result?”

 

“I know that. But I—“ started saying Akashi but the purple haired male almost instantly cut his words by continuing to speak.

 

“Kuro-chin gets confused when you do things, but don’t say anything about them. However, he also gets extremely confused when you say things but don’t do anything regarding them,” added Murasakibara while munching on a pocky. He took the stick out of his mouth and looked over to the redhead. The purple haired giant could only sigh at his next words. “Why are you smart enough to have managed to take me out of a lab all by yourself shortly after the existence of ‘Users’ was made public but dumb enough to not even realize such an obvious thing?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> Murasakibara, nice!!!!!! Mafy approves of your advise! Keep working on convincing Akashi to confess to Kuroko ASAP, please! I want to see it happening so very much XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	105. I drew a zero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^^
> 
> I wrote this whole chapter on my notebook as I was riding the train and subway today :P So once I got back home in the afternoon, I had to transcribe everything to my computer and then finally proofread it on the whole -.-' That's why it took so long for this to be ready. But it's here!
> 
> Enjoy :D

With a sluggish voice, Aomine groaned loudly while motioning one of his hands up to his face. He softly massaged his sore eyes and lazily opened them, skirting around his surroundings with them. Even though the illumination inside of the room was being kept to the bare minimum, it still hurt his sensitive sight, forcing him to narrow it, and his head painfully throbbed in response. The tanned male could hear a soft and rhythmic beeping sound near his head and when he looked up, he saw a medical monitor on his bedside, his heart rate and oxygen levels appearing on the screen.

 

Aomine kept staring at it for a few more seconds, his rusty brain processing everything his eyes had seen inside of the large room, and his eyes almost automatically shifted to the window that the hospital room had – it was dark outside and the moon shone high in the sky.

 

“Fuck! Kagami…!” cursed Aomine as he jumped in the bed to a sitting position. He hurriedly started yanking all of the wires attached to his body, the machine giving a loud beep in protest due to the lack of readings almost immediately. As the tanned male was preparing himself to jump out of the bed, the door to the hospital room was opened.

 

“Last time I checked, he was still sleepi—“ softly explained Momoi to Akashi and Murasakibara as all of them entered inside of the room. However, as soon as she saw her childhood friend yanking even further the bed sheets away from his body and already motioning one of his feet down to the floor, the pink haired girl immediately ran in his direction, grabbing his shoulders. “Dai-chan, you’re awake! Wait, you can’t leave yet! We’re still trying to figure out what—“

 

“Forget about that crap for now!” roared Aomine as he softly pushed the pink haired girl out of his way and continued to fully motion outside of the bed. “I have to go meet with Kagami and I’m already very late on it. He’s totally going to force me to pay for his food for a month, at least, and I’m not that well funded.”

 

“Don’t worry, I warned Kagami-kun that you were in the hospital and can’t go meet with him today while we were on our way to the hospital,” hurriedly explained Momoi as she started to push the tanned male once again back to the bed. “He said there was no problem and that you two could talk once again after you get out. So just stay put in the bed for now, okay? _Please._ ”

 

“…” Aomine kept staring to the pink haired girl and her extremely worried eyes for a few seconds and then released a long sigh. He put his legs back on top of the mattress and pulled the sheets to cover his lower body until the waist line once again. “There! Satisfied?”

 

“Thank you, Dai-chan,” acknowledged Momoi, a strained soft smile on her lips as she stepped away from the bed and sat down on a chair near the headboard.

 

“If you’re already that energetic, then I take it that you’re already recovering,” suddenly said Akashi, his arms crossed over his chest as he intently looked to the taller male from the other side of the room. “What exactly happened back there in the classroom, Daiki?”

 

“To be honest, I don’t even know myself,” honestly answered Aomine, a frown on his face as he looked back to the redhead. “I was listening to what you all were saying but when you said that name… ‘Ogiwara Shigehiro’… Ngh! My head just suddenly started to hurt… just like it is now…!”

 

“Do you want me to call the doctors, Dai-chan?” asked Momoi with a worried voice. She was already getting ready to get up from the chair once again when the tanned male shook his head in denial to her words and she once again stilled her body.

 

“What was it that you were seeing or hearing when your head started to hurt?” asked further Akashi, a dead serious demeanor on his face as he kept the tanned male under his heterochromatic gaze.

 

“Like I said, I’m not really sure about what happened back there,” answered Aomine once again, softly massaging his temples with his fingertips so he could ease the pain even if just a little bit. “I remember hearing a voice, with a really shaky and imperceptible tone, and there were some human forms in front of me… but now I can’t really remember how they were or what it was saying. I do remember that the voice said ‘Ogiwara’ at some point, though.”

 

All four current occupants of the hospital room suddenly got completely silent after the tanned male had revealed that, Akashi and Murasakibara exchanging a quick knowing glance with one another and then looking to the other male once again.

 

“Atsushi, can you report now what happened in Fuyu yesterday, as well as what Tatsuya told you about it?” requested Akashi, giving one more glance to the purple haired male and afterwards switching it to the pink haired girl. “Satsuki is here so she’ll remember everything you’re going to say. I would like you, Satsuki, to make a report on it afterwards, adding to it further investigation on the matter, of course.”

 

“Yes, Akashi-kun,” acknowledged Momoi with a quick nod of her head.

 

“Well, I’ll first explain what Muro-chin told me about it, then,” started saying Murasakibara while munching on a new package of pocky. “By the way, Sat-chin, go to my or Muro-chin’s apartment whenever you’re free. He wants to ask you for a favor. Anyway, he said that Kuro-chin has probably created some sort of realm during the ‘Bloody Night’, one similar to the mirage realm where Muro-chin’s real body is currently stuck on.”

 

“A realm?” repeated Akashi, his eyebrow slightly arched at hearing those words.

 

“Yeah. It’s from that realm that the ghost of Ogiwara Shigehiro appears from and it’s also probably related to the black fog surrounding the entire area of the accident spot,” continued explaining Murasakibara. “Muro-chin said that whole area has been most likely sucked to inside of Kuro-chin’s realm. Including the people that were in that area at the time of the ‘Bloody Night’.”

 

“Is Tetsu-kun’s ability even able to do something like that?” asked Momoi, peering over to the redhead with a slight frown on her face.

 

“Tetsuya refuses to talk about his ability more than necessary,” answered Akashi, a soft sigh escaping from his lips at the thought that there was still more that he didn’t know about the bluenette than the things he actually knew about him. “We probably only know the most basic of basics about it and I never heard anything about a realm or something similar to it. However, taking Tatsuya’s case and my own experience with that particular subject into account… then everything is possible, if it’s associated with Tetsuya.”

 

Another wave of silence invaded the hospital room, the quick flickering of the disconnected medical monitor creating and erasing shadows of the four “Users” all around the division.

 

“What about what happened yesterday night, Atsushi?” asked Akashi once again after releasing a quick sigh. He uncrossed his arms and dropped them to the sides of his body, fully turning his body around to look directly to the purple haired giant.

 

“What we had discussed previously happened,” shortly answered Murasakibara, giving a short shrug with his shoulders as he peered sideways to the redhead. “The ghost entered inside of the barrier surrounding Fuyu.”

 

“Did Kuroko talk with this so-called ghost?” asked this time Aomine, a deep frown on his face. He somehow knew the name of the ghost and it seemed it was connected to his lost memories. Kuroko was somehow connected to the ghost, seeing as it was apparently being kept in a realm of his creation. Why was it that there existed a shared connected between all of these things that seemed to point solemnly to the small bluenette?

 

“Nn, they talked with one another,” answered Murasakibara, breaking a pocky in half with the help of his front teeth, a loud _crack_ resounding through the room due to it. “However, I don’t know what the conversation was about or in what way did the ghost appear. The barrier got extremely instable during the breaching so I had to keep my focus continuously on it while I repaired the damages being made to it due to the invader inside. I had to because I have no idea what may happen if the ghost appears somewhere without a barrier around or if such an encounter may cause another ‘Bloody Night’.”

 

“No, you did well, Atsushi,” reassured Akashi, giving a sharp nod with his head in acknowledgment to the actions that the purple haired male took in regards to the barrier and what was happening inside of it.

 

“So, in the end, we have absolutely no answers on what the heck went on inside of Kuroko’s bedroom,” pointed out Aomine, crossing his arms over his chest and releasing a long and loud sigh.

 

“No, I do know some things about it,” suddenly announced Akashi, the other three ‘Users’ readily looking over in his direction with a questioning expression. “The ghost appeared by the means of a mirror, the one in Tetsuya’s bathroom. That can only be the reason why he broke it all of a sudden, since he said it wasn’t something that he intended on doing. That also tells us that this conversation that they had with each other was something that not even Tetsuya was expecting to occur. Both of those circumstances also make it seem that he doesn’t have a full control of what happens inside of the realm he has created, if such is really the case.”

 

“Ah… That sorta makes sense, actually…” added Murasakibara, munching on the last pocky stick of that package. “Before Muro-chin fully learned how to create a mirage of his body to appear in front of others, he mostly resorted to mirrors or the surface of water.”

 

“Can Ogiwara Shigehiro also learn how to do that, then? Creating some sort of mirage of his body and appear in front of Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, a frown on his face as he voiced that question.

 

“I don’t think so,” answered Momoi before the purple haired giant had a chance of doing it himself. “Himuro-kun’s ability is to create illusions and mirages. That’s why he can create one for himself and appear and interact with others on the real world. Even though Ogiwara Shigehiro is a ‘User’, I doubt that his ability is the same as Himuro-kun. There hasn’t been reported two ‘Users’ sharing the same ability, after all. He isn’t able to fully appear in our world and that’s why he resorts to mirrors to do it.”

 

“Yeah, exactly,” agreed Murasakibara, putting the empty package in the trash can near the room’s door and taking a new package of pocky from the plastic bag he had been carrying around since exiting Fuyu.

 

“I see,” sighed Akashi in relief at hearing those words. If Kuroko had gotten that sort of reaction due to the conversation he had with Ogiwara through the mirror, then the redhead really feared what would be his reaction if the ghost fully appeared in front of his eyes all of a sudden. Akashi shifted his eyes once again to the taller male. “Is there anything more you want to report about this, Atsushi?”

 

“No, that’s everything,” answered Murasakibara, his hands and eyes busy with the opening of the new package of his sweets.

 

“Then let’s move on to the final matter to be addressed tonight,” announced Akashi, looking over to the pink haired girl. “Satsuki, what was it that you wanted to report when you came to my classroom during lunch today?”

 

“Ah, that’s right… About that…” hesitantly mumbled Momoi, playing with her fingers as she not fully looked in the redhead’s direction. All of a sudden, she got up from the chair and bowed her upper body, loudly apologizing to the Head of the ‘Miracles’. “I’m extremely sorry about it, Akashi-kun!!”

 

“You’re sorry about what, exactly?” asked Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched at the pink haired girl’s current actions and words. It was very rare to hear her apologizing about anything regarding her work and functions – Momoi was almost the perfect worker in everything that required investigations and collecting data on pretty much everything.

 

“I know you told me to continue to investigate about Ogiwara Shigehiro, but I have stopped that investigation momentarily for now,” explained Momoi, swallowing hard at the thought alone of what her next words would be. “I stopped that one and started to run a worldwide investigation of Tetsu-kun.”

 

“…”

 

“I’m really sorry for doing something like this without your permission!” started babbling Momoi with the wave of panic she was feeling at the dead silence the redhead was displaying. “I know I should have consulted you first on it, since you’re the one in charge of Tetsu-kun and everything related to him. But before I knew it, I was already running his name on the search engines I usually use to hack into other organization’s and people’s computers and I—“

 

“What were the results?” interrupted Akashi, a serious demeanor in his features. It was indeed an unplanned investigation but since it was already being done, there was nothing that he could really do about it except take the most information he could out of it.

 

“Ah, r-right!” stuttered Momoi as she started to organize in her perfect memory the things related to that investigation and everything that she had to report and say about it. Her panicky expression morphed to a dead serious demeanor in the blink of an eye. “Zero.”

 

“What?” interjected Akashi almost instantly, a deep frown appearing in his face as he intently peered to the pink haired girl.

 

“As I said in the beginning, I’m running a worldwide investigation on Tetsu-kun,” started explaining once again Momoi. “I ran his name through every single organization established in Japan that has an online database, including civil registration, schools, hospitals, banks, post offices, _everywhere_! I found nothing. I extended the search to the whole Asiatic continent. Zero. Then to Australia and New Zealand. Zero again. Africa? Zero. Europe? Zero. North, Central and South America? _Zero_.”

 

“Wait! What does that mean exactly?” incredulously asked Aomine, his mouth gaping wide open at hearing those words. As far as he knew, the pink haired girl had never failed to get data on anything, even in the most secluded and well kept of information.

 

“It means that, officially speaking, Kuroko Tetsuya does _not_ exist,” answered Momoi, a worried expression on her slightly down-casted face.

 

“And ‘unofficially’ speaking?” asked further Akashi, the frown on his features much more accentuated than before.

 

“Unofficially speaking…” hesitantly continued Momoi but she made a sudden pause. After brief seconds had passed, she took a deep breath and released the air stored in her lungs, returning her serious gaze back to the redhead. “Tetsu-kun’s name, as well as his title as an ‘User’, has appeared a couple of times in the less savory sections of some shady information channels, most of the time associated with a certain group whose name is never revealed, no matter what is the topic of the document it was found in. Ogiwara Shigehiro’s name also pops up every now and then while I’m at it, also associated with the said group.”

 

“Is it the same group of people that appear in the photo that you have sent me?” asked Akashi, feeling anger once again starting to bubble up inside of him at the thought of the terrible things that said people had most likely made Kuroko go through. At the thought of them breaking and shattering his most important person.

 

“Most likely it is,” acknowledged Momoi with a quick nod of her head. “I haven’t found any other image associated with Tetsu-kun so I can’t say for sure. But the investigation isn’t finished yet. My search engines are going through North America right now, the last place left to dig around in the shady corners and alleyways of information and data collection. It will probably be finished tomorrow afternoon if everything goes according to plan. As soon as it’s completed, I’ll send everything to you right away, Akashi-kun.”

 

“Do that personally, using a hard drive or prints,” corrected Akashi, keeping the pink haired girl under his intent gaze. “I don’t trust my email address enough to keep and receive such information there. Especially with a hacker out there that is as skilled as you and can actually erase data from the CIA servers.”

 

“That’s true,” confirmed Momoi while giving quick nods with her head. “Then when it’s done, I’ll call you right away and meet with you to deliver everything that I collected on Tetsu-kun.”

 

“Yes,” acknowledged Akashi, his eyes departing from the pink haired girl and looking to outside of the window, specifically to the waning moon. “Have the investigation completely terminated and then give me _every_ single piece of information you gathered with it, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem at the moment.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ZERO" by Ono Kenshou (our "officially speaking non-existent" bluenette).
> 
> Are you enjoying the mystery revolving around Kuroko? Mfufufufu~ I think Akashi doesn't like it in the least :P How long will it take to everything be solved? Everyone, place your bets! My gut feeling is telling me that we will have to wait more 100 chapters, muwahahahahahaha!!!!  
> [Warning: this is a bet - the number is only a guess on my behalf. It may or it may not be the correct number since I don't really plan the chapters itself, only the plot line of the story.]
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	106. If you want to share how you feel, then why not now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> So I've been receiving quite a few marriage proposals from you guys... I'm keen to accept one of them if the engagement ring is one of the KnB ring goodies that has recently been announced XD Please make it so that I get or Kuroko's ring or Akashi's! Think carefully about it - I'm a wonderful chef in the kitchen, be it with main dishes or pastries, I have binge-buying streaks of manga and KnB goodies but only wasting the money I can afford... and you'll get a lifetime supply of KnB/AkaKuro fanfictions. Quite appealing, right? *wiggles eyebrows*
> 
> Anyways~ Please enjoy this *contempt sigh* wonderful chapter :D

Absolute silence surrounded Kuroko as he every now and then flipped a page of the book he was currently reading. The book had an extremely fascinating story and the plot was heavily sinking on his brain, the mystery surrounding the past relationship of the two main characters really catching his attention. However… from time to time he found himself staring to his bedroom’s door, almost as if it would magically open and allow the entrance of a certain redhead.

 

“How ridiculous…” sighed Kuroko as he picked the lose paper he had been using as a bookmark and put it in between the pages where he had left off. Releasing another sigh as he put the novel on top of his lap, he leaned the back of his head on the wall and simply peered up to no place in particular. “I’m starting to feel as one of those female protagonists of an extremely sappy romance…”

 

The bluenette let his back slid down through the wall and fully laid down on the bed, turning his body sideways, which caused the book on top of his leg to fall down to the mattress, and stared to outside of his bedroom through the window. It was still mostly round but the moon had already started to wane. He was always overcome with the same misery when he saw that sight – even though so many have died because of him, he still clung to life and kept on breathing. _Why am I so selfish and greedy, I wonder?_

 

All of a sudden, Kuroko shifted his gaze to the top of his desk, where remained the picture book that the redhead had told him to read. He lifted his head from the pillow as quickly as it was humanly possible for him to do. “That reminds me…”

 

Kuroko immediately jumped out of his bed and walked over to his desk, fiddling through the books he had there. As he wasn’t finding what he was searching for, he lowered his body to a crouched down position and opened his school bag, which remained near the legs of the desk.

 

“Ah… It’s in the classroom,” suddenly remembered Kuroko as he closed his school bag once again. He came to a standing up position and stared to his desk, in particular to the picture book. “If I don’t have my dictionary with me, I really won’t have any chances of figuring out what those words mean, will I?”

 

He remained completely motionless for a couple more of seconds, running the engines of his brain as he thought about a solution to this sudden problem: he wouldn’t be able to do the “homework” that Akashi had assigned him if he didn’t consult some sort of dictionary or something equivalent to it where he could search for the definition of “turtle dove”. The bluenette shifted his eyes to the door and then released a sigh.

 

“I guess I don’t really have any other choice, do I…?” mumbled Kuroko as he reluctantly walked to his bedroom’s door, opened it and then exited the room, softly crossing the corridor until the other side, only stopping in front of another bedroom’s door. Gulping down hard, he lifted one of his hands and softly knocked on the door. “Um… Midorima-kun?”

 

After a few seconds of waiting, the door opened and the tall body of the green haired male appeared in front of the bluenette.

 

“Do you need something?” asked Midorima as he looked over to the slightly uncomfortable semblance of the smaller male. It seemed that Murasakibara really was right when he said that Kuroko felt more relaxed in Akashi’s presence, as incredulous as it might sound.

 

“D-Do you… have a dictionary or some sort of general or literature encyclopedia that you could borrow me?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, softly playing with the hem of his clothes using the tips of his fingers. “I-I need to search for a word because of a homework of some sort.”

 

“My dictionary is in my classroom and I only have medical books in my room,” announced Midorima, adjusting his glasses slightly. When he saw the sort of disappointed look in the bluenette’s features, he released a soft, masked sigh and moved his body away from underneath the doorframe to make space for another person to pass through. “I’m using my computer right now so I guess I can run a quick search for the word you’re searching for. Come in.”

 

“U-Um… I…” started mumbling Kuroko, not knowing what to do right now about this type of situation. He was only hoping to get a dictionary, not to be invited to enter inside of the green haired male’s bedroom.

 

“I won’t mention this to Akashi. You just have to do the same, if that’s what’s worrying you,” pointed out Midorima as he fully entered inside of the bedroom once again and motioned over to his desk, where a computer was with its session open.

 

“Please excuse my intrusion, then,” acknowledged Kuroko, giving a quick bow with his head as he came inside of the taller male’s bedroom. The room was of the exact same size and structure as his own, with a door attached to one of the walls that lead to the bathroom. Not knowing what to do, he simply remained in the center of the room.

 

“You can sit down in the bed, if you want,” said Midorima, sitting down on the chair in front of the desk and turning around to face the computer. “Which is the word that you want to search about?”

 

“The word is ‘turtle dove’… It’s a bird, I think,” answered Kuroko, awkwardly lowering his body to sit down on the edge of the green haired male’s bed.

 

“Turtle dove? What sort of homework are you doing to have to search for a word like that?” asked Midorima, an eyebrow slightly arched as he peered over to the bluenette.

 

“Please don’t ask…” shortly answered Kuroko, a soft blush appearing in his cheeks at the true answer to that question.

 

“Well, okay. What is it that you want to know about it?” asked further Midorima, turning around once again to the computer and opening the search engine. He quickly typed the word as he waited for the smaller male to give him further information on the assignment.

 

“Um… Can you please research for the zoological details of it but giving more attention to the meaning used in literature?” requested Kuroko, hesitantly peered over to the large back of the green haired male.

 

“Sure,” shortly acknowledged Midorima, giving quick clicks with his mouse as he browsed around in the search engine. “Hm… I think this one is good enough. It says that turtle doves are a species of birds quite famous for their males’ mating call, which has a sound easily recognized. They are a species that mate for life with only one partner, who they do everything together with, from building the nest for the eggs to raise their younglings during the necessary time. They also don’t search for another partner if one of them dies. Because of such behavior, they are usually used as a symbol to describe the true love, loyalty and faithfulness that one partner feels for the other. They are referenced in different types of literary works, from the Bible to Shakespeare, as well as poems and songs. In a way, ‘turtle dove’ is used as an endearment to one’s mate, one that they can’t live without and would do anything for. Is this good enough or do you need mor— Ah… Kuroko?”

 

When Midorima turned around on his chair to look to the bluenette, he found him burying his face on the sheets of his bed, tightly gripping at them with his hands. Not understanding what exactly was happening right now, the green haired male simply remained silent for a few more seconds, trying to figure out on his brain why was the smaller male reacting like that.

 

“Um… Kuroko? Are you feeling okay?” hesitantly asked Midorima, an eyebrow slightly arched as he continued to observe the pretty much hiding attempt of the bluenette.

 

“…” Kuroko remained with his face splattered on the bed for a little bit more and then abruptly raised his head from the bed, an extremely bright red blush covering its entirety. He readily got up from the bed and bowed his head down to the taller male. “T-T-T-Thank you for y-y-your help, Midorima-kun. I-I’m going back to my r-r-room now. G-Good night.”

 

Kuroko quickly gave one more bow after having said that and turned around to the door, hurriedly walking in its direction. He miscalculated his route, however, and instead of crossing the door successfully, he crashed against the doorframe with a loud thud, followed by a pained groan.

 

“Ah…” started Midorima, intending on asking the bluenette once again if he was truly feeling alright but Kuroko quickly adjusted his escape route and exited his bedroom with an extremely fast-paced rhythm. “What the heck has happened to him, all of a sudden?”

 

Clutching at his red and painfully throbbing nose and forehead, Kuroko ran back to his bedroom, not carrying in the least that the hands on his face where drastically diminishing the visibility of what was in front of him. He gave a small peek from in between his fingers and stopped in front of his room, clumsily opened his door and then slamming it shut once again.

 

“Ah…” managed to interject Kuroko in the midst of all of his embarrassment. He raised his hands to his head, trying to control the enormous urge to just slam his face against an extremely hard surface to forget this new information that had already taken roots in his brain, just like both Kagami and Aomine had been doing the latest times.

 

Taking a shaky deep breath to calm down the heart crazily thundering on his ribcage, Kuroko made a beeline to his bed, where he heavily dropped his body and covered it in a messily way using the sheets and blankets placed on it. He immediately sank his extremely red and hot face on his pillow.

 

“Akashi Seijuurou, what exactly are you making me become…?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Hengen Jizai no Magical Star" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> AHAHAHAHAHA! So now Kuroko knows the meaning of turtle dove XD I'm quite excited to see how the next interaction between Kuroko and Akashi will go, since Kuroko isn't dense enough to misunderstand those words as some sort of manipulation from Akashi's side... or is he~?
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	107. But actually, I know the truth – I just pretend not to see it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> This was supposed to have came out yesterday, sorry about that. But I spent the entire day in the hospital because of my mother's surgery and when I returned home, I simply went to bed and slept like the dead until morning. But I already have my mother back at home so yay! I can now relax once again~
> 
> Enjoy :D

Though he knew it was already time for him to wake up, as his internal clock and the sunlight sipping through the curtains were telling him, Kuroko didn’t want to get up from his bed. His body felt so warm and his mind was in such a peaceful stance at the moment that he didn’t want to move a single muscle out of that coziness.

 

The bluenette took a slow, deep breath. It was weird but in his bed still lingered Akashi’s soothing scent. He could only wonder why since the redhead had only slept there twice – a number clearly not big enough to leave such a noteworthy territorial mark behind.

 

When a warm and soft thing landed on his cheek and slid down through it, Kuroko slowly rubbed his head on his pillow to try to shake away the slight prickling that thing was causing on his skin. “Nn… It tickles… Akashi…kun…”

 

“I’m sorry. I’ll stop it, then,” softly answered a voice right next to the bluenette’s head.

 

“Eh!?” Kuroko immediately opened his eyes when he heard that unexpected answer, his face extremely close to the redhead’s when he looked slightly up. “A-Akashi-kun!?”

 

“Good morning, Tetsuya,” greeted Akashi, giving a soft peck to the bluenette’s forehead. He adjusted his body against the smaller male grabbing into his clothes, like he always did when they shared the same sleeping space, and snuggled closer to their mutual warmth.

 

“W-What are you doing here?” almost shrieked Kuroko, a blush covering his cheeks as he clumsily released the redhead’s clothes. Then he came to a sudden halt to his movements and intently looked to the taller male’s face. “Wait… Did you sneak into my bed while I was sleeping?”

 

“No, I didn’t,” denied Akashi, a soft smile on his face as he bumped their foreheads together. It was the sort of soft smile that if you paid very close attention to, you would discover a very well hidden mischievous undertone in it. “After I returned yesterday, I came to check on you. I knocked on your door but you didn’t answer so I came inside of your bedroom. You were in the bed so I also asked you if I could sleep with you this night too. You didn’t answer once again so I spent the entire night here with you. I don’t think that counts as sneaking into your bed since I asked for your permission before doing anything.”

 

“I didn’t answer you so you didn’t obtained my permission on any of those things…” sighed Kuroko, feeling somewhat tired already even though he had just woken up from a night where he slept non-stop. Part of him now knew why it had been such a restful sleep.

 

“But silence is a form of consent, right?” pointed out Akashi, chuckling softly at the smaller male’s reaction – it had been a much calmer one that he actually was expecting. “And it’s not like you fought against it either. Actually, you grabbed into me when I laid down next to you almost instantly. It was really hard on me to remain a ‘well behaved lion’ when that happened, you know? Especially because you called my name while you were doing it.”

 

“I-I did not…!” yelped Kuroko, a new bright red blush flushing his pale cheeks.

 

“Oh but you did,” almost purred Akashi, inching his face even closer to the bluenette while pulling his body closer to his own by grabbing into his slender waist. “Just like you called my name a couple of minutes ago as you were waking up.”

 

“Uh…” softly groaned Kuroko while trying to hide his face from the redhead by stuffing it on his pillow. It was done quite awkwardly since both of their bodies were pretty much glued to one another and he could feel the taller male’s gentle breath softly caressing his skin and hair.

 

Akashi could only chuckle at those cute movements brought out due to extreme embarrassment and shyness. “You’re going to suffocate if you do that, Tetsuya.”

 

“Let me suffocate, then,” grumbled Kuroko’s extremely muffled voice, who buried his face even more strongly on the fluffy pillow.

 

“That wouldn’t be a very welcomed event for me,” pointed out Akashi, bumping with the tip of his nose on the reddish half-hidden features of the smaller male. He motioned his mouth closer to the bluenette’s ear and softly whispered, “Did you complete the homework I assigned to you yesterday?”

 

Silence was the answer that he obtained to his question but Kuroko’s body temperature readily escalated and his earlobes suddenly gained a pinkish hue.

 

“What did you think of it?” asked further Akashi, his face still extremely close to the bluenette’s ear. “Would you also be able to call me ‘turtle dove’ in the future?”

 

Once again, he only obtained silence as an answer, which only amused the redhead even further on this one-sided conversation they were having.

 

“Tetsuya. Look at me,” called Akashi, a smile on his lips as he motioned his hands forward and started turning the smaller male’s body around so he could see him better. “Come on, Tetsuya. Look over here.”

 

After a few seconds of struggling against the bluenette’s stubbornness, Akashi finally managed to successfully unbury Kuroko’s face out of the pillow and make him look over in his direction. And what a sight it was. Kuroko’s blushing expression had always been an adorable thing to see but the smaller male’s expression at the moment was just plainly beautiful: his cheeks bright red in color and the stunning teal eyes that shyly stared back to his red and golden ones.

 

“Tetsuya…” Akashi motioned his upper body up from the bed with the help of his forearms and lunged one of his hands forward, cupping the lovingly colored cheek of the smaller male with it. “When I called you that yesterday, I was being honest. I wasn’t trying to tease you or manipulate you in any way. I called you ‘turtle dove’ because that’s what you mea—“

 

All of a sudden, a pair of hands was shoved against his face, throwing the redhead out of balance on his side of the bed. To try to prevent his imminent fall to the floor, Akashi hurriedly grabbed into the closest thing to himself… which was the bluenette. Wrong choice seeing as Kuroko was a light weight. Both the redhead and the bluenette fell straight to the floor, a loud thud accompanying it.

 

“Ouch…” softly groaned Akashi, not only hitting his back and head on the floor, but also receiving with the smaller male’s weight on top of him. “Are you okay, Tets—“

 

“I’m so sorry, Akashi-kun! Are you alright?” hurriedly asked Kuroko, sitting on top of the redhead’s waist and lunging his hands forward to his head, to check for any injuries on that sensitive area of the human body. “Does it hurt anywhere?”

 

“No, I’m fine,” answered Akashi but when the bluenette moved his hands on the back of his head and softly pressed the spot he had hit on the floor with the pads of his fingers, he couldn’t help but flinch slightly at it. “Ow…”

 

“I think you’re going to have a small bump here in a couple of hours,” announced Kuroko, motioning his body closer to the taller male to try to take a peek at that area of his head. “Does it hurt a lot when I press here?”

 

“No,” shortly answered Akashi, shaking his head softly as he looked to in front of him and closely observed the bluenette’s neck area just a couple of inches away from his face.

 

“Do you feel sick or queasy?” asked further Kuroko, his hands softly moving around on the back of the taller male’s head in search for more future bumps. “Are your eyes focusing properly?”

 

“Everything is fully under their usual functioning levels,” answered Akashi once again, his eyes still pinpointing the bluenette’s pale neck.

 

“Do you— Hiya!!” yelped Kuroko in surprise all of a sudden when the redhead softly sank his teeth on his Adam’s apple while slowly running his tongue on that piece of flesh. He immediately withdrew his body away from the other male, his hand covering the spot that had been bitten and blinking his eyes in shock, which were just a little bit watery.

 

“I said I’m fine, Tetsuya,” reassured Akashi, propelling his upper body to a half-sitting position with the help of his arms.

  
“G-Good…” acknowledged Kuroko, lifting his other arm and closing his hand to form a fist while doing so. Then he strongly motioned it down, striking the redhead’s stomach with a powerful blow.

 

“Ugh—!” Akashi readily curled up his body at the punch, his face twisting with pain. When the bluenette suddenly got out of on top of his waist, he looked over in his direction. “T-Tetsuya…?”

 

“I hope you get a really nasty bruise with that, you idiot!” admonished Kuroko, walking with angry footsteps to his bathroom. “And to think that I was seriously worrying about you just now! I’m just as much of an idiot as you are a jerk!”

 

As soon as Kuroko entered inside of the bathroom, he strongly slammed the door close, the impact echoing through the silent bedroom and making the window teeter just the slightest.

 

“Wait, Tetsuya!” Akashi hurriedly got up on his feet, wincing a little bit when he moved his upper body, and quickly walked over in the bathroom’s door’s direction. “What are you angry about?”

 

“Figure it out by yourself!” angrily announced Kuroko’s voice from inside of the bathroom. “Go read a dictionary or an encyclopedia or whatever. That’s your homework! You’re forbidden from speaking with me until them!”

 

“I seriously don’t get why you’re this angry,” pointed out Akashi, crossing his arms over his chest. “It was because you shoved me out of the bed while I was having a serious conversation with you that the both of us fell. And I also told you right from the start that I was fine. Actually, my stomach hurts more than my head.”

 

“I’m not angry,” answered Kuroko from the other side of the door.

 

“Well, you sound and are acting like you are,” pointed out Akashi once again, an eyebrow slightly arched as he intently peered over to the closed door.

 

“I’m not angry,” repeated Kuroko in the form of a sigh this time. “You… You just scared me, okay?”

 

“I don’t remember saying anything or acting in a way that could actually scare another human being,” countered Akashi, the arching of his eyebrow getting more accentuated at hearing those words. What did the bluenette meant by ‘scaring’ him?

 

“Your words were far scarier than all invented, imaginary and real monsters bundled together in only one mutual body,” answered Kuroko, burying his face on his folded knees as he remained sat down in front of the closer bathroom’s door. “Please don’t tell me something like that. I don’t have the right to hear those words. I _can’t_ hear them. So don’t say them. And then you just fell out of the bed when I tried to stop you and hit your head. I thought I had hurt you with it so I was honestly panicking there. And you just do something like that as if the thought that you could have had a head trauma didn’t occur to you! You’re a jerk. Just go die by falling out of the bed a hundred times and see if I care…”

 

Akashi dropped his arms to the side of his body at hearing that confession. How could he have forgotten? Kuroko was still mostly surrounded by his self-imposed barbed wire that was meant to keep everyone at bay. Because even if he had done some progress about it and gotten closer to the bluenette, it wasn’t just a matter of Kuroko believing that they wanted to use him by the means of manipulation or that he isolated himself from other human beings and interactions with them at any given opportunity – he, most of all, didn’t believe in his own self-worth.

 

The bluenette viewed himself as a thing whose only function was destroy everything around him, and that those that tried to get close to him only wanted to use that for their own sick ploys. He remained stuck to the past not because he wanted to stay there; it was because if he moved on from that position, he thought he would get to experience everything all over again or maybe something even worse. Kuroko didn’t want him to get closer to him nor hear him say those words because of his belief that ‘broken monsters’ were things akin to be thrown away and abandoned, not loved or cherished.

 

So it wasn’t a matter that Kuroko would misunderstand him confessing his feeling for him as manipulation… he wouldn’t even understand them because he didn’t view himself as a human being worthy of such. In the bluenette’s eyes, he wasn’t even worthy of being called or treated as a human being.

 

“Okay…” acknowledged Akashi, a pained expression on his features and his hands tightly clenched in two fists. “I won’t say them. I will not say them to you until the circumstances are different from how they currently are.”

 

“Nothing will change, Akashi-kun,” added Kuroko, hugging more tightly his knees. “That’s simply how the world works.”

 

“I don’t care if I have to take on the world against me, then, because _I_ will make sure to change them,” confessed Akashi, motioning one of his hands forward and grabbing the doorknob. “Can I come in, Tetsuya?”

 

“Give me a couple more of minutes…” mumbled Kuroko from inside of the bathroom.

 

“Owow…” softly groaned Akashi, in a tone that would easily be heard from the other side of the door. And it had the effect that he knew it would have – the door readily was open and from there appeared Kuroko, the blue locks on his head completely disheveled in the form of his almost crazy bedhair.

 

“You are such a jerk,” deadpanned Kuroko when he saw that there was nothing resembling pain in the redhead’s features, only amusement. As soon as he once again started closing the door, a hand stopped its motions and fully opened one more time.

 

“I don’t mind being a jerk,” added Akashi, motioning his body to inside of the bathroom and then closing the door behind himself.

 

“Eh? Why are you coming inside too? Akashi-kun? W-Wait! Please don’t just start tugging at my clothes! A-Akashi-kun!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Start it right away" by Hyadain.
> 
> Who said that you can't have fluff and angst in the same chapter? I certainly didn't. Why do I have to be this masochistic? -.-'
> 
> But let's think in the following way: a new day has began and in the timeline, it's a Thursday... and that means that the pastry competition (aka AkaKuro date) is getting closer and closer XD Dear lord, I so want to write that!!!!!!!!! Not that this day in particular won't be quite interesting~ Hehehe! Muwahahaha... haha... ha... *starts crying and curls up in the corner of the room*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	108. Don’t let pompous, emotional arguments get to you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> Just... why? WHY IS IT SO DAMN HOT OUTSIDE!? We are in March! It's supposed to be cold! But nooooo! The weather has to bother Mafy in some sort of way so it just decides to get a full week of blazing sun and slightly hot weather before I leave to the land that never sees the sun! (jk)
> 
> *sigh* Sorry for the grumbling. Today I decided to spend my free time writing Shattered Miracles only, so hopefully you'll get one more chapter today ^^
> 
> Enjoy~

“Good morning,” greeted Midorima as he stepped inside of the dining room with the intention of quickly having breakfast and then go meet with the raiven haired male in Shuutoku Dorm. What he found there, however, was the most strained and tense atmosphere he had ever seen occurring during breakfast time in his entire life. He adjusted his glasses and motioned over to his seat, where a cup of coffee and some toasts had already been placed.

 

“Good morning, Shintarou,” greeted back Akashi, a bright red slap mark on the left side of his face. He picked up his teacup and slurped on the piping hot liquid inside, ignoring completely that the green haired male was closely looking at his face while with an eyebrow arched.

 

“Good morning, Midorima-kun,” also greeted Kuroko, munching on a toast with a completely expressionless face. He was back to the seat he had used on his first breakfast in Fuyu and not the seat next to the redhead, like it had become usual in the last few meals that occurred there.

 

 _Now the noise I heard from my room is explained,_ inwardly pointed out Midorima, picking up his coffee cup and leisurely giving a gulp to his drink. He had no idea what the arguing between Akashi and Kuroko had been, but he could only hope that it quickly went away since it was clearly unhealthy for everyone to have such a tense meal so early in the morning.

 

“Tetsuya, can you pass me the teapot?” asked Akashi, glancing over to the bluenette as he put back his empty tea cup on the saucer.

 

“Please use your own legs and go get it yourself,” answered Kuroko, swallowing the piece of toast he had on his mouth. He didn’t look in the redhead’s direction whatsoever as he gave him that bitter answer.

 

 _I think I better eat my breakfast in an even quicker rhythm or I will probably witness something that I really don’t want to,_ mumbled Midorima in the back of his mind as he readily picked up one of the toasted bread slices and put it on his mouth, hurriedly chewing it.

 

Akashi sighed and got up from his chair, walking over to near the bluenette and grabbing the teapot. However, instead of going back to his seat to continue to eat his breakfast, he remained near the smaller male’s unfortunately very far away seat. “For how long are you going to continue to stay angry at me?”

 

“For as long as I want,” answered Kuroko, picking his tea cup up and softly blowing the hot beverage. “It’s my decision to make and it’s fortunately something that I can do by myself, since it seems that I’m not even allowed to get changed to my school uniform _alone_.”

 

“I only wanted to help you, Tetsuya. That and spend more time together with you,” answered Akashi, putting the teapot back on the table and crossing his arms over his chest. “You could have said that you didn’t want to and I would have just gone back to my room. You didn’t actually need to slap me to get your message across.”

 

“I definitely had to find a way to ‘get my message across’ since you pretty much pretended to be deaf while you were undressing me in the bathroom,” grudgingly pointed out Kuroko, looking for the first time to the redhead since he basically kicked him out of his bedroom before any further embarrassments were performed to his body. “And you already spent the entire night in my room. During the day, you also have all of your meals with me. We walk together to and from school and in the afternoons we have my trainings in the gym. Isn’t that enough time for you?”

 

“It’s not,” answered Akashi without any form of hesitation, his face featuring a dead serious demeanor. “I want to spend every waking and sleeping second with you.”

 

“That’s definitely something humanly impossible to accomplish…” sighed Kuroko, averting his gaze from the taller male as a light shade of pink popped up in his cheeks.

 

“Then I guess it’s a good thing that we aren’t regular humans but ‘Users’, isn’t it?” added Akashi, a small smirk twisting the corners of his lips slightly upwards. He took a quick peek to his breakfast and then looked back to the bluenette, pulling the chair beside the smaller male’s seat so he could sit there. As soon as his body fully settled in the chair, his breakfast softly landed in the table in front of him. “See?”

 

“You sure know how to give convenient uses to your ability, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, picking his last slice of toast and putting the tip in his mouth.

 

“It’s in my nature to use everything I can to obtain the results I want to see,” confessed Akashi, his smirk widening as he poured more tea in his teacup. “So if I get to have you in the end, I don’t mind even having to use my ability to such menial tasks. I believe its worth the effort.”

 

“P-Please let’s just finish breakfast so we can go to classes,” shyly requested Kuroko, stuffing the toast in his mouth as he munched on it, his teal eyes doing a failed attempt to not look over to the redhead as he leisurely drank his tea.

 

 _I no longer know if they are truly fighting with each other or simply flirting with one another in an even more passive-aggressive way,_ inwardly sighed Midorima, finishing his remaining coffee and putting his cup back on the table.

 

“Good morning, Mido-chin…” greeted Murasakibara, who was exiting the kitchen to enter inside of the dining room. “Since all of you are already having breakfast, I’m leaving to go visit Muro-chin before classes start.”

 

“Eh?” interjected Kuroko, looking over to the purple haired male with slight surprise in his face. “I don’t think Aomine-kun has come down to have breakfast yet.”

 

Both Murasakibara and Midorima looked over to the redhead, who continued to sip his tea, an unreadable expression on his face as he sideways glanced to the smaller male.

 

“Daiki hasn’t returned to Fuyu yet,” explained Akashi, putting his teacup on the saucer and fully turning his head to look to the bluenette. “He stayed in the hospital last night. Satsuki is there too to keep an eye on him.”

 

“The hospital? Did he get hurt while doing some sort of mission as a ‘Miracle’?” asked further Kuroko, trying to maintain in his face the most normal and usual expression that he could at the moment, taking into consideration the huge wave of worry that was bubbling inside of him.

 

“No, Daiki is just running a routine check-up. Just like all of us do, from time to time,” reassured Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes intently observing and reading into the bluenette’s expression and mannerisms in search for the smallest of cracks in his usual expressionless and blank demeanor when the ‘Miracles’ were the topic of the conversation. So the atypical worry in his words surely didn’t go unnoticed by the redhead. “He will be discharged from the hospital after lunch time and return to Teikou to continue with his daily activities and functions.”

 

“I see,” acknowledged Kuroko as he turned around to finish eating his breakfast. Part of him felt relieved over hearing those words but another problem over that situation popped up in his brain. That most likely meant that Kagami and Aomine didn’t solve whatever squabble they were having… and that meant he would have to spend one more day hearing the redhead groaning and slamming his head in the table.

 

“Are you almost done, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, putting the teacup once again on the saucer after drinking some more of the hot beverage inside. “If we don’t hurry up and leave, we will be late for classes.”

 

“Ah, yes, I am,” acknowledged Kuroko, putting the last piece of toast on his mouth and quickly chewing it. Then he started rearranging the used tableware so he could take it to inside of the kitchen and when the redhead got up from his seat to do the same, the bluenette followed right behind him, both of them entering inside of the kitchen one after the other.

 

“…” Midorima silently chewed the last piece of his toast while observing the door that gave access to the kitchen. After a couple of seconds went by, he switched his gaze to the purple haired giant that was assorting a bunch of snacks and candies in the table. “Murasakibara, what was the reason why both of them were arguing like that earlier while in the second floor?”

 

“Ah… From what I understood, Aka-chin asked Kuro-chin to make some sort of homework on a word, which he apparently tried to use as a mean to confess to Kuro-chin after they woke up,” explained Murasakibara, unwrapping a lollipop and readily putting it in his mouth. “But it somehow backfired on him and they ended up arguing with each other instead.”

 

“Oh, that explains some things, then,” said Midorima under his breath, once again looking in the kitchen’s direction. He gave a quick snort and started arranging his used dishes to take them to the kitchen too, readily getting up from his seat. “I bet Akashi would have been delighted to see Kuroko’s reaction when he found out the meaning of ‘turtle dove’. It was actually the first time I saw another person lose their composure in such a weirdly adorable way. And for it to be the usually expressionless Kuroko…”

 

 _I don’t think you really need to use your ability to try to conquer Kuroko anymore, Akashi,_ inwardly pointed out Midorima as he leisurely walked to the kitchen, a sort of amused expression on his face. _Both of you have belonged to one another for quite a while now._

 

-.-

 

As they crossed the corridor to reach one of the classrooms, Kuroko cautiously looked around him in a masked way, his teal eyes never leaving the students that passed by them. Though he was doing this in the most discrete way possible, he had a feeling that the redhead was aware of him doing it and simply didn’t say anything on that regard.

 

“Are you going to the bandstand today?” suddenly asked Akashi, looking over to the bluenette as his classroom was already in sight.

 

“N-No, I don’t think so,” answered Kuroko, readily averting the taller male’s gaze when a soft blush appeared on his features. He has been there only twice and, in all of those two times, they had somehow found themselves in quite intimate situations. Due to such, now every time he thought about that location in particular, he was reminded of every single thing he had done with Akashi that displayed a more sexual nature. The only reason his apartment in Seirin was an exception to that were the years he had spent there in reclusion.

 

“If you are going there, warn me,” added Akashi, giving a quick soft smile to the smaller male. “Since the bandstand is not… well, very intact right now, it may be dangerous for you to go there alone or without warning anyone about it. Also, I want to have lunch with you in the cafeteria so don’t use the bandstand as an excuse to run away from it. I’ll be picking you up from your classroom when lunch breaks starts.”

 

“Uhh…” softly groaned Kuroko, his head slightly downcasted over hearing those words. “I-I’ll try my best in the cafeteria…”

 

“I’ll see you in a couple of hours, then,” acknowledged Akashi, his smile widening just a fraction. He motioned his head closer to the bluenette and gave a very quick peck on his cheek, readily walking away to his own classroom. The slap mark had finally disappeared from his face and he didn’t want to add more injuries to the bump in the back of his head or the soft bruise in his stomach.

 

Taking a deep breath to calm his thundering heart before, Kuroko motioned his hand forward to open his classroom’s door and stepped inside, walking over to his desk and putting his school bag there. As he looked to the desk in front of him, he couldn’t help but tilt his head slightly.

 

“Kagami-kun is not here yet?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "CATALRHYTHM" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> I agree with you, Midorima. I also don't know if they are arguing or simply flirting/bickering in a slightly angrier way. I bet everything would get settled if a certain someone *looks over to Kuroko with a blank expression* let another certain someone confess and also admitted his true feelings for him...
> 
> Oh and yup, it sure is coming~ The scene between two idiots that some of you have been asking for surely will be featured in the next chapter XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	109. Plus our mutual synergy effect

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^^
> 
> I seriously tried to finish this yesterday but since it was a special day and I had to go out in the middle of writing it, I couldn't finish it on time -.-' But it's here~ It's here~ IT'S HERE~!
> 
> Enjoy :D

“Haaaaaaaa… I’m bored…” sighed Aomine, dropping on top of his lap the gravure magazine that he somehow managed to convince Momoi to bring him to entertain himself while he waited for the results of his exams.

 

After Akashi and Murasakibara left to go back to Fuyu, he spent the rest of the night going back and forth in the hospital doing all types of physical exams. He only got back to his room when the sun was starting to rise and he was far too grumpy to actually get any sleep (not to mention that he had been put to sleep for hours through the mean of drugs so he wasn’t all that sleepy to begin with). The pink haired girl had remained with him most of the time during the exams but she had left for her apartment in Touou Dorm so she could take a shower and change her clothes, not forgetting to check how the research on data about Kuroko was going.

 

Releasing one more long and loud sigh, Aomine picked the magazine once again and aimlessly turned the pages, his mind not even a little bit into the pictures he was seeing. Which was plainly weird for him since he was _always_ up to see some big boobs right in front of his face. As his eyes remained in the photo of one page in particular, he heard the door of his hospital room sliding open. “Hey, Satsuki. Can you get me one more of these? This one isn’t really to my liking.”

 

“Who are you calling ‘Satsuki’?” said a distinguishably male voice, one that the tanned male came to get extremely familiar with recently. When he raised his eyes from the gravure magazine, he found Kagami closing the door once again. “And how come you make a girl pick up your dirty magazine? If you want them, get your ass off of the hospital and go buy them yourself.”

 

“K-Kagami…!” almost yelped Aomine, throwing the magazine to the side of his bed, which actually lead it to fall on the floor. He took a quick peek to the fallen magazine but almost instantly returned his gaze to the redhead, who was walking over in his direction. “W-What are you doing here? I mean, I know that Satsuki told you that I wouldn’t be able to meet with you but… Y-You aren’t here to tell me the total costs of how much I will have to pay for missing our appointment, right?”

 

“Yeah, right. Do you think I’m a debt collector or something like that?” scoffed Kagami, pulling the chair near the tanned male’s bedside and sitting down on it. He put the backpack he was carrying on top of his lap and started rumbling through its insides, from where he took a paper bag. The redhead then motioned it over in the other male’s direction. “Here.”

 

“Huh?” Aomine carefully studied the paper bag being given to him and hesitantly motioned his hand forward to grab it. When he opened the paper bag and peeked inside of it, he found there the most appetizing Teriyaki burger he had ever seen in his entire life. Its shape and smell simply made his mouth water and stomach grumble with hunger.

 

“Hospital food isn’t all that great, right?” started explaining Kagami, not looking directly to the tanned male while with a light shade of pink in his cheeks. “So yeah… When I went shopping yesterday, I sort of got the ingredients and… made that. Not the most indicated food for someone in the hospital, but…”

 

“O-Oh… Thanks, I guess,” acknowledged Aomine, putting his hand inside of the paper bag to take out the divine offering that had been given to him. When the redhead had said that hospital food wasn’t all that great, it was obviously an overstatement – it was purely disgusting. The meals they had given to him had a taste so deplorable that he couldn’t even force himself to drink the tea they served.

 

As soon as Aomine gave the first bite to the burger, there was no going back. He started wolfing down the fluffy bread buns with the juicy meat, heavenly sauce and the crispy vegetables in the middle, not wasting even a second to breathe properly and solemnly focusing on the deliciousness in his mouth. He was simply that hungry and the Teriyaki burger, his favorite food, was simply _that_ good.

 

“Or you haven’t eaten anything for days or that burger is really to your liking,” teased Kagami with a smirk on his face as he observed the tanned male lick his finger due to the sauce dribbling down and then lung his mouth forward once again to take one more big bite.

 

“I-It’s nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve eaten better ones before,” answered Aomine, his mouth vigorously chewing the burger. Actually, that was a lie – this Teriyaki burger was by far the tastiest thing he had ever eaten in his whole life. It was worthy of being categorized pro-level. _But there’s no way in hell I will tell that to Bakagami!_

 

“Yeah, yeah,” acknowledged Kagami with a disbelieving voice and expression. “I totally know what you mean. It’s not like you’re eating the burger as if it was your very last meal, rig— Wait!! It’s not really your last meal, is it!?”

 

“Don’t just send me six feet underground so early in my life at your own convenience, you bastard!” roared Aomine, pausing his bites to the burger for the first time since it had been taken out of the paper bag and looking over to the redhead with a shocked expression. “Like hell I’m dying! I’m gonna be discharged of here as soon as the results of the exams reach my room!”

 

“Oh… T-That’s good to hear…” acknowledged Kagami, the tension on his shoulders suddenly dissipating like it had never been there in the first place. “Then… Why did you suddenly come to the hospital? If you asked me to meet with you after classes yesterday, it’s not like this was an appointment previously made, right?”

 

Aomine was once again motioning the burger to his mouth when that question was dropped. He let his arms softly fall back to his lap and remained silent for a couple more of seconds, wondering how exactly he should answer that. “It’s because of my ability. Well, sort of.”

 

“Didn’t you act all high and mighty the other day, bragging about how you and your ability were just oh so perfect, though?” asked Kagami once again, an eyebrow slightly perked up.

 

“I said _sort of_ ,” stressed Aomine, stuffing the last piece of burger on his mouth and quickly chewing it, never forgetting to fully enjoy how it just tasted so good. “When you _awoke_ as a ‘User’, some of your memories of before that happening got hazy or slightly confused, right?”

 

“Yeah, but isn’t that something that always happens when someone _awakes_?” pointed out Kagami, intently looking to the tanned male as he tried to figure out why he was telling him something that every ‘User’, without an exception, experienced and was well aware of.

 

“My case is different,” explained Aomine, wiping his hands with the bunch of napkins that had also been put inside of the paper bag. “My memories from before _awakening_ are also just like all the other ‘Users’. But my memories from after becoming a ‘Miracle’ aren’t complete. Satsuki is the same. One day, we just woke up in a hospital bed and we didn’t remember part of our lives. The official report calls is amnesia but… our memories were actually erased, not forgotten due to that sort of thing.”

 

“Erased? How do you know that?” asked further Kagami, a soft frown appearing on his brows as he heard the tanned male explain his current situation.

 

“From what Midorima told me, amnesia is something that affects a continuous timeline,” continued Aomine, a frown also appearing in his features. “My so called amnesia isn’t continuous. It jumps around, making me forget some bits and putting others extremely hazy and hard to fully recall. That’s why we have the theory that when Satsuki and I were attacked that night by whoever it was, they erased all of our memories of the attack and others that were somehow associated with it. But there’s one thing I’m sure about it. Something is missing. And I’m not talking about my memories. Something… _Someone_ is missing.”

 

“So… It isn’t that the attackers erased both of your memories of the attack itself, but of another person?” tried to ratiocinate Kagami out loud, his frown intensifying while he was at it. “Why would they do something like that?”

 

“How should I know? I don’t remember anything!” said Aomine in a quite frustrated manner as he angrily stuffed the used napkins on the paper bag once again. “I don’t remember if they are female or male, or what they look like. I can’t remember their voice or what kind of relationship we had. Nothing of nothing!”

 

“…”

 

“When I forgot about them, part of me was ripped out. I lost count of how many times I worked around in my brain to try to remember even the smallest of thing, but I just got a complete blank,” continued Aomine, a strained expression on his features as he gripped into the paper bag and crumbled it with the strength he was putting on it. “All I get is this fucking annoying and extremely painful headache and nothing else. However… I know they are out there. I know they exist and aren’t just a product of my wistful thinking. And whatever it was that made me forget about them, I will find a way to fix it. I want to know who they are and why something inside of me disappeared at the same time they did. For Satsuki’s sake too, of course, but mostly because for me. I don’t want to abandon or throw away another human being. Not like I was in the past…”

 

“In another words… you’re searching for the person that has been robbed away from you.”

 

“Eh?” interjected Aomine, lifting his gaze to look over to the redhead. When he did so, he came across red eyes burning with intense rage and hatred, even though his demeanor remained his usual one. It was a look that the tanned male had never expected to find in Kagami, taking his personality into account. At least not with such ferocity.

 

“I’m searching for the group of people that robbed from me those who more dear to me,” continued Kagami, a deep frown surfacing once again on his features as he strongly clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white with the strength put behind it. “I told you I was in America before coming to Japan, right?”

 

Seeing the serious demeanor on the redhead, all that Aomine could do was give a short nod in acknowledgment to the question being made.

 

“I’m Japanese and I was born in Japan, but I lived pretty much my whole life in America with my parents,” started disclosing Kagami, his gaze dropping down slightly. “Everything was going well until they were killed in a terrorist attack to a freaking mall. I was lucky to survive with only a few wounds but… My parents were forced to have a closed casket funeral, together with basically everyone else inside of that mall when the attack happened. Some of the victims were reduced to a single leg or arm. You said I don’t understand the events of the ‘Bloody Night’, but I’m very well aware of what I saw around me on that day. My older brother was also there when it happened. Well, I call him that but we’re not blood related. We were taken care of by the same woman after that happened. And the two of us swore to get our revenge on it.”

 

“…”

 

“Alex, she… Ah, Alex is sort of our adoptive mother… in a roundabout way,” continued Kagami, taking a peek to the tanned male and then dropping his gaze once again. “She never really liked our ways of searching for the ones responsible for the attack. It reached a point where not even we agreed with one another on it. We fought a lot about it and one morning, he was gone. I haven’t heard about him since then. Shortly after that, I got involved with the wrong people while continuing my investigation… and I only didn’t get killed on the spot because I _awoke_ as a ‘User’. I guess that the fact that I have to eat loads and loads of food due to my ability is a representation of my own greediness while blindly pursuing my own goals. Alex forced me to return to Japan and enroll in Teikou Academy and here I am.”

 

“Though our circumstances and stories are completely different, I guess we are sort of similar…” unconsciously blurted out Aomine. When the redhead looked over at him with one of his weird looking eyebrow slightly arched, he hurriedly averted his gaze and cleared his throat. “Ahh… What time is it? Geh, half an hour until lunch time! And I haven’t heard anything from Satsuki nor seen any of the results… I’m not going to be in Teikou in time for the meeting with Nijimura.”

 

“It’s that late already!? I’m not gonna get there in time for the afternoon classes!” almost yelped Kagami, getting up from the chair in one single jump. “I have to leave now, Aomine. I’ll see you around when you get out of the hospital.”

 

“W-Wait!!” In a hurried movement, Aomine lunged his hand forward in the redhead’s direction, who was starting to walk to the door, and grabbed him by the hood of his jacket.

 

“Gah!” yelped Kagami, choking slightly at the pull given to the back of his clothes. He stopped walking and turned around, massaging softly his neck. “What’s your deal, now!? I already missed classes the whole morning! I have to go back.”

 

“Ah… Um…” Aomine released the redhead’s clothes and put his hand on the back of his neck, his eyes dancing around the room as he tried to find a way of saying his next words. “Um… About what happened the other day… It wasn’t— I mean, I sort of lost my mind while I was chasing you around the school and… did that. So, I guess I owe you an apology. But I still don’t understand why you were avoiding me! Because you were even if you continue to deny it!”

 

“R-Right…” awkwardly acknowledged Kagami, also not fully looking in the tanned male’s direction. Both of them remained in an uncomfortable silence for a couple of seconds until he clicked his tongue loudly. The redhead motioned his hands forward and grabbed the other male’s shoulders, dropping his head down and giving a quick peck to him. When he separated their lips, a furious blush on his face, Kagami stiffly straightened his back and adjusted his backpack. “T-T-There! Now we’re even and can bury this whole thing once and for all! B-Bye!”

 

“…” Still rationalizing what had just happened, Aomine remained frozen in his bed, the redhead once again turning his back on him and walking over to the door. Without even thinking about his actions before he was doing it, he once again motioned his hand forward and grabbed him by the hood of his jacket, pulling him over in his direction one more time.

 

“Again, yo— Mmnh!” When Kagami’s back landed on the bed due to the strong pull to his clothes, his mouth was readily shut close when another one came crashing down on it. A tongue rolled through his lower lip and then eagerly entered inside, deepening the kiss to breath-taking levels. The redhead strongly shut his eyes, momentarily letting himself go with this unexpected situation, but he soon remember where they currently were, what they currently were doing and who it was being done it. It was a given that he hurriedly lunged his hands forward and pushed the tanned male’s torso away from him, separating their mouths. “W-W-W-What the hell are you doing!?”

 

“Ah… Unconsciously, I just...” started explaining Aomine, just as taken aback by this whole third(!?) kiss business that just happened as the redhead was. Then he looked right back to Kagami, who was motioning his body to a full standing position once again, and pointed his index finger at him. “Besides, you just kissed me yourself!!”

 

“That was payback!” yelled Kagami in self-defense, adjusting his jacket that had gotten slightly disheveled with all the pulling (and kissing).

 

“The reason doesn’t change the action,” added Aomine while crossing his arms over his chest and looking over to the redhead with a knowing smirk.

 

“Don’t you try to sound smart on me, _Aho_ mine!” roared Kagami once again, a furious expression on his face as his cheeks remained bright red… and it had absolutely nothing to do with the anger he was currently feeling over the tanned male’s words.

 

“Why the fuss? It’s not like it was your first kiss,” pointed out Aomine, an eyebrow slightly arched. Well, he said that but he didn’t really know if the kiss that happened in the rooftop had been the redhead’s first kiss or not. Part of him wished it had.

 

“I-It wasn’t…” shyly acknowledged Kagami, covering his lips with the back of his hand as he averted the tanned male’s gaze. Then in another outburst of anger, he looked right back at him and adjusted his backpack once again. “But that doesn’t mean that I just randomly kiss other guys whenever I feel like!!”

 

The redhead turned his back on the tanned male and started walking with heavy footsteps in the door’s direction, which he successfully reached and managed to open to exit the hospital room. Then he, not that softly, but not that violently either, closed the door behind himself.

 

“Shit…! Idiot…” mumbled Aomine, leaning his back on the bed’s headboard as he scratched his head in a frustrated way. “I’m a fucking idiot!”

 

The door was suddenly open once again and Aomine readily looked over in its direction, but all he saw was the pink haired girl entering inside of the room assigned to him during his short stay in the hospital.

 

“So Kagami-kun came to visit y—“ started saying Momoi as she walked over to the tanned male but when she saw his expression, she interrupted her own words. “Is something the matter, Dai-chan? Your face is super red right now.”

 

“Hey, Satsuki…” called Aomine, his back sliding down through the headboard until his head landed on his pillow. “Is it weird that I find a guy of pretty much my size cute?”

 

“Eh?” interjected Momoi right away at hearing those words, a surprised expression on her face. “Ah… I don’t really know how to answer that, Dai-chan…”

 

“Yeah…” sighed Aomine, covering his flushed face with the back of his hand. “Me neither…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Exciting Communication" by Ono Yuuki (our tiger) and Suwabe Junichi (our panther). This line in particular is said by Kagami.
> 
> Oh my god, why are they so adorable? XD I mean... so freaking cute!!!  
> And we finally got some background info in Kagami and his own circumstances. I do have the feeling that you may know who is the group of people he is searching for~ Hehehe *evil smirk*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	110. When I close my eyes, I recall a tender pain so hold close to me!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with... yup, the second chapter of today XD
> 
> I was really excited to write this chapter so I just went forward with it and ignored my other fics :P I'll go back to them tomorrow ;D And about this chapter...
> 
> WARNING: I honestly don't know what kind of warning I should put -.-' Extreme angst? Mentions of a main character (possible past) death? Really heavy in a psychological level? IT HAS ALL THAT! Please be careful while reading.
> 
> Enjoy!

After hours and hours of classes, the ringing of the school bell finally signalized the end of the morning classes and the beginning of lunch break. As soon as the teacher exited the classroom, all of the students started moving around in the room, happily chatting with one another and getting ready to enjoy their lunches. Kuroko remained on his seat, simply straightening his notebooks and textbooks and preparing the ones that he would need for the afternoon classes.

 

After that was done, he waited. Akashi had said he would come to pick him up so they could go have lunch in the cafeteria so it would be counterproductive to move from that location – even more so since he didn’t want to be accused of trying to escape from the extremely uncomfortable location he would move on to next. He may really dislike being in places with lots of people, but Kuroko disliked even more the prospect of being teased over his own weaknesses.

 

Releasing a deep sigh, the bluenette switched his gaze to the window located on his left. He could already see students outside, some walking in groups, others in pairs and even some alone. He couldn’t really say that he felt envious of their happiness and the freedom they possessed but he wondered how it would be like if he was someone worthy of having such.

 

If he was free and could pursue happiness, he would be able to have actual friends who he could enjoy lunch with. He would be able to leave the school grounds and hang out with other students, like visiting Maji Burger to share a late night snack before returning to their dorms. Or stay overnight in a friend’s apartment, simply chatting around through the entire night while playing some sort of videogame. He would be able to visit a bookstore and spend as much time as he wanted there, in a serious hunt for new novels. He would be able to play basketball once again. He would be able to walk around, be it in the school grounds or on the street, without having to erase his presence from other’s eyes.

 

He wouldn’t have to keep extremely dark secrets locked down on his heart because he wouldn’t have any. He wouldn’t have to hurt anyone else ever again for the rest of his life. He wouldn’t have to stay closed down and isolated from any form of contact with other human beings.

 

But all of that was purely a fantasy. A hallucination created by his lonely self. Kuroko wasn’t a “Miracle” and he couldn’t call himself a “User” either – he never belonged to any of those two groups and he never would. Not only he didn’t fit in those labels, he had also long been denied of the right of being addressed to as a human being – he was monster, an aberration, a freak, a murderer, a disgusting thing that clang to life in a whim, maybe out of spite over those who wanted him dead. Or maybe it was simply out of spite over himself since death would be a blessing to a broken monster like him.

 

However, even though he couldn’t dream (seeing as it never ended in a good way for him or anyone else), the bluenette figured he could wonder about it from time to time. He could formulate questions in his head that went like “What if ‘Users’ never existed?” or “What if I tried to actually create a bond with another person?” Even if it was only him wondering about it in his own head, Kuroko knew what the true answer to those questions was.

 

If “Users” hadn’t been _awoken_ , he would be dead since years ago.

 

If he tried to create a bond with another person, that person would eventually break completely and become as shattered as he was.

 

 _Those two answers are undeniable truths,_ reminded Kuroko in the back of his mind, getting up from his chair and motioning forward to open the window. They were in May and spring would end soon enough, bringing with it the short rainy season before they dived into the hot and humid summer time. With the warm breeze entering through the open window, the bluenette could already guess that this year there would be a particular stuffy summer.

 

Kuroko fully motioned forward and supported his hands on the window sill as he stared away into the distance, trying to catch even the tiniest bit of glances of the world behind the walls surrounding Teikou Academy. He could see from that position two of the school dorms, Yousen and Kaijou, and the few buildings that were around the school grounds, not officially associated with Teikou itself but with a few agreements due to their close proximity with it.

 

He couldn’t help but ask himself what would happen if he exited the school grounds without any of the “Miracles” with him or even their authorization on it. He would probably have to face against Akashi’s punishments over disobeying his orders. Worst case scenario, the Japanese government would have an excuse to collect him and proceed forward with the so awaited execution of “The Phantom”. The entire Japanese population would be ecstatic over hearing such good news… though they would surely be sunk into a bottomless despair when they discovered the truth.

 

 _Since they would get to know how much of a monster I truly am at that moment,_ inwardly added Kuroko, releasing a quick and soft sigh as his teal eyes remained stuck in the scenery in front of him.

 

Though his classroom was mostly empty now, the bluenette suddenly started to hear footsteps behind him. Footsteps that were walking over in his direction. A shiver crawled up his spine at that sound. He knew he should just turn around and he would possibly only find one of his classmates there, most likely walking over in his direction as a mean to reach their own desk. But his brain refused to acknowledge that reality and started reminiscing in the past all on its own.

 

The dark corridor on the school building. His hasty breathing rhythm echoing through the long corridor as he tried to run away. And then the footsteps of his pursuers right behind him.

 

“…!” Kuroko hastily tried to remain calm and simply turn his body around to go back to his real surroundings but the air inside of his lungs got stuck in his throat and his fingers strongly closed around the window sill, his quickened heartbeat echoing loudly inside of his ribcage and brain.

 

The hands strongly surrounding his small neck and preventing him from breathing. His nails scratching and biting into the long limb that made him get suspected in the air like a useless marionette. The cold night breeze that froze his sweaty features when his body was pushed to outside of the window. The air that caressed his skin and fluttered his clothes around as he fell and fell and fell. And then the hollow sound that his body made when he reached the ground, his bones fragmenting in a million pieces with the impact. Just like his soul had.

 

That moment, he experienced for the first time the bitter taste of betrayal, the deep dread that it was to be hunt down by humans… and how cold it felt as his life slowly approached its ending in the middle of a pool of his own blood.

 

The footsteps continued to grow closer to his back. His eyes extremely open with fear and his body shaking just the slightest with all the memories that were being flashed around inside of his head, the bluenette tried to gulp down the large lump on his throat that prevented him from breathing properly… almost as if the hands of _that man_ were once again strangling him.

 

“D-Don’t… Please… stop…” softly mumbled Kuroko, his trembling fingers releasing the window sill and his body very slowly turning around. However, when the footsteps stopped right behind him, he couldn’t help but hastily rotating his body, his arms raised in front of his face as he took a step backwards to escape from the unknown person near him. “D-Don’t touch me!!”

 

“Tetsuya, be careful!” warned Akashi right away while motioning his hands forward to stop the bluenette from  falling down the window that he had been staring to. When he grabbed into his arms to stop the momentum of his body, the glass of the windows all around them shattered at the same time and the continuous explosions spread around through the entire building, shards raining down inside and outside of the classrooms and erupting screams all around that particular area. The redhead hastily closed his eyes to prevent any little piece to enter inside of his sight and pulled both of their bodies down to the floor to fully stop the smaller male’s fall from the window.

 

“R-Release me! Get away from me!” Feeling the hands grabbing into him and the proximity with another person, Kuroko desperately fought to get away from it. To get away from everything and everyone. “Let me go!”

 

“Tetsuya, calm down. It’s me,” tried to sooth down Akashi, shaking his body slightly to take out of him the shards of glass that had landed on top of him before he motioned it forward and hugged the bluenette, who still struggled around. “It’s okay. It’s just me, the disobedient lion that you slapped this morning.”

 

“A-Akashi…kun?” slowly called Kuroko with an extremely low voice, his body teetering around against the redhead’s.

 

“Yes, that’s right. It’s Akashi Seijuurou,” acknowledged Akashi with a gentle voice, motioning one of his hands upwards to shake off the shards covering the bluenette’s body before they could somehow hurt him in any way.

 

“W-What the hell happened!?” yelped Kagami as he slammed the classroom’s door open and hurriedly stepped inside to see what had caused that sudden ‘window explosion’ as he was casually crossing the corridor to reach his classroom. When he looked down to near the bluenette’s seat, he found him being tightly hugged by Akashi as both of them remained sat down on the floor.

 

“Akashi-kun…” called once again Kuroko, slowly motioning his trembling hands forward and grabbing into the redhead’s school uniform. “Akashi-kun…”

 

“Mmh. It’s me,” acknowledged Akashi once again, motioning his hand upwards and softly running his fingers through the smaller male’s blue locks of hair while bringing their bodies even closer by using the arm around his back. “It’s okay. Everything is okay. You’re safe. I’m right here, aren’t I? So there’s nothing that can hurt you and no one that can touch you. Right?”

 

“Gh…” Kuroko tightly closed his eyes and hid his face in the redhead’s neck, releasing his hold on his clothes only to tightly wrap his arms around the taller male. “Akashi-kun…!”

 

“That’s right, Tetsuya,” acknowledged Akashi one more time, delivering a quick kiss on the side of the bluenette’s head while continuously running his fingers through his hair to try to calm down the shaking male tightly holding into him. “It’s me and only me that is touching you right now. So everything is okay. I would never let anyone do it and then live to see another day. You know that very well. Hurting you is also included in that package. So calm down, okay?”

 

Kuroko only gave a feeble squeeze with his hands to the clothes he was grabbing into as an answer. And it was all that Akashi needed at the moment.

 

Kagami continued to observe the two smaller male on the floor from near the classroom’s door, now fully understanding what Aomine had meant after Akashi had tried to break his wrist.

 

Kuroko needed Akashi, far more than he actually needed any other person. He needed him to maintain his ability fully under control and it was the heterochromatic redhead that he sought when he wanted to be comforted. Even with his claims that he disliked the “Miracles”, it was Akashi, their leader, who he had ended up falling in love with. Very deeply, at that, the way he was clinging into him like his life depended on it. It probably did, actually, and it had nothing to do with the execution that he had hovering around him at all moments.

 

And it was as clear as day that it wasn’t an unrequited love. The way Akashi stroked his hair and continuously whispered soothing words to the bluenette, his red and golden eyes lovingly staring at him… Akashi was just as much in love with Kuroko as the smaller male was in love with him.

 

 _If even I have noticed this, then those two must be complete idiots for not having realized it themselves and not have done anything about it already,_ sighed Kagami in the back of his mind, settling his school bag near the door so he could walk over in their direction to check on the bluenette (even if he already expected to hear one or two threatening words from the heterochromatic redhead for doing so).

 

“W-What happened!?” asked Midorima as soon as he popped up from the corridor and motioned inside of the classroom. “The windows of this entire building suddenly exploded without any reason! Did Kurok—“

 

“He’s fine, Shintarou,” interrupted Akashi, glancing sideways to the green haired male. “If the whole building has been affected, then announce on the speakers that the classes are on hold until everything has been cleaned and fixed. Check if there’s any student or staff that has been injured due to the broken windows. Get Atsushi to help you and, if necessary, contact Daiki and Satsuki for them to come to help too instead of going to meet with Shuuzou.”

 

“Aomine may take a while to arrive since he didn’t have the results of his exams yet by the time I went to see him in the hospital,” added Kagami, observing the redhead switch his gaze in his direction almost as if he hadn’t noticed his presence in the room before he had spoken those words. “I can give you a hand, as long I don’t have to provide medical treatment if there’s anyone that has been wounded.”

 

“…” Akashi continued to look over to the taller redhead for a couple more of seconds and then returned his gaze to the bluenette. “Suit yourself. Shintarou is more than capable of attending to the wounded all by himself. Kazunari is also here so he can help him out.”

 

“Yes, Takao has already started checking the classrooms on this floor,” acknowledged Midorima with a quick nod of his head. “I’ll contact Murasakibara and Momoi, then. Kagami, come with me.”

 

“Hey, I’m helping you guys! I haven’t become your subordinate!” grumbled Kagami as he turned around and started following after the green haired male when he walked out of the classroom. When both of them stepped outside, they found there an unknown black haired male (unknown at least to the redhead, it seemed).

 

“What the fuck is going on?” asked Kasamatsu right away, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked over to the green haired male. “The usual destructive troublemaker isn’t even here and yet the windows just blew up all of a sudden. Was it…?”

 

“Yes, it was him, Kasamatsu-san,” acknowledged Midorima, quickly adjusting his glasses.

 

“Last year, the same happened in the cafeteria,” added Kasamatsu, intently looking to the younger male, an eyebrow slightly arched. “I take it that it was also him that caused it, back then. Ah, such troublesome underclassmen that I have… I’ll help you guys out, in place of the idiotic dog that is vacationing only god knows where.”

 

“Thank you, Kasamatsu-san,” acknowledged once again Midorima, resuming with his steps once again so he could proceed forward with the tasks given to him by the Head of the ‘Miracles’.

 

“I’m Kasamatsu Yukio, a third year,” introduced himself the black haired male to the taller redhead. “Are you a new member of the Student Council?”

 

“No, I’m just helping out a bit,” answered Kagami, looking over to the smaller male that was walking in between him and the green haired male. “I’m Kagami Taiga, a first year. Nice to meet you, Kasamatsu-senpai.”

 

“Don’t use ‘Senpai’ to call me,” corrected Kasamatsu, a soft frown appearing on his brows. “If you do, a certain idiotic dog will get jealous and sulk for the rest of the school year. He’s annoying as hell when he gets like that and I don’t want to spur him on even more with his childish requests used to calm him down.”

 

“Yes, don’t feed Kise’s masochistic side even more, Kasamatsu-san,” added Midorima after giving a quick snort. “That or spoil him even more.”

 

“When exactly have I spoiled him?” asked Kasamatsu with a questioning look on his face. “I’ve kicked him more times than the total count of the points he got on all the tests he has done on his entire life.”

 

 _Actually, that counts as spoiling, if it’s related to Kise,_ mumbled Midorima in the back of his mind as they continued to walk through the corridor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Lantana" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> Geez, my masochistic side is popping up once again -.-' I'M SO SORRY FOR DOING THIS TO YOU, KUROKO! I suffer! I swear I suffer while writing chapters like this one T^T  
> The day we are currently on is extremely angsty and a chapter worse than this one is about to come *sniff* I think I will need to stock up in water bottles before writing it because I will get dehydrated after crying a 50 m pool of tears. That and blood packs because a smutty chapter is also on its way~ But the angst!!! Oh the angst T.T
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	111. The legend of a dream you have an interest in, everybody’s in the same circle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> I said I would go back to write the other fics but... yeah, you're getting more of Shattered Miracles instead :P
> 
> I don't think it really needs a warning, since it's not that heavy, but the chapter does get a little bit more smutty in the middle. Though I obviously found a way to cockblock them, hehehe~
> 
> Enjoy ;D

The classroom remained in complete silence, with only the soft breeze entering through the broken windows. The very few students that had been inside at the time of the “window explosion” had long left, leaving the bluenette and redhead completely alone as they remained sat down on the floor in the midst of the glass shards.

 

“Tetsuya, are you feeling better now?” softly asked Akashi, peeking down to the bluenette still tightly holding into him and hiding his features in the nook of his neck. He felt the smaller male give a quick nod with his head against his neck, making a soft smile perk up the corners of his lips. “That’s good to know. Are you hurt anywhere?”

 

“I’m sorry… Akashi-kun…” apologized Kuroko all of a sudden, moving his face out of its hiding place and hesitantly peering over to the redhead. “I caused you trouble once again. Not only to you but to every single student of Teikou. I… I hope nobody got hurt because of me… I’m sorry…”

 

“I’ve told you before that I don’t want to hear you apologize, didn’t I?” pointed out Akashi, motioning one of his hands out of his hold on the smaller male and cupping his extremely pale features, even more than his usual skin coloring. “I’m sure that nobody got hurt. Even if such happened, they will quickly get better. We’re ‘Users’, Tetsuya. We heal much faster than other humans, if the wound has been made in our bodies. And I don’t consider this a ‘trouble’ at all. Do you have any idea of how much damage I and the other four ‘Miracles’ have caused due to our abilities? If I showed you the total costs of the money we had to spend because of only us five, you would start to wonder why the Japanese economy isn’t considered the strongest one in the entire world.”

 

“I think the damages I have caused up until now can rival against you five…” mumbled Kuroko, his eyes down-casted as he straightened his back slightly, never fully releasing the redhead.

 

“Let’s not make a competition out of damage control expenses,” teasingly announced Akashi, his thumb softly stroking the bluenette’s fluffy cheek. He pulled the smaller male closer to him once again and leaned his forehead on the other male’s, his eyes worriedly staring to the teal ones that shyly peered back at him. “But that doesn’t matter at all. Are you really okay? What happened for you to suddenly panic like that?”

 

“I-I’m fine… probably,” answered Kuroko, his hands tightening their grip on the taller male’s clothes. “I just… remembered something that I shouldn’t have. B-But I’m fine now. Thank you… Akashi-kun.”

 

“That earlier ‘probably’ doesn’t really soothe down my worries, but as long as you’re fine, that’s all that I care about,” acknowledged Akashi, leaning his face closer and giving a quick and gentle peck in the bluenette’s lips. “If I can ask… What was it that you remembered?”

 

“Ah… Um…” At hearing that question, Kuroko’s eyes immediately started dancing around, even if their faces were still extremely close to one another. His hands started to tremble slightly once again and he closed them even more tightly around the fabric of the redhead’s school jacket. “I… I-It was… the moment when I… _awoke_ as a ‘User’…”

 

“…” Akashi remained silent at hearing that answer, simply continuing to softly rub the bluenette’s cheeks with his thumbs. He couldn’t really blame Kuroko, then. He hadn’t heard of any ‘User’ _awakening_ under favorable circumstances for themselves – even the redhead _awoke_ as he was almost being killed by his own blood. Not that he didn’t do the same (and succeeded in it) afterwards. “Tetsuya.”

 

At hearing his name being called, Kuroko once again settled his gaze on the heterochromatic eyes of the taller male.

 

“It’s in the past,” continued Akashi, a soft smile in his features as he lovingly gazed to the bluenette. “You are already a ‘User’, so you won’t get to experience an _awakening_ ever again in your entire life. And not just that. Whatever you did in the past or where forced to do. Whatever it was that others did to you against your will. I won’t let any of it repeat itself once again. That’s my second promise to you. Even if I don’t know about your past, I promise I won’t let any of it happen one more time. You have me, the Head of the ‘Miracles’ and the Student Council President of the only school for ‘Users’ in the world, on your side. And I’m here to stay. You also have the other ‘Miracles’ on your side. You have… Kagami Taiga on your side. I’m sure that you’ll get to have a lot more in the future. So stop chaining yourself to the past. If it’s something that you can’t cut off for being too heavy, then let me help you carry some of the burden until you can fully throw it away for good.”

 

“I…” started saying Kuroko, his eyes unmoving from the redhead as a light shade of pink popped up in the cheeks being cupped by the other male. “I don’t think… I can do something like that…”

 

“Of course you can,” insisted Akashi, bumping the tip of his nose on the bluenette’s. “I’m telling you that I will help you do it. I said I’m an extremely strict teacher before, but I’m the sort of teacher that can make the students assigned to him successful in whatever it is that they want to accomplish. Since we have to spend the next seven years together, we might as well add that to the list of things to be done during the trainings.”

 

“You’re still talking about the mirror that _you_ broken because _you_ wanted to break?” deadpanned Kuroko, though the corners of his lips were perked up just the slightest.

 

“It’s the third reason that I have to keep you with me,” answered Akashi, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders while his smile gained a soft mischievous undertone. “I’m not a person who let’s such good opportunities slip by.”

 

“Is that because you’re a lion or an emperor?” half-teased Kuroko, a challenging expression on his face.

 

“Hm… Probably both,” answered Akashi in the same teasing way that the bluenette had used. He moved his face forward half an inch and his lips landed on the soft ones of the other male, gently kissing him while dropping both of his hands down so he could circle his waist. When he separated their lips once again, he found a beautiful shade of red dusting the bluenette’s features. “But you still haven’t given me your answer, Tetsuya. And an ‘I can’t do it’ won’t cut it.”

 

“You really enjoy to torment me, don’t you, Akashi-kun?” grudgingly asked Kuroko, his cheeks slightly puffed when a pouting expression popped up on his face.

 

“I don’t think this is called ‘tormenting’, Tetsuya,” defended himself Akashi, leaning his face closer to the smaller male once again. He softly whispered against his lips, “I would put another name on it but you don’t give me permission to do it. You’re the only person in the entire world that can restrict me in such a way.”

 

“Mmhm…!” When the redhead lunged forward and kissed him once again, Kuroko readily closed his eyes and let himself be swept away by it. The taller male took one of his hands out of around his waist and motioned it upwards, softly tugging at his blue locks of hair to tilt his head slightly and deepen even more the kiss through it. Kuroko couldn’t really help it but release his hold on the redhead’s clothes to exchange it for the circling of his neck, bringing their bodies closer to one another. “Haa… Akashi-kun… Not here…”

 

“It’s not like anyone is around that could be bothered by it,” pointed out Akashi, giving a quick peck to the moist lips in front of him before once again landing his mouth on the bluenette. He slowly rubbed his wet tongue against Kuroko’s – painfully so, the way the smaller male whimpered against his mouth – and proceeded forward with his hungry kisses.

 

“Mnh… I’ll be… haa… bothered by it,” corrected Kuroko, panting heavily after having broken the kiss one more time. “Doing this here… I won’t be able to focus on my classes anymore…”

 

“You sure know how to push my buttons, Tetsuya,” almost groaned Akashi, a wave of arousal readily striking down on his groin. He tightened his hold around the bluenette’s waist and motioned his body forward, kissing the bluenette in a delirious lock of lips. He could care less if the smaller male wouldn’t be able to stay focused on his classes – actually, it would be wonderful if the reason for that lack of attention were due of thoughts related to him. The redhead far preferred those thoughts to memories of the past.

 

Softly, Akashi tugged at the smaller male’s uniform and put his scorching hand inside of his shirt, trailing with his fingertips the bluenette’s smooth and hot skin that almost seemed to ripple at his touch. As he moved his hand upwards, the whimpers that he swallowed every now and then started to change into mewls and half-moans, adding even more oil to the fire burning inside of him.

 

However, a throat being suddenly loudly cleared resounded through the classroom, a voice soon following it. “If I could get your attention right now, it would help, Akashi.”

 

Kuroko and Akashi readily broke the kiss and turned their heads around to the classroom’s door, where Nijimura was looking at them with an eyebrow perked up and a knowing smirk on his face. However, he wasn’t alone. Midorima simply adjusted his glasses, a blush on his face as he averted looking over to the two smaller males. Takao remained by his side, snickering softly while a hand covered his mouth. Kasamatsu released clouds of steam with his furious blush, which contrasted with the disinterested expression on Murasakibara’s face as he munched on potato chips (he was far too used to such a scenario to really fell shocked over fully witnessing it). Aomine simply slyly smirked at the sight, with Kagami blushing at it on his left side while Momoi covered her face with her hands (though her pink eyes were very well visible from in between her open fingers) on his right side.

 

“…!” Kuroko blushed madly with the presence of that huge group of people that had seen him in a quite compromising situation with the redhead, hurriedly taking his arms from around his neck and crawling backwards while on the floor to put distance between the both of them… which resulted on him crashing against his seat and strongly bumping the back of his head on the backrest of his chair. “Ouch…!”

 

“Are you okay, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi right away, worried over the loud thud that the bluenette had caused. He shifted his body around and motioned his hand forward, softly massaging the back of the smaller male’s head with his fingers. “It seems that both of us are going to wear matching bumps in the back of our heads now.”

 

“Uhh…” softly groaned Kuroko, his blush darkening even more at the prospect of him and the redhead actually matching something… like some extremely lovey-dovey couples did from time to time.

 

“Anyway,” interrupted Nijimura once again, all of the bystanders fully entering inside of the classroom. “We’ve checked the whole building and the others nearby. It seems that all of the windows were affected and luckily there was only a student that got a light cut on his arm. We decided to send the students back to the dorms, to prevent any further injuries. The reparations can start as soon as all the shards are cleaned… which may take a while since not only this building but two others were affected by whatever it was that happened. They said it would take two days, give or take, to substitute the windows. So I guess classes will only be able to restart on Monday, seeing as there are no classes on Sundays.”

 

“I see. I appreciate your help on this matter, Shuuzou,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a quick nod with his head as he looked over to the black haired male.

 

“Oh, I got to see something interesting so I think it was worth the trouble,” answered Nijimura, intently looking over to the redhead and the bluenette on the floor with a smirk on his features.

 

“Is that so? I’m afraid you won’t get to see it again,” added Akashi, a slight glare on his eyes as he peered over to the black haired male. He quickly switched his gaze to the bluenette and motioned his hand forward. “Let’s get away from the broken glasses. We may hurt ourselves accidentally.”

 

“Y-Yes,” acknowledged Kuroko, his eyes not really meeting with the redhead’s as he got up on his own, quickly adjusting his slightly disheveled uniform. He took a short peek to the group of students there in the classroom but readily returned it to the floor – there were far too many people, too many ‘Users’ looking over in his direction for him to feel comfortable to be there. It almost made him feel like using his ability to erase his presence, though he knew that Takao would be able to see him either way.

 

Akashi also got up and both of them walked over to the other “Users”. As soon as they fully departed from the windows, the floor started to teeter around and the whole wall where the windows had been implemented on crumbled down, leaving the classroom fully open to the outside area by the means of the big hole.

 

“I don’t think two days will be enough to fix the damages now…” mumbled Takao under his breath as he stared to the surrounding area of Teikou Academy through the broken wall. When he saw the bluenette twisting his nose at that remark, he hurriedly lifted his hands and hastily tried to correct his words, even if just a little bit. “I guess all of us will be able to enjoy a little vacation the next couple of days~ Isn’t that great? Shin-chan, stay over at my apartment~”

 

“Even if you get a ‘little vacation’, I will still have things to do related to the Student Council,” answered Midorima, giving a quick adjustment to his glasses. “Though, well… I guess I will have some hours to spare that I can use to go there.”

 

Takao immediately grinned happily to the green haired male at hearing those words, locking his arm around the taller male’s one.

 

“Man, as soon as I get out of the hospital, I get called out to do some damage control,” grumbled Aomine, stretching his arms over his head in a lazily manner. “And we probably will have to clean this whole mess too…”

 

“Um… Aomine-kun,” called Kuroko, hesitantly looking over to the tanned male. When the other male turned his eyes over in his direction, he continued speaking, his fingers playing with the hem of his sleeves with nervousness. “I hope you are already feeling better and that your exams went well.”

 

“…” Aomine continued to silently look over to the bluenette. The thought that he was connected to the so called ‘Ogiwara Shigehiro’ that he probably saw on the flashback that had happened the previous day popped up on his head once again, but when he sensed the heterochromatic redhead intently studying him with his red and gold eyes, he put an end to it. “Yeah, it went fine, I guess. I did get to have an unexpected meal thanks to it.”

 

Kagami readily averted his gaze from the tanned male at hearing those words, a soft shade of pink dusting his cheeks. He clumsily cleared his throat in order to shake off his embarrassment and looked over to the bluenette. “How are you feeling, Kuroko? Are you okay?”

 

“Yes, I’m fine, Kagami-kun,” answered Kuroko, giving a quick upturn to his lips while doing so. “And I’m sorry to have troubled you with the mess that I caused. You don’t have anything to do with the ‘Miracles’ or the Student Council but you still volunteered to help. Thank you.”

 

“No worries,” acknowledged Kagami, grinning to the smaller male. But he felt a sudden shudder creep up his spin; when he looked over to the heterochromatic redhead, he quickly discovered the cause.

 

“Akashi-kun,” called Kuroko, tugging at the redhead’s sleeve. When he looked over in his direction, the bluenette gave a quick jerk with his head in the taller redhead’s direction, trying to get his message across with it.

 

“…” Akashi softly twisted his nose when he understood what the bluenette wanted him to do right now and unwillingly returned his gaze to the taller male, this time trying to not glare daggers at him. “I appreciate the help that you have provided us, Kagami Taiga.”

 

“I didn’t do it so I could hear your half-assed thanks. I did it for Kuroko,” explained Kagami, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked over to the smaller redhead with an eyebrow slightly arched.

 

“I thought I had left it pretty clear who Tetsuya belongs too,” announced Akashi, his glare returning and pinpointing the other male with a ferocious intensity. He positioning his body in front of the bluenette and grabbed his hand in a gentle way that contrasted in the most extreme of ways to the threatening golden light that his left eye was emitting. “He’s mine and I don’t plan on sharing him with anyone else, much less with you. Get closer than you should and I’ll cut off your limbs one by one.”

 

“I don’t get why you think I’m trying to ‘steal’ Kuroko from you,” added Kagami, a frown appearing on his features as he took a step backwards. “In the first place, why would I try to do something like that?”

 

“That’s right, that’s right,” also agreed Aomine, putting one of his arms over the redhead’s shoulder and slyly smirking to the heterochromatic one. “Kagami and Kuroko are only buddies. And Kagami has other matters to think about that are far more important than ‘stealing’ Kuroko from you, Akashi.”

 

 _Why am I suddenly being treated like I’m Akashi-kun’s possession?,_ mumbled Kuroko in the back of his mind, rolling his eyes slightly while featuring a completely blank expression on his face.

 

“Huh? What exactly do I have to think about?” asked Kagami, grumpily turning his head over in the tanned male’s direction to look over at him with a questioning expression.

 

“This,” shortly said Aomine before he lunged his head forward and landed his lips on the redhead’s, delivering a quick kiss on him.

 

All the students inside of the classroom arched an eyebrow at what they were assisting, Takao whistling at the sight. Kasamatsu’s face once again morphed to a bright red blush and Momoi quickly lead her hand over to her mouth, her eyes gaping open with surprise.

 

“W-W-What are you doing again!?” yelped Kagami as he pushed the tanned male away from him, a myriad of shades of red on his features as he covered his mouth with the back of his hand… much like he had done when he went to visit the other male to the hospital.

 

“Again?” repeated Akashi, switching his gaze between the taller redhead and the tanned male while his eyebrow remained arched.

 

“That’s right,” teasingly acknowledged Aomine, a sly smirking popping up once again. “I guess that makes it three on me and one on you, Kagami. I’m winning yet again while facing off against you.”

 

“Don’t count them! And don’t make a competition out of them either, Ahomine!” roared Kagami, stepping away from near the tanned male with extremely clumsy movements.

 

“That explains why the both of them were behaving in the exact same strange way,” pointed out Kuroko, now fully understanding why he had felt the same urge of slamming his head against something hard the previous night after he completed his ‘homework assignment’ and that the reason had been the exact same as the two taller males. He turned his head sideways to look over to the heterochromatic redhead and put on a completely deadpan expression. “Do you now understand that Kagami-kun is not trying to ‘steal’ me or whatever you want to call it and will stop threatening him at all given chances?”

 

“There’s no way I will, much less now,” answered Akashi, pulling the bluenette closer to him through the means of his hold on his pale hand. “Now that I have full proofs that both Kagami Taiga and Daiki can also target males, they are more of a threat than they were before. I will never let them have what belongs to me.”

 

“I don’t belong to you…” softly mumbled Kuroko, a pinkish blush appearing on his cheeks as he averted the redhead’s gaze.

 

“Ah… So unfair! Shin-chan!” called Takao, turning around to face the green haired male from the front and then lunging his hands forward. He grabbed into the school jacket of the taller male and pulled his upper body down, his lips readily crashing against the other male’s.

 

“T-Takao!” yelped Midorima, a dark red blush covering the entirety of his features after their lips separated once again. When the raiven haired male simply winked his eye while mischievous grinning at him, he felt all of his blood rush to his head in embarrassment. “Y-You fool! What do you think you’re doing in a p-place like this!?”

 

“Oh, I know you liked it, Shin-chan~” teasingly said Takao, the mischievous grin turning to a full grown sly smirk.

 

“E-Enough… Stop flaunting your displays of affection right in front of me in such shameless ways!” admonished Kasamatsu, his face burning with the furious blush covering his face, all the way to his neck and the tips of his ears. “I’ll fucking kick all of you!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "RIMFIRE" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> I honestly have no idea how this chapter suddenly changed into a PDA competition between them -.-' But I can only be thankful for it XD I believe I said before that watching AkaKuro going at it would put more than Akashi and Kuroko burning with desire~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	112. Match step-for-step everything that rings true

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's (finally) here with another chapter.
> 
> This was supposed to have been released yesterday but it seems that Ao3 got some server problems and I couldn't upload anything. I'm very well installed in my first stop in England and I only got lost twice up until now (if I forget the fact that I got lost in my country's airport, of course -.-') Everything is going really well and I still haven't been caught by sudden rain since I got here (I arrived Sunday so I've been quite lucky, apparently ^^)
> 
> About this chapter, it's quite small, compared to the latest ones, but it's because I divided it in two so that you would have something from me to read. The next chapter will have it's usual size. Well, sort of. It's quite big actually ;D
> 
> Enjoy!

“Are you thinking about the student who got hurt due to the broken windows?” asked Akashi as he walked side by side with the bluenette, both of them crossing the same path as the day before to reach the gym reserved to the training sessions.

 

“Maybe just a little bit…” confessed Kuroko, his gaze fully focused on the ground he was stepping. He had yet again involved a completely innocent bystander in his own problems – this time a student from the school which was somewhat trying to prevent his execution from happening in the future. Though he was constantly being kept under close watch and highly disliked it, it was still an unsightly behavior to those who were trying so hard to give him a helping hand.

 

“It was only a small cut, Tetsuya. And being a ‘User’, he will he like new in a couple of days,” reassured Akashi, the back of his fingers softly bumping on the smaller male’s to only fully motion forward his index finger to wrap it around one of the thin, pale one’s. The fact that the bluenette corresponded in the exact same way to his initiative almost took him to heaven. “So you have no reason to worry or feel bad about it. Accidents happen to everyone.”

 

“I know that. But even so…” agreed Kuroko with a hesitant voice. His gaze ever remained focused on the ground. “I don’t want to hurt other people just because I can’t control my ability at times like those. It’s not fair to the people around me that have absolutely nothing to do with me or my circumstances.”

 

“You’re truly a kind person, Tetsuya,” added Akashi all of a sudden, a soft smile on his lips as he looked over to the smaller male. At hearing those words, the bluenette readily raised his head and looked over at him with a quizzical expression, one of his eyebrows slightly arched. “You always put others before yourself, taking their safety and well-being into consideration at all times. Even to me, who you claim to dislike.”

 

“I don’t think that’s kindness. It’s instinct,” corrected Kuroko, looking to in front of him once again (though not down-casting his gaze like before). “If you see someone in front of you that needs help in some sort of way, you feel the need to help that person at the best of your possibilities. Even if I’m a— Well, I think even _I_ have that so called instinct. No matter who it would be with.”

 

“That’s exactly what people call kindness, Tetsuya. Most people may feel that way, that ‘instinct’, but very few actually follow according to it at all times like you do,” pointed out Akashi, the soft smile on his features widening slightly more. “I think that’s one of your best qualities as a person, even if from time to time you suffer immeasurable guilt due to the reasons why you display said kindness.”

 

“T… Thank you…” acknowledged Kuroko, a soft blush suddenly popping up on his cheeks.

 

They continued walking in the gym’s direction in silence, each one matching the other’s walking rhythm – maybe it was to prolong the time it would take them to reach the large building, maybe it was both of their bodies mutually synchronizing. Kuroko wasn’t really sure which one it was but he surely liked the thought of both.

 

“Um… I think that one of your best qualities is how quickly you can find a strategy to solve any eventual problem that crosses your way,” suddenly voiced out the bluenette, his blush darkening considerably at his own words.

 

“…” Akashi immediately turned his head in the smaller male’s direction, part of him taken aback by the thing he had just said. He would have never expected to actually hear the bluenette complimenting him in such an upfront way. That also filled him with a mysterious happiness and a somewhat sense of superiority. “Isn’t it reassuring to have me around, then?”

 

“It is,” acknowledged Kuroko without a second lost in hesitation or further thinking in the matter.

 

 _Your sudden honest mode is truly going to be the death of me, one of these days,_ inwardly voiced out Akashi, switching his hold on the bluenette’s finger to fully entwine all of their fingers at the same time with his own.

 

It wasn’t that Kuroko was dishonest or tried to deceive him, but he kept a constant demeanor that wasn’t all that easy to read into by others. Also, Akashi far preferred when Kuroko was open on what he wanted to say by his own volition over trying to enter inside of his mind – the bluenette could misunderstand it as him trying to manipulate him, after all.

 

“Akashi-kun,” suddenly called Kuroko, peering sideways to the redhead with a serious expression on his face. “Even with what just happened during lunch break, you still want me to train today?”

 

“We already had lunch in the cafeteria, though not in the circumstances that I would have preferred, so you should be more than able to train now that you have your body rested and fed,” pointed out Akashi with a quite leisurely way of speaking.

 

“That’s not what I meant,” corrected Kuroko, a completely blank expression on his features at the hidden accusation of trying to escape from packed places that the redhead had inserted in that sentence. He released a quick sigh and then continued speaking, “I don’t know if I’ll be able to control the shadows after what happened in my classroom. And I don’t want to hurt you or accidentally cause more damages to Teikou.”

 

“Don’t worry, Tetsuya. I’ve found a way to keep your shadows far away from me during the trainings while actually helping you to control your ability,” reassured Akashi as he gave a quick squeeze to the hand he was holding into.

 

“Eh?” interjected Kuroko almost instantly as he quickly turned his face in the redhead’s direction with a surprised demeanor all over it. “What kind of method is it?”

 

“You’ll see,” cryptically answered Akashi, a knowing smirk on his features.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Hengen Jizai no Magical Star" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> I will warn you beforehand: STOCK UP IN TISSUE BOXES AND BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS BECAUSE YOU WILL DEFINITELY NEED THEM FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER >///< I don't want anyone to die due to blood loss~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	113. It’s up to you to rekindle the flame in your heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter.
> 
> I swear that this chapter half killed me. It will probably do the same to you. Because...  
> Warning: MAJOR NOSEBLEED ALERT!!!!! This should be considered red code because damn... I need to go get a transfusion... *clutches at bleeding nose with a bunch of tissues*
> 
> Enjoy ;D

“Balls?” repeated Kuroko, an eyebrow arched high as he quizzically looked over to the taller male.

 

“Yes, balls,” acknowledged Akashi, holding in his hand a football. “From what I understand of your ability, your shadows deem everything that moves as a potential threat to your well-being. So, as long as I remain in the same place, completely motionless, and these balls are moving around through the gym, they will be the main targets to your shadows.”

 

“I can’t really see how that would be considered training, though,” pointed out Kuroko, his arched eyebrow slowly morphing to a frown as he intently studied the ball. “All I would be doing is letting the shadows destroy things as they please.”

 

“You’re mistaken about that,” interrupted Akashi, a smirk once again on his lips. “The shadows won’t attack the balls randomly. You will have to choose one of the balls moving around and attack the said target. Do it until it becomes second nature for you. When that step is fully cleared, we’ll move on to smaller balls or to completely motionless objects surrounded by moving ones. It will depend on what you would feel more comfortable with trying first.”

 

“So you’re saying to leave the to-be-destroyed ball up to me?” asked Kuroko, furrowing his brows even more.

 

“Don’t think of it as destroying, Tetsuya,” sighed Akashi, the smirk morphing into a serious demeanor. “If you keep that mindset, your ability will act according to it because it may misinterpret it as your goal. Don’t focus on the destructive side of the training and keep thinking that it will be by destroying these balls that you will learn how to not hurt other people with your ability. We also have a lot of balls to spare. I think it’s quite the win-win situation, what we got here.”

 

“…” Kuroko switched his gaze from the football to look to the redhead and kept it there for a few seconds. Then he released a quick sigh. Akashi was right. Like always. “I understand. I’ll try my best on this method of yours.”

 

“Good,” acknowledged Akashi with a quick nod of his head. “But before we start, why don’t you change into more comfortable clothes?”

 

“Eh?” softly interjected Kuroko, looking back to the redhead as he was about to walk further away from the taller male, for preventive and safety reasons.

 

“It will probably be hard to move around with your school uniform, not to mention that it might get damaged by the shadows,” explained further Akashi, walking near the bluenette and then leading both of them to the small locker room attached to the big inner gym in one of the corners. “Change into the training clothes there and then come out so we can really begin the training.”

 

“O-Okay…” hesitantly acknowledged Kuroko, stepping inside of the locker room while keeping the taller male under his gaze.

 

“For as much as I like to see you with few clothes on, I won’t peek on you while you’re changing so rest assured,” teasingly announced Akashi, a mischievous smirk on his face.

 

“Bite me, Akashi-kun,” grudgingly half-barked Kuroko, fully turning around to glare at the redhead.

 

“I’m up for that too whenever you feel like, Tetsuya,” added Akashi, motioning over to inside of the locker too. He only had time to take a step backwards to prevent a door from being slammed on his face once again.

 

He really could only chuckle at the cute reactions that the bluenette continuously displayed while around him. It made him wonder if he acted the exact same way while with Kagami or in the past with Aomine.

 

 _No, I’m sure he only acts like this while with me,_ inwardly reminded himself Akashi, walking away from the door to go back to the cart carrying the footballs inside that would take the place of sacrificial victims to this training session. _I’m sure of it because he’s—_

 

Taking a deep breath, Akashi put an end to that thought right away. Just like he didn’t want to force the bluenette to do anything against his will, he also didn’t want to force his expectations or feelings on him if he wouldn’t be able to deal with them in an appropriate way. He had claimed that he had no problems with being unfair but he didn’t want to act like that to such an extent. If Kuroko needed time to sort it out within himself, then he would give him the necessary time for that to happen – not forgetting to give a hand or two on it occasionally, of course.

 

After several minutes went by, Kuroko once again exited the locker room, wearing shorts and a t-shirt to fully prepare himself for the incoming training session.

 

“We can start now,” confirmed Kuroko with a complete expressionless demeanor on his face. He positioned himself in the center of the gym, a considerable distance away from the redhead, and waited for further instructions on the training.

 

“Since I have to be completely motionless to avoid being attacked by the shadows, I will use my ability to move the balls around,” started Akashi by giving further explanations on what they would be doing. He leaned the side of his body on the cart and looked over to the bluenette with a serious expression on his features. “I won’t try to hurt you at all with my ability, okay?”

 

“I know,” answered Kuroko, giving a quick nod with his head to make that knowledge more believable to the taller male.

 

“Do you want to summon the shadows first or do I start moving the balls now?” asked Akashi, intently looking over to the bluenette.

 

“It would probably be safer if I summon them first,” answered Kuroko, his demeanor growing slightly tenser. He took a deep and slow breath and started another mental conversation with his ability.

 

_Do you still remember what I told you yesterday? I’m sure you do so please come out, behave yourself and please do the things I tell you to, which will lead you to not be suppressed once again and actually destroy things. Just like you enjoy doing._

 

“…!” Kuroko felt a sudden shudder hit him from head to toes and his shadow started to move around in a frenetic motion, much like it had done in the previous day. He took another deep breath, this time in a quite shaky manner, and allowed his shadows to exit from his true one, pain immediately striking and spreading though his whole being. “Ngh…”

 

“Are you okay, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, trying to maintain his body completely still, now that the shadows have been activated. Not that easy of a feat, taking into consideration that the smaller male’s features looked extremely pained.

 

“Yes, I’m f-fine,” answered Kuroko, two strings of shadow randomly hovering around his body as he strongly clutched with his hands at the hem of his t-shirt. “You can start whenever you want, Akashi-kun.”

 

“All right,” acknowledged Akashi, his eyes quickly switching to the footballs laying inside of the cart and then flickering for a fraction of a second. Some of the balls started floating in the air while above his head, slowly spreading through the entire gym afterwards. “Tetsuya, remember. Focus on attacking one ball and put the shadows accomplishing that goal.”

 

Kuroko nodded his head in agreement to those words and closely observed the balls floating around in completely random patters, similar to the way his shadows acted when summoned. He took one more deep breath, this time used to gather focus on his mind by trying to release some of his tension and nervousness, and kept his teal eyes on a football in particular (the closest one to him at the moment) as he tried to order his wiggling shadows to strike at it. He somehow managed to hit it with one of the shadow strings, the object exploding at the impact due to the air stored inside, but he had to do his very utmost to control them and prevent them from attacking another balls on their own free choice… all this while keeping his mind somewhat out of the pain that made his body throb in an excruciating way.

 

“Are you still okay, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi once again, his brows a little bit furrowed.

 

“Part of me gets really angry when you repeat the same question more than once, especially if done when I just answered it a couple of minutes ago,” confessed Kuroko, peering over to the redhead with a soft pout on his face.

 

“Okay, I won’t ask it again, then,” sighed Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes unmoving from the bluenette. Why couldn’t Kuroko understand that that question in particular was what kept him from running off to his side to certificate himself that everything was going well with the smaller male?

 

These trainings were being done due to the bluenette’s request on it, which the taller male had gladly accepted (if he forgot that one of the reasons it was being done was Kuroko’s intentions of leaving Teikou Academy, of course). But, ever since he had somewhat figured out that controlling the shadows came as an exceptionally large and painful burden to the smaller male’s body, he had come to feel extremely restless while both of them were at it. The trainings would proceed, yes, but Akashi couldn’t help but worry about the smaller male at those times.

 

Because, why should it hurt? He had never heard of a ‘User’ that felt pain while his ability was activated. Could it be that the bluenette’s body was actually affected by the nullification and it reversed to its original state afterwards due to the particularly strong high-speed healing characteristic that his ability enabled him to perform? Or was there some other reason for it to happen? Now that he thought about it, it was somewhat explained why Kuroko was screaming with such a pained voice while he was going out of control the previous month -  he was feeling the exact same pain as now, only a lot more amplified.

 

Akashi continued to closely keep the smaller male under his gaze, yet another ball being blown up by a shadow due to the panting bluenette’s orders (or so he hoped it had been).

 

Seeing Kuroko working so hard to avoid hurting other people, even with the pain he felt while he worked his way around mastering his ability, it made the redhead even more motivated into finding a way to postpone the bluenette’s execution for good. It would be an extremely hard mission to accomplish, seeing as the crime that Kuroko had committed had been very severe, with the countless deaths and immeasurable  damages to the structures and territory of Tokyo during the ‘Bloody Night’, but Akashi wasn’t one to give up, more so since it involved the life of his most beloved person.

 

 _I have the feeling that my days became immensely busy but filled with never-ending fun the moment I’ve met Tetsuya,_ pointed out Akashi in the back of his mind, a soft smile on his lips as he lovingly gazed to the bluenette. _Though Kazunari said that the color surrounding him is pitch black, he was the person who brightened my life._

 

Kuroko’s sudden appearance on his life after searching for ‘The Phantom’ for close to a year gave Akashi the final piece to make him whole – a piece that he had thought completely lost in the midst of his past or one that he had never had with him altogether. Either way it went, he owed that to the bluenette and he definitely would make the same happen to the smaller male – he wanted to see Kuroko happy and smiling, laughing like it had happened the previous morning.

 

Akashi wanted to wake up every morning beside Kuroko, even if resorting to underhanded methods like sneaking into his bed or using the smallest of opportunities to convince him of such. He wanted to enjoy every single meal seated next to the bluenette, talking with him about casual things and observing his cute expressions while eating his food. He wanted to get to know him better, to know _everything_ about him, no matter what dark and traumatizing events might have happened in the past. Akashi wanted the whole package, if it was to come with having Kuroko all to himself.

 

And he wanted the bluenette to think in the exact same way in regards to him.

 

_“If you want to touch, then touch, even if you’re not allowed to do it. If you want to confess, just confess already, even if he will think you’re trying to deceive him or anything along those lines. If that happens, you simply have to show him what the true nature of the feelings and intentions that you have towards him is.”_

 

“…” What Murasakibara had told him the previous night was true. Love wasn’t something that should be restrained and love was something that humans couldn’t live without, no matter what shape it came in. Akashi had promised to the bluenette that he wouldn’t tell him about his feelings until he was ready to accept them in the way they should be correctly interpreted as. But, just like the purple haired giant had said, words could be as convenient as actions.

 

So if he couldn’t put his feelings into words… he could still put them forward into actions done towards Kuroko.

 

“Now I can really understand what Atsushi was trying to tell me yesterday,” voiced out Akashi as he departed his body from the ball’s cart and started walking in the panting bluenette’s direction, every football floating in the gym falling back to the floor when he deactivated his ability.

 

“Eh?” interjected Kuroko, as he switched his gaze through the insides of the gym due to the unexpected loss of movement of the balls.  When he saw from the corner of his eyes the taller male stopping right behind him, he hurriedly tried to shut down his shadows back inside of himself before someone got hurt by them. “What are you do—“

 

Akashi leaned his face closer to the smaller male’s body and slowly ran his tongue through the length of the back of his neck, delivering a quick kiss near the end of his blue locks of hair. “Salty…”

 

“…!” A deep red blush immediately popped up in the entirety of Kuroko’s features and, luckily, his shadows actually obeyed him and vanished into small blackish particles that disappeared in the air. Without thinking over what he was actually doing, the bluenette turned his body around and lunged his right arm forward, looping the taller male’s neck with it, and pushed both of their bodies down to the floor, his hands tightly gripping Akashi’s elbow while maintaining it pressed over his own ribcage and dropping all of his body’s weight on top of the redhead’s chest so he could keep him stuck in the Kesa Gatame position, one of the seven mat holds practiced in Judo.

 

“You really weren’t kidding about it…” said Akashi with a certain difficulty due to the height being pressed down on top of his chest, part of him still fully processing what was happening to him at the moment.

 

“I warned you time and time again,” pointed out Kuroko, softening the hold he had on the redhead’s elbow and arm a little bit to make it less painful for the man being pinned down underneath his body.

 

“But you are doing it quite half-heartedly, Tetsuya,” added Akashi as a smirk started twisting the corners of his lips upwards. He slowly moved his arms a little bit, now that the bluenette had allowed him leeway to do such, and linked his hands together over the smaller male’s floating ribs, quickly squeezing his body. “You are full of openings.”

 

All of a sudden, the redhead brought his hips closer to the smaller male’s and then motioned them up by using his legs as a lever to push Kuroko’s body up, tightening even more the arms wrapped around his torso. When he managed to break both his balance and form by leaning the bluenette’s head over to the floor, Akashi rolled their bodies around and conquered with it the top position through the means of reversing the situation on the other male (though he didn’t use the same hold as Kuroko did and simply kept him pinned down underneath his body).

 

“See?” teasingly said Akashi, his smirk widening even more as he looked down to the bluenette from his above position.

 

“Ngh… Okay, we have proved ourselves to one another,” relinquished Kuroko, rolling his eyes slightly as he tried to push the redhead out from on top of him. “Now please release me.”

 

“Hm… This situation is too good to let it pass so rejected,” answered Akashi, bringing their faces closer to one another and looking intently to the teal eyes that were trying their very best to keep on looking straight ahead, without averting his red and golden ones throughout the whole exchange.

 

“Aren’t we supposed to be training?” added Kuroko, struggling even more to free himself from the taller male. The way things were going… he had a bad feeling about this situation on its entirety.

 

“Just think of it as a simulation to what you would have to do if something like this actually happened to you,” softly purred Akashi on the bluenette’s ear, dropping his head even closer to deliver a small nibble to his earlobe.

 

“Ngh…!” Kuroko’s body immediately flinched at feeling teeth scraping at his skin and a new blush surfaced on his cheeks. This situation could actually become worse than he would feel comfortable with taking on. “T-These trainings are for my ability, not about self-defense.”

 

“Yes, but I can touch you this way. That and somewhat make my message come across,” added Akashi, motioning his head fully down when the bluenette was about to rant more about it and closing his mouth through the means of a long and slow kiss to seal his words. He shifted his body around, so that he could stay completely on top of the bluenette, and deepened the kiss even more, his tongue leisurely probing the insides of the hot and wet cavern.

 

“Mmhm…! Haa…” When the redhead broke the kiss, a string still attached to their slick lips, Kuroko wolfed down air as a mean to not only restore his oxygen levels, but also to calm down his thundering heart and the blood madly rushing around in his body due to it. “A-Akashi-kun… Please wait! Let’s not do this here…”

 

“Why? Once you start doing something, you have to see it through until the very end,” explained Akashi with a matter-of-fact voice. He sat down on top of the bluenette’s waist and started lifting his t-shirt, his fingers softly scrapping on his humid skin that trembled slightly at the teasing touch. “I’m done with being interrupted. So, with our current location and all the usage that you put forward to your ability, I don’t think you’ll be able to accidentally nullify anything like it happened yesterday. The students have been sent to the dorms and the other ‘Miracles’ are currently busy with their own things. I couldn’t have asked for more agreeable conditions than what we currently have at hand.”

 

“So you interrupted my training while it was going smoothly and not causing any damages at all on purpose just because you decided all by yourself that you have found the ‘most agreeable conditions possible’ to pounce me?” deadpanned Kuroko, motioning his hands forward to take the hem of his t-shirt out of the redhead’s hold and pull it back down.

 

“I couldn’t have put it in better words,” teasingly acknowledged Akashi, a mischievous smirk on his features as he once again grabbed the smaller male’s t-shirt and resumed with his motions to pull it up.

 

“I don’t want to,” answered Kuroko right away, wrestling his way around with the redhead’s hands to try to pull his clothes back to their rightful place. “Please get out of on top of me so we can go back to the actual training. If you don’t feel like doing the training any longer, then please get out of on top of me and let’s return to Fuyu or help around with the cleaning of the broken windows and wall. Either way, please stop pulling at my clothes!”

 

“Do you really dislike the thought of me touching you that much?” asked Akashi, halting the movements of his hands and staring to the bluenette with eyes full of dejection.

 

“Uh…” Seeing the redhead once again flashing his puppy-eyed look extremely close to his face, Kuroko’s hands also came to a halt on their fighting against him. He was indeed weak against those eyes that were beckoning him to say any kind of thing that denied those words. He was weak against it and he didn’t really dislike having the other male touching him… but he still couldn’t allow such a thing to happen. He couldn’t… right?

 

Closely observing the hesitation written all over the bluenette’s body, Akashi let another masked smirk lift the corner of his lips just a fraction and started motioning his hands one more time, pulling the t-shirt up and fully exposing the smaller male’s torso.

 

“Eh? Eh!?” In the midst of his frenzied thoughts, Kuroko unconsciously let the taller male continuing to pull up his t-shirt, his arms being pushed over his head as the fabric continued to slid out of his body until it stopped around his wrists, preventing him from once again motion his arms down to push the redhead away from him. “A-Akashi-kun!? P-Please release my hands! Now!”

 

“You headlocked me before so I’m just paying you back in the exact same way,” explained Akashi, a mischievous and predatory glint on his heterochromatic eyes as he closed their bodies’ distance once again. “Don’t people usually say that you must pay a person back in the same coin? You call me weird and crazy, but I at least have that much common sense.”

 

“This is not the type of situation where you apply such a thing,” deadpanned Kuroko, rubbing his wrists against one another in hopes it would free his arms from whatever trick the redhead had applied to tie him up with the piece of clothing. “I headlocked you as a mean to defend myself from your advances.”

 

“Then I will claim to be currently restraining you to defend myself from your half-hearted interference in my attempts to pounce you,” teasingly added Akashi, motioning his head forward to once again relish on the bluenette’s soft and savory lips in an hungry way. While one of his hands remained on the floor to support his body’s height as he hovered on top of the smaller male, his free hand softly started climbing upwards from near his navel. The redhead gladly swallowed the brief whimper his touch erupted out of the other male. “But forget about that for now. Focus on what we are currently doing, Tetsuya.”

 

“I don’t want… haa… to,” persisted Kuroko, a blush on his usually palish cheeks. He tried to restore his hasty breathing rhythm back to his usual one after the intense kiss and, like the taller male had pointed out, half-heatedly glared at him so he would finally get in his head that they were to stop right there. “Please release my hands and let’s continue to do some actual trai— Ahhh!”

 

The bluenette’s body suddenly jerked against the gym’s floor when one of his small and pinkish buds was softly pinched without any warning. His teal eyes slightly watery due to the unexpected discharge of pleasure he felt at the redhead’s ministration on his body, Kuroko peered over to the other male with a slightly lost expression, his blush upgrading from red to deep crimson.

 

“If I’m not mistaken, you enjoy it quite a lot when I tease your nipples,” said Akashi with a playful voice, the predatory glint on his eyes spreading through the entirety of his body as he came to realize how truly advantageous this current scenario was. Not only to him, who had been feeling quite frustrated over the fact that there was always some sort of blockage when things were starting to grow steamier, but also to the bluenette, who had at least admitted that he somehow couldn’t really stop his advances. Maybe he would be able to make Kuroko admit that he actually liked being touched by him one of these days. The redhead couldn’t really stop the smirk that appeared in his features at the thought alone. “Why don’t we see how far we can take it?”

 

“Eh? What do you mean b— Ngh!!” started asking Kuroko but he was forced to interrupt his own words once again when his nipple was once again softly pinched, the movement afterwards morphing to rolling the hardening bud in between the redhead’s feverish fingers. “A-Akashi-kun… Don’t— Ahh!”

 

“Another thing I’ve noticed is that you enjoy it even more when I make it so that it hurts just a little bit,” added Akashi, having given a stronger pull on the smaller male’s nipple that erupted another loud moan out of him. “Discovering that you have a masochistic side on you when you have an almost perpetual expressionless face came as quite the surprise.”

 

“I’m not a masochist… Ahh— Ngh…” tried to defend himself Kuroko, but when the redhead continued to twirl his hard rosy bud around, every now and then giving a quick pinch on the center of the areola, he found it really hard to speak in between all the gasps and moans that tried to escape from his throat. “Akashi…kun… Nngh…!”

 

“Whatever makes you sleep at night, Tetsuya. But what I said… is the truth,” pointed out Akashi, dropping his head closer to the bluenette and then closing his mouth around the nipple that had been neglected up until then. The smaller male’s body squirmed in a restless way as he scrapped his teeth around the little bud and when he gave a quick suckle on it, his reaction couldn’t have pleased him more.

 

“Ahhh—! Akashi-kun… Ahh!” Dropping his head fully backwards while arching his back above the cold floor, Kuroko couldn’t really help but scream his lungs out at the humungous spark of pleasure that the redhead’s licks, bites and suckles were triggering out of him. His hands on him felt good – but when his mouth touched his body, it felt out of this world and it made the bluenette reach a far greater state of arousal than any other thing he had up until then done to him. He had felt the exact same when they were in the bandstand in the previous day and the taller male was teasing his neck and shoulder with his tongue and teeth. “Aka…shi-kun… Ngh!”

 

“Mmn,” softly groaned Akashi at hearing his name being called in the form of purrs and mewls of pleasure. He continued to lap his tongue on the bluenette’s damp chest, which was covered by a mixture of his own saliva and the sweat of the training they were supposed to still be doing, and every so often closed his front teeth in a small piece of flesh to leave a pinkish mark there. The redhead could only wonder what sort of admonishment he would receive from Kuroko afterwards for the numerous hickeys and bite marks he had already left on his chest area. The thought amused him more than actually scare.

 

Akashi continued with his teasing foreplay on the bluenette, taking great relish on the moans and almost scorching body temperature that he had managed to bring forward out of him. He loved to see how Kuroko came completely undone due to his touch and he loved to see even more the lustful expression that appeared on his face as his teal eyes beckoned for him to give him even more pleasurable sensation even when his mouth said the complete opposite. Not that he was actually doing the latter at the moment – Kuroko only gasped and mewled in ecstasy.

 

“Ahh— Akashi… kun…!” whimpered Kuroko, his hands tightly closed in fists as he twisted the t-shirt binding his wrists around. He couldn’t really stop his body from moving around at all the things being done to him and he felt so hot that he could only hope that ice would be suddenly dropped on top of him in order to extinguish that heat, the intense fire that was corrupting his mind and making him completely forget that he should be trying to release his hands and not simply grabbing into the piece of clothing restricting him.

 

The discrepancy between what his body wanted – Akashi’s sensual touches and the bottomless desire that they ignited on him – and what his mind was telling him that it would be the most correct thing for him – to get away from Akashi and cut the continuously growing romantic feelings that he possessed for him – was reaching crippling levels and Kuroko could almost swear that he was confusing himself more than any word or action that the redhead could say or do in his presence. He didn’t know which one of those two sides he should allow to win and take over and he couldn’t even understand why he had to choose one in the first place.

 

Kuroko loved Akashi.

 

But there was a time where he swore he would kill all five ‘Miracles’.

 

Kuroko wanted to always be with the redhead, to kiss and touch him, do whatever his heart told him it would be correct to do, nothing stopping him from fighting for the happiness that maybe he could actually find beside him.

 

But he had to leave Teikou Academy and get far, far away from Akashi in the future, trying his best to forget his already very deep-rooted feelings for him or simply living the rest of his life holding a fruitless love towards the redhead.

 

This gap between what he wanted for his life and what he should do with his life was as big as Greenland’s Grand Canyon.

 

“Ngh… Aka…!” As the redhead continued with his never-ending ministrations to his upper body, the heat pooling down on his crotch and the growing haze in his brain were making Kuroko fall even deeper unto the part of himself that told him to just do whatever he wanted, not what he should. No, maybe not what he wanted but what he _needed_. “Haa… Seijuuro— Ahhh—!”

 

“Tetsuya, don’t provoke me,” groaned Akashi with a husky voice after accidentally having bitten hard on the bluenette’s nipple. He separated his mouth from the smaller male’s chest just the slightest and peered over to the bluenette’s erotically flushed expression. “I’m never good at holding back towards you but right now I’m borderline to have my way with you until I’m completely satisfied, whether it’s what you want or not.”

 

“Ahh! Seiju—“ As soon as the redhead’s mouth returned to caressing his feverish skin, this time in an even hungrier and more beastly manner, Kuroko’s body started shaking with the desperate need to unleash some of his arousal. He didn’t quite know what to do in this situation but his mellowed mind also didn’t give him enough room to think of anything that could help him except to simply surrender to the incoming and unstoppable climax. “Sei— I— _Ahhh—!_ ”

 

Mind going blank and his vision turning completely black at the moment the bluenette’s release was achieved, his body slumped down against the floor as he felt completely boneless at the massive wave of pleasure that hit him with it. Kuroko panted his tiredness away, the side of his features leaning on his right arm while he maintained his eyes closed at the afterglow.

 

“Tetsuya, did you just…?” asked Akashi, not really finishing his question as he raised his head to look directly to the bluenette, whose face was covered in small beads of sweat, and then straightened his back while half-way sitting on top of his body to get a better view of him.

 

“Ugh…” All that Kuroko could actually do was groan at such a humiliation. He had climaxed by only having his nipples teased and without resorting to any form of touch or contact with his groin. How manly…

 

“Really… Your over-sensitiveness never ceases to amaze me. It’s almost as if your body has been train—“ Hearing his own words, Akashi came to a sudden halt, a deep frown immediately appearing on his face. “Tetsuya, has anyone ever done this to you?”

 

“Eh?” softly interjected Kuroko, still panting slightly as he opening his eyes and turned his face just a little bit to look over in the taller male’s direction. “Of course not… Who would?”

 

Well, Akashi was already sort of aware that the bluenette wasn’t all that well versed in erotic activities (if he even had any experience on it at all) but he still couldn’t understand the reason behind such an easily aroused body. Lack of experience in sexual activities just didn’t seem to cut in as an explanation. As he continued to intently stare to the smaller male, his frown got even more accentuated as he tried to think up a reason for such a feature in another human being. But nothing came into mind. “Then why—“

 

“It’s because of _you_ ,” ended up blurting out Kuroko, feeling extremely vexed over this whole situation. Not only had he soiled his underwear due to Akashi’s seductive plays on his body (for the second time, at that) but he was now even being questioned on it. He was on the verge of dying from embarrassment, as the bright red blush on his face indicated, so he figured that no matter what he said or did at the moment, it couldn’t possibly make the situation any worse. “I just can’t help myself when you touch me… I just… like it…”

 

“Ngh! Damn it…!” At hearing those words, Akashi couldn’t stop his body from motioning down one more time and hungrily kissing the bluenette, feeling the uncontrollable urge to make a mess out of him again… and then again... and again.

 

Kuroko had the particularity of always finding a way to exceed his expectations or surprise him in any way with his actions or words. But it seemed that his restored urge to have the bluenette wouldn’t be as easily quenched as the previous times seeing as Kuroko had completely broken down the chains keeping his lust and desire for him bottled up inside by voicing out the words that he had been hoping to hear from him eventually. Yes, eventually, not _right now_.

 

Kissing the bluenette continuously, Akashi once again motioned one of his hands out from the floor and motioned it over to his own body this time around. He hurriedly unbuckled his belt and took out his completely hardened member. His current arousal had reached levels dangerously high and he had a feeling that he wouldn’t be able to get minimally satisfied with only one climax. He could only hope that Kuroko wouldn’t pass out once again because he surely didn’t want to take advantage of an unconscious bluenette nor finish off by himself like it had previously happened a couple of times.

 

After a long and wet kiss, the redhead separated their lips and licked the saliva that had overflowed from the smaller male’s mouth, his tongue never leaving his smoldering skin as he once again aimed for the two red and swollen buds that he had been lovingly caressing. His hand started pumping his hard on up and down, a soft grunt escaping from his throat when he involved an erect nipple in between his lips and teeth.

 

“Ahh— S-Seijuurou…!” unrestrictedly moaned Kuroko, his body shuddering madly at the sweet pain of having his nipple being pulled by the redhead’s teeth and then softly sucked on, as if making up for the previous aggressiveness. “Ngh… Ahh!”

 

“Hey, Tetsuya…” started saying Akashi, his mouth still half busy with teasing the wet bud and his hand stroking his cock to even harder stages. “Is your like over me touching you the same as your like towards vanilla?”

 

“Ahh! Haa… It’s… not…” answered Kuroko, his speaking ability slightly affected by his heavy panting and the haziness inside of his brain. The redhead bit down hard on his nipple, as if physically demonstrating that he hadn’t enjoyed that particular answer all that much, and his body trembled in rapture at it. He avidly gulped down fresh air to try to calm down the heat that was making his cock once again harden and then continued speaking. “If someone was to put something with vanilla… in front of me… haa… and told me I could only eat it after some time passed… Ngh! …I would wait. But… haa… I don’t want to wait when it’s you touching me. So it’s… probably worse.”

 

“Shit…” cursed Akashi, his hard member pulsating and twitching against his hand at the activation of the bluenette’s sudden honest mode. He had been mistaken. Now, there was absolutely _nothing_ that could make him more aroused or his cock harder – except maybe if Kuroko confessed to him all of the sudden, but that was an event with a probability of happening as small as winning the lottery in every single country of the world on the exact same week through the means of the same numbers. “Okay, I get it. Now stop talking.”

 

“Ngh… You were… haa… the one who asked?” pointed out Kuroko, lifting his head slightly from the floor to look over to the redhead. He wasn’t really expecting to see Akashi stroking himself while hungrily savoring his nipple, a dangerously fiery glint on his red and golden eyes as he looked over in his direction. It was at that moment that all of his blood rushed to both his head, to create a dark red blush on his entire face, and to his crotch, making his hard member being tightened and suppressed inside of his underwear and training shorts in an extremely uncomfortable and painful manner. It would be safer if he remained with the back of his head well pressed against the floor, damp with the high temperature of both of their bodies and the sweat that dripped out of them.

 

“I know I was the one who asked,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a long suckle to the bluenette’s nipple and then teasingly licking the tip of the erect red piece of sensitive flesh. “But when you give me answer like that… Ngh… I get so turned on that I just want to eat you all up.”

 

Having said that, Akashi once again sunk his teeth around the already swollen areola, gnawing on it softly to drive Kuroko to moan even louder. Their labored panting, the bluenette’s moans and mewls of pleasure, the wet sounds being made by the pumping of the redhead’s member… All of those noises were echoing through the inside of the large building, filled otherwise with only silence due to its isolated condition.

 

And Kuroko couldn’t take any of this much longer. His heart almost felt like it would jump out of his ribcage and having seen the redhead’s actions and facial expression with his own eyes had only made its acceleration even worse. Knowing that Akashi was aroused by him to the point of looking at him as if a lion was staring to a delicious prey after experiencing starvation for weeks left him with a sort of feeling that he had never really experienced before. It was similar to pride, but mixed with a sense of self-accomplishment and happiness that usually wasn’t involved in it, as far as it concerned him. He actually didn’t have anything on his repertoire that could have been considered as pride-worthy in other people’s eyes – maybe by the villainous type of people, but definitely not by the good and honest Samaritans.

 

All of these new emotions he was coming to experience due to the redhead… These unexplored worlds of bodily pleasure and comfort zones that he was getting to know and get extremely acquainted with… The sudden and unexpected sensations that his body has experienced since he became a first year in high school…

 

All of these things – Kuroko _loved_ them because they were taught or shown to him by Akashi, the person he had fallen in love with. That was probably the achievement that he was most proud of. He, a monster, fell in love. So perhaps he wasn’t that much of a monster after all. Maybe he hadn’t gone through an irreversible transformation into a murderous beast and could actually regain the title of ‘human being’ in the future. He really wanted to believe he could.

 

“Ngh… Tetsuya…” whispered Akashi as he released the bluenette’s nipple, a shiny string of saliva unifying his moist lips to the pale chest covered in red marks. He motioned his head slightly forward and dropped his head near the smaller male’s slender neck, nibbling at it first and then softly licking the place where his teeth had landed.

 

“Ahhh— Ngh… S-Seijuurou… Ah!” At the playful bites and the teasing licks being done to one of the most erogenous areas of his being, Kuroko’s body continued to tremble at the new build up of arousal that wanted to explode once again. His arms remained above his head, with his hands aimlessly nailing at the restrictive t-shirt that had become so loose that he could have freed himself whenever he wanted already. His mind, however, was too preoccupied with more pleasurable matters to take notice of such and he simply let himself be driven by the false image that he was still being bound into half-submission by the taller male.

 

“Tetsuya… I wish I could leave your whole body covered with my marks, showing to everyone who you belong to and warning them to keep far away from you. Because you belong to _me_ and no one else,” said Akashi in between nibbles on the smaller male’s neck. “If I could— If you would let me, then I wish I could make a panting mess out of you every single day, wake up by your side every single day, kiss you every single day. Be with you every single day of my life until the day where I’m fated to die. I just want you so much that it’s driving me insane and I don’t know what to do about it anymore except find the smallest of opportunities and pounce you, like you called it. All because you don’t allow me to tell you that I lo— …Tsk! Tetsuya, this is all your fault so take responsibility over it for the rest of your life!”

 

“Ahh—! Sei… I don’t get… what you’re talking about… Haa…” added Kuroko, trying to listen to what the redhead was saying but his head was far too clouded by pleasure to really rationalize the words and make head or tails out of them. “I don’t get it but… Ngh… J-Just touch me more already! I want you to touch me more!”

 

“Haa… And I will. I will devour you until nothing’s left and all of you belongs to me only, no matter what part of you it is,” acknowledged Akashi, biting down hard on the small area on the bluenette’s neck underneath his ear, where he left a bright red mark of his teeth in the middle of pale skin and blue locks of hair. At the hearing of the needy whimpers and lusty mewls that escaped the other male’s throat and the sight of his watery and half-lidded teal eyes, the redhead quickened the movements of his hand. He would lose his mind if he didn’t climax once before they continued.

 

After a couple more of jerks to his hard shaft, Akashi’s body shuddered and he emitted a low groan, his white creamy release being spilled on top of the bluenette’s naked upper body. He took his other hand out of the floor and positioned himself once again in a half-sat down position, careful to not hurt the body underneath his own. Panting slightly, the redhead motioned his hand forward and landed it on top of Kuroko’s stomach, spreading and smearing his sticky honey all over his torso as he felt the skin ripple at his hand’s motions. That action even seemed weird on his eyes, but something about it made him think of it as putting his claim on the bluenette in an entirely different level of what he had done up until then.

 

“Nn… Now we can continue,” added Akashi with a soft grunt of acknowledgment when he got fully satisfied over the new territorial mark he had performed on the smaller male. He leaned his body forward for a kiss as he took his school jacket out of his body, throwing it to the floor beside their laid down positions. The kiss was slow, gentle but still hungry and desperate, the redhead taking great relish over the fact that the smaller male corresponded to it with the same intensity as him.

 

His necktie also forgotten on the floor and a few of his blue shirt’s buttons undone to allow better mobility and release some of the hot temperature that his body was emanating, always kissing or touching the bluenette in some sort of way, Akashi dropped one of his hands over in their lower bodies direction, his fingers wrapping around the elastic band of Kuroko’s shorts to pull them down.

 

However…

 

The gym’s heavy metal door was suddenly slid open, allowing the sunlight to sip inside of the big division more clearly than only by the small windows spread around through the wall.

 

“Akashicchi~ I returned earlier than expected since I finished everything… that I had… to… do…” sounded Kise’s cheerful voice from the entrance of the gym, but when he looked to inside of the large room and saw the redhead, with disheveled clothes, on top of the bluenette, who was already half-naked, both of them panting and with their bodies covered in sweat (and probably more due to the sort of milky substance spread all over the smaller male’s upper body), he had a really bad feeling about what would happen to him next. “Ah… I arrived at the wrong time… didn’t I?”

 

“Ryouta…” called Akashi, his head turning around to look in the blonde’s direction and his body shifted around so he could hide some of the bluenette’s body. When he saw the taller male take a step backwards to return to the exterior of the gym, he ‘smiled’ at him, which immediately erupted a loud yelp out of the blonde. “Kindly close the door once again and wait outside. If you move a single inch from there… _I will close you in a boat and then sink it in the ocean._ ”

 

“B-B-But I have to g-go see Kasamatsu-senpai…” stutteringly pointed out Kise, unconsciously taking two more steps backwards in order to escape the terrifying glare he was being subjected to.

 

“ _Ryouta_ ,” simply called Akashi, his ‘smile’ stretching even more.

 

“Y-Yes!” hurriedly acknowledged Kise, closing the metal door once again the quickest he could given his currently frightened self. He gave it a short glance to see if it was fully closed and leaned his back on the door, his body sliding down and slumping on the floor.

 

_Shit… Fuck…! Now I’ve done it… Akashicchi is totally gonna kill me afterwards! Or worse yet, he’ll punish me again! I won’t be able to be with my beloved Kasamatsu-senpai for days to no end all over again! And… Why the heck are those two having more action than me!? So not fair!!!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "The Other self" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Sorry... No, I'm not really that sorry... I really had to cockblock them because they aren't ready to go that further just yet. So please keep it in your pants... or at least out of Kuroko's delicious-looking ass... for a little bit longer, Akashi ;D About the rest... I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING ELSE TO SAY BUT SDHSFNKADMLEJRLAKDPEWFMLAKDOEJMLSWJDEOMDKWSODEW!!! (And yes, I know you know what I'm trying to say over there~)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	114. Within a forsaken miracle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^^
> 
> I will start updating my other fics from now on too (or at least try...), but I definitely needed to take this chapter out of my system before. It highly pains me to say this but...
> 
> Warning: TORTURE (both physical and psychological), STRONG LANGUAGE. There's also a slight mention of intentions of rape/non-con if interpreted in a certain way so PLEASE be careful with this chapter TT.TT
> 
> Enjoy (if it's even possible to do such) and please don't kill me for having written this. I'm already suffering plenty *runs off crying*

After inserting a few more words in the computer through the keyboard, Momoi let her back fall against the backrest of the chair, a deep sigh escaping her lips as she stretched her arms over her head to release some of the discomfort she felt on her body due to the prolonged time she had spent sitting in the same position. Some of the tension on her shoulders and back wasn’t even due to said discomfort.

 

Her head was still partially frozen with the sudden and very unexpected discovery that Aomine, her childhood friend who had an addiction to big breasted older women, was breading some sort of relationship with Kagami, who was undeniably male and just as big and well-structured as him. After both of them kissed in front of a small crowd (though it was with only people who they were sort of familiar with), Momoi had tried to talk with the tanned male over it but she didn’t quite understand what he was babbling about. She had a feeling that not even Aomine himself understood it.

 

 _It sure is hard to have an idiot for a childhood friend,_ inwardly sighed Momoi, lifting her body from the chair and coming to a standing up position. She casually walked over to the small kitchenette and opened the fridge, from where she took out a medium bowl with cherries.

 

On her way back to the large desk filled with computer screens, keyboards, computer mice and other technological apparels, she passed by the printer and picked up a bunch of papers, her pink eyes immediately scanning the words there. As she settled herself back on the chair, the pink haired girl carefully analyzed the data she had gathered on Kuroko Tetsuya, motioning one of her hands to pick a cherry up and then led it to her mouth.

 

Releasing a quick sigh, Momoi took a quick peek to the main screen of her assortment of computers and observed the processing bar almost completely filled. Taking into consideration that the search engines were taking quite a long time processing and searching through every corner of North America, it must mean or that there was quite a lot of information there that was associated with the keywords she had inserted on the engine or there was a substantial amount of large files, such as digitalized photos or an audio file. If it would be both, she would be eternally grateful – she didn’t exactly want to disappoint nor anger Akashi in any way, not to mention that she wanted to keep her pride as a perfect analyst and informant completely intact.

 

She returned her gaze to the prints and started to meticulously read the words written there, discarding the ones that weren’t related in any way to the bluenette, the ‘User’ called Ogiwara Shigehiro, or the organization whose name still remained unknown. Out of the 32 documents she had on her hand, only five were actually minimally related to ‘The Phantom’… but none could be 100% trusted. All of them had been collected from the eeriest and darkest corners of the virtual world and, as such, their reliability was highly dubious, if not sometimes outright false.

 

However, since Momoi didn’t possess the means to confirm the veracity of the data of the five documents, she put them together with the few others she had already acquired since this secret investigation had started a couple of days ago. When the pink haired girl looked over to the compilation of pages and saw that its size wasn’t even of the thickness of a shopping catalogue, she could only really groan at it.

 

As she was about to motion her hand to the cherries bowl to help her forget the dejection she was feeling over her not all that fruitful investigation, a soft beeping sound came from the computer and her eyes readily looked over to the main screen. The last continent to be swept through for information on Kuroko had finally been cleared and all the documents and files had been sent to a new folder.

 

“Ugh… This may take a while…” softly complained Momoi when she opened the folder and looked to the total number of documents inside – 1511 documents of all sizes and types, all gathered in the same place. Even if most of them winded up being one-page or half-a-page documents, it would take her the rest of the day and possibly the whole night to go through all of them. “I better get ready for a long night without sleeping…”

 

With a few clicks with her mouse, she sent the whole set of documents to the printer. Even if she would eventually run out of paper or paint, it would be safer if she didn’t keep any of the documents solemnly in her computer. There was a highly skilled hacker out there and, even though her computer had a security program as strong and impenetrable as the ones used by some government’s databases, she didn’t want to run any risk and somehow get that information stolen or erased from her computer.

 

However, another beeping sound echoed through the room and a message box appeared on the screen, together with a soft flash of light.

 

“Oh~ What’s this we got here~” cheerfully said Momoi while reading what was written in the message box. It seemed that one of the files inside of the folder couldn’t be printed because it wasn’t a document that _could_ be printed, even if altered to suit the computer’s programs.

 

She quickly closed the message box and started scrolling down through the folder, searching for the document or file that had made such a message pop up out of nowhere. It must be a quite bulky document that the printer wasn’t being able to process or it was simply encrypted in some sort of way.

 

“…!” What she saw surely wasn’t any of the two and it made her mouth gape wide open. It wasn’t even a photo or an audio file – it was a full-fledged video file, one almost 15 minutes long, by the size it had.

 

Momoi kept her gaze on the file for a few seconds, unsure about what she should do in regards of it. She had to check it, of course, since it could be something that had absolutely nothing to do with Kuroko or ‘The Phantom’. However, taking into consideration that she had to actually resort to such unsavory sections of information channels to get it and the whole mysteriousness that involved the bluenette… she felt honestly scared about what kind of thing the video would feature.

 

The pink haired girl took a shaky deep breath and gave two clicks on the video so it would open. She raised the volume a little bit and sat straight on her chair, impatiently waiting for the video to load. Momoi would regret for the rest of her life that she had actually put the volume of her computer on louder levels.

 

_“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”_

 

“…!” Momoi readily covered her mouth at hearing the ear-splitting scream and watching the nightmarish image that appeared on the screen, her pink eyes open in shock.

 

The image was slightly distorted by a soft interference of the footage but it was still extremely clear. A tall blonde man remained with his back turned to the recording camera, his hands fiddling with something that remained lay down on top of the large surgical table – she didn’t even need to look twice to know that it was a person. With a soft thud, a pair of bloodied medical scissors were dropped on a metal tray, where a lot more other bloodied instruments remained.

 

 _“Ah, that was my bad, Tetsuya-chan,”_ apologized the blonde with a mocking voice, his back still turned to the camera as he motioned his hand to another tray and started rumbling through its insides. _“I accidentally cut the wrong ligament on your elbow.”_

 

“Oh, Tetsu-kun…” softly called Momoi with a sorrowful voice, tears already gathering in the corners of her eyes. She couldn’t really see the whole body of the bluenette, but it seemed smaller compared to his current height – such a fact broke her heart even more.

 

All of a sudden, a loud bang resounded from the video. It had been sort of similar to a door being slammed open, but it sounded more metallic and rougher than what a usual door normally sounded like.

 

 _“Hey, you psycho! Can’t ya keep his voice down while I’m fuckin’ my women!?”_ resounded an extremely angry voice, though the person who had spoken didn’t appear on the screen at all. Curiously, the words had been said not in Japanese, but in English. _“Your pet’s screams are interfering with my women’s screams!”_

 

 _“Then why don’t you use a room farther away from this one?”_ simply pointed out the blonde, also in English, as he turned his head slightly in a particular direction, possibly to look to the newcomer. His face still remained hidden from the camera as he continued to speak. _“You have a lot of different rooms here. Go screw your women on another one if my educative lessons with Tetsuya-chan bother you that much.”_

 

 _“No way. My current room is the one where the screams echo the best. I’m not changing it for shit,”_ groaned the unknown man with dissatisfaction. He released a long sigh. _“How much longer will it take? First you put Shigehiro screaming his lungs out for two hours and as soon as he passed out, you switched to your favorite pet. You already played around with him for three hours, ya know?”_

 

 _“That long? I guess we were having so much fun, we completely lost track of time. Isn’t that right, Tetsuya-chan?”_ said the blonde, turning his head around to look back to the bluenette and switching his last sentence back to Japanese. The room was flooded in silence for brief seconds but soon enough another wave of noise hit the computer’s speakers.

 

 _“Aaaaahh! Ngh! Aaahhhhh!”_ screamed (presumably) Kuroko when a scalpel was suddenly stabbed on his right upper leg and then sunk even deeper on his flesh, making Momoi gasp loudly with the aggressiveness that had been put forward in the action.

 

 _“I asked you a question, Tetsuya-chan. Pets should do what their owners tell them to do,”_ said the blonde, stabbing the sharp medical instrument more deeply in the smaller male’s limb as his body squirmed in pain against the restrictive binds that held his body tightly against the surgical table. _“Aren’t the two of us having a lot of fun in today’s lesson?”_

 

 _“Y… y-yes…”_ acknowledged Kuroko with a shaky voice. And this time Momoi was 100% sure that it really was the bluenette – though the voice was extremely rusty and worn out, possibly from screaming too much, she could still recognize the soft and gentle voice that she usually heard Kuroko using when talking in the present.

 

Tears already rained down through her cheeks. Her heart was just feeling so heavy and pained at the moment. She barely knew the bluenette but she felt the biggest sensation of guilt of her whole life as she watched this footage of whatever ‘lesson’ that was being performed on Kuroko. It hurt and a part of her brain was screaming at her, admonishing her by telling that she could have prevented this torturous session from happening. That she could have helped the bluenette in the past but hadn’t been able to do so.

 

 _“That’s my boy,”_ taunted the blonde as he pulled the scalpel out of the smaller male and dropped it back on the tray, motioning his arm forward afterwards to what appeared to be to ruffle the bluenette’s hair. _“Ah, now that I think about it, we are approaching an extremely special date. If there’s any lesson tomorrow, it will be the session number 666. The number of the Beast. For such a special occasion, we have to do something even more fun, don’t we, Tetsuya-chan?”_

 

 _“If tomorrow it will be as noisy as today, then give me a fuckin’ warning first,”_ barked the unknown man, this time in Japanese. _“His screams make me horny but since you don’t let me lay my hands on your oh so special pet, it’s extremely frustrating to hear him every single day, even with all the loose prostitutes that you bought me to do whatever I want to do with them around.”_

 

 _“Yes, yes, yes. Just continue to fuck your idiotic women and keep your hands off of my little play toy,”_ acknowledged the blonde, his hand still appearing to be ruffling the blue locks of hair of the smaller male. Momoi could almost hear the leer hidden on those words. _“But you can use Shige for whatever you want.”_

 

 _“Yeah, right… As if I wanted to drill a bigger psycho than you,”_ scoffed the unknown man. A few seconds later, the same metal door from before was closed with a loud bang that vibrated through the whole room.

 

For a couple of seconds, the only noises that could be heard from the video was the metallic clicks and clanks as the blonde straightened the insides of the two trays and the soft humming that came from him. The pink haired girl didn’t quite recognize the song but… part of her seemed to have heard it before somewhere and that lack of recognition was causing a soft, pointy pain in the core of her brain.

 

 _“Since it’s a special occasion, my little Tetsuya-chan, I’ll allow you to choose what we get to do in the next lesson,”_ announced the blonde, still lightly working with his hands on one of the trays. _“What would you prefer: be closed in a tank filled with water while with weights attached to your legs and arms? Having a scorching iron tube be ran over through all of your body? Having me cut all of your muscles, ligaments, tendons and break your articulations and then force you to climb the well on the lower floor with limited time? Or would you prefer some more amusing games like… Hmm… Blowing up with a hospital or an orphanage? Shooting at some of that sex-crazed guy’s prostitutes? Or maybe~ Creating more monsters to add to our collection?”_

 

 _“Ugh… You can do… whatever you want to me…”_ said Kuroko with a small and shaky voice, his body also trembling in tandem with it. _“But please… don’t make me… hurt more people.”_

 

 _“Ahhh… Tetsuya-chan, Tetsuya-chan…”_ sighed the blonde, his head shaking at what appeared to be disappointment and dissatisfaction. The tall man ruffled the back of his hair for brief seconds and then dropped his arm to the side of his body once again, only to later motion it sideways in the bluenette’s stretched out arm’s direction. _“You know… When you give me the same answer every single time, it really gets on my nerves.”_

 

 _“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”_ screamed Kuroko when the blonde grabbed one of his fingers and then bent it backwards, a loud cracking sound echoing not only through the inside of the room where the ‘lesson’ was happening, but also through the pink haired girl’s apartment. The sound of the bluenette’s finger breaking had been so sickening that Momoi felt her stomach turn and the cherries she had eaten started to climb up her throat.

 

 _“Diversity is essential for society to work in a peaceful way,”_ continued the blonde, releasing the broken finger and grabbing another one, which he started to softly bend backwards too. _“That’s why you find out there all types of people. Some good, some bad, some that try to not stand on either side of the clear line that separates good from evil.”_

 

 _“Ngh… Haa… Aaaaaaahhhh!”_ screamed Kuroko once again when one more finger was broken with a loud snapping sound.

 

 _“If I were to put myself in one of those two groups, it would be in the ‘evil’ one,”_ added the blonde, grabbing the third finger and doing the exact same thing he had done to the previous one. _“You, my little pet, don’t fit on either. Not even to the group of people that don’t want to join neither of the sides. A monster like you is too filthy to be put in the same category as me. And the good side? You are not worthy of even such a thought. ‘It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.’ Today’s lesson’s last question: where is that from?”_

 

_“Ngh… Mark… seven… twenty… twenty three…”_

 

 _“Good boy,”_ acknowledged the blonde, snapping the bone of the finger he was holding in two, which made the smaller male screech in pain yet once again. _“It’s such a pity that after 665 lessons with me, you no longer cry, Tetsuya-chan. I quite liked to see your ugly mug as you bawled your eyes out.”_

 

 _“As if… I would continue to cry… because of a sadist… like you…”_ grudgingly said Kuroko, but the only thing he got out of the blonde was a laugh in the form of a bark.

 

 _“You’re wrong on that one, Tetsuya-chan,”_ taunted the blonde as he continued to chuckle softly. _“You simply fully welcomed the monster that you are and fell even deeper into the darkness that you bring forward to the world. My cute little pet, the ‘User’ that can only be compared to the Anti-Christ, if not to the Devil itself. But do continue falling, Tetsuya-chan. I really want to see you bringing the whole world down by tainting it with your wonderful ability. Ahh… There’s nothing more beautiful than seeing you corrupt those useless monkeys and become even more defiled by their blood and tears. Ahahaha!”_

 

The blonde picked up the two trays and took a step backwards, departing himself from the spot where he had been throughout the entire footage. The moment the tall man turned around, Momoi’s brain was struck by a painful bolt of electricity and her body bent forward, her hands desperately clutching at her throbbing head.

 

 _“Echoing footsteps, but no one’s ever there~ A disembodied arm that drags you down the stair~”_ started humming once again the blonde, this time around with the actual lyrics, a wicked smile painted on his features as he walked closer to the camera. _“Falling where no one can hear your last good-bye~ In this monster’s lullaby~”_

 

“Ahhhh—!” screamed Momoi all of a sudden, an extremely strong and gut-wrenching bolt striking in the core of her brain. Due to the painful shockwave that it was spreading through her whole body together with the bolt, she lost her balance and fell down from the chair, her hands desperately clutching at her head in searches that it could somehow calm down all the pain she was currently being stroke with. “Ngh… Haa… Haa…”

 

After long minutes of excruciating agony, the pink haired girl finally managed to slowly hoist her body up to a sitting position, using the chair from where she had fallen as a helping lever. The video had ended on the exact same moment as her body motioned to the floor so she wouldn’t need the rewind the whole thing – no, she wouldn’t need to continue watching it even if she had missed anything. She was very well aware that this footage was an essential key to solve the mystery behind Kuroko’s past and, possibly, the whole ‘Bloody Night’.

 

Before anything wrong could happen to the video, she had to give it to Akashi. He definitely wouldn’t enjoy a single second of the almost 15-minutes long footage but he had told her to give him every single thing that she had found while on her investigation. Momoi took a pen drive from a drawer in the desk and put it on the computer, quickly putting the video on it while she searched with her hands for her cell phone.

 

Her breathing rhythm still slightly affected by the previous bolts of pain, she finally grabbed the electronic device and immediately inserted the redhead’s phone number on the screen, putting it afterwards on her ear as she waited for the call to connect.

 

“H-Hello, Akashi-kun? I… I have something to show you. Right now!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Ambivalence" by SCREEN mode.
> 
> Why...? Just why do I do this to myself...? And to you guys, of course. I don't think Akashi will really enjoy the video. Oh god, I can already feel the storm brewing... *bites nails* And even though I didn't write their names in the chapter itself, you know who the blonde and the unknown man are, don't you? TT.TT
> 
> For those who are curious, the song Gold is singing is called "Monster's Lullaby" by Rebbeca Angel. It's sort of creepy and yes, I do like to listen to creepy lullabies when I'm in certain moods :P
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	115. Even though each of us has his own kind of talent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter.
> 
> I'm sorry for taking so long -.-' Only today my shifts were arranged in a manageable way and, luckily, I have my afternoons free from 2:30PM onward for now - which I will fully use to write (though there will be days when I still start working on the fics later since I may need to go out to stock up on snacks and drinks :P) But everything has been going well ^.^ Working in the hotel is hard work and I'm not really used to it yet, but I have plenty of time for that during the one year I'll be staying here!
> 
> Anyway, enjoy~

The tension inside of the living room of Fuyu was palpable – it was almost akin to be compared to the type of atmosphere that one could find in the offices of highly respected military personnel as they finished the last strategic preparations to start one more victorious battle against their enemy.

 

Though that was the case, Kuroko simply continued to read his book while sitting on the sofa. He actually preferred to not even listen to this conversation, but Akashi had insisted on him to be present in what the bluenette actually considered the most miserable show of his entire life. Kuroko just felt so embarrassed over this whole situation that the open book remained extremely close to his face, causing him to take twice the usual amount of time to finish a page due to the proximity that the letters had from his eyes. Even so, he would not put it down and would continue to ignore the conversation happening right in front of him.

 

“I’m so very sorry, Akashicchi!” apologized Kise for the thousandth time, his forehead leaned down on the floor as he bowed his head and body in the Dogeza position. “It wasn’t my intention to interrupt you two! Yes, I came back earlier than expected, but it was because I finished my work much more quickly than I thought I would and figured I would be more helpful here than in the island where I no longer had anything to do!”

 

“…”

 

“I-I found Murasakibaracchi on my way to the Student Council building, where I intended on reporting to you that everything was done successfully,” continued Kise, his panic growing even more at the silence that he was obtaining out of the redhead. It would be far easier to listen to Akashi admonishing him than to not get any type of words whatsoever – at least, he would get the inkling of what he was currently thinking as he stared him down from his standing position. “Murasakibaracchi told me that you were with Kuroko-kun for his trainings in the gym reserved for that purpose so I went there to warn you that I had arrived already. But I had no idea that you two were… Ah… Um… B-Busy…?”

 

“…”

 

“A-A-Anyway, please forgive for having interrupted you two and I will try to correct my wrong doings in the future by doing my very best to avoid creating another situation similar to this one,” added Kise, sweat running down his temples as he started to mentally prepare himself for an early grave. He bowed down even more deeply, the tip of his nose almost touching the ground. “I won’t ever, _ever_ disturb you two, no matter what sort of thing you are doing. Please, Akashicchi, accept my deepest and most sincere apologies!”

 

“…” Akashi continued to intently observe the blonde as he babbled left and right in hopes to find forgiveness for having come inside of the gym at that time. He sighed. Both he and Kuroko were so close to reach a common standing point, even if only in a physical sense, but it was swiftly thrown down the drain with Kise’s unexpected entrance. The bluenette had been very adamant to continue and, as such, they simply went to take a shower (in separate stalls, if he may add), returning to Fuyu in silence afterwards together with the whimpering blonde. Akashi sighed once again and arched an eyebrow slightly. “To bow down this easily to someone, even if they have a higher standing position than you do. Don’t you have any pride, Ryouta?”

 

“What do I need pride for if all it would get me is another week or a month or even more time separated from Kasamatsu-senpai?” almost yelped Kise, his eyes closed with fear of what kind of punishment the redhead had thought up for him this time around. “If pride will keep me away from the love of my life, then I don’t need it! I will throw it away without any hesitation!”

 

“…” Akashi continued to look down to the blonde, an unreadable expression on his features. Then he turned around and sat down on the sofa, next to the bluenette who was still busying himself with the book. “Just get up already, Ryouta. Even my pride is getting affected by your lack of self-worth, not to mention your bad timing for sudden entrances.”

 

“Then…” started Kise, lifting his face from the floor and taking a tentative peek in the redhead’s direction while gulping down hard. “Does that mean that I won’t be punished because of this… accident?”

 

“I never said that,” answered Akashi, a small evil smirk on his lips as he looked sideways to the taller male. He adjusted his seating position a little bit and brought his body closer to the bluenette, who tried to widen the gap by separating them in a masked manner. He could only chuckle when Kuroko groaned softly when he fully erased that gap once again. “Don’t go thinking that you will come out of this unscathed, Ryouta.”

 

“S-So mean!!!” yelped Kise right away, his head fully getting out of the floor and his back straightening so he could put himself in a sitting position. In a quick and swift movement, he got up from the floor and walked over to near the redhead and the bluenette. “I already told you that it was an accident! What do I care if you two go at it in the gym!? Now that I think about it, it’s your fault for choosing such a location! Next time you want to have sex, get a room or put a paper on the door to warn other people that you’re busy or something along those lines!”

 

“That’s enough, already,” interrupted Akashi, trying to not chuckle at the burning furnace that the smaller male had suddenly become with the words that the blonde was spewing in a furious babble. “We are to blame for our poor choice of location, but it was still you who came uninvited, seeing as you were scheduled to only return this weekend.”

 

“Ugh…” groaned Kise, a guilty look on his face. The redhead was right on what he said – even if he could counterattack it by throwing in his face that it was Akashi who sent him to Aogashima without his cell phone and, therefore, couldn’t warn any of the other four ‘Miracles’ of his early return. But the blonde had a feeling that if he said that, it would only make his incoming punishment ten times worse.

 

Kise could only truly resign himself that there was absolutely no escape for it this time… just like all the previous times, unfortunately.

 

“Why can’t you just cut me some slack this time…?” complained Kise, walking closer to the two smaller males and then sitting down on the sofa, beside the bluenette who hadn’t taken his face out of the book during the whole ‘trial’. “I miss Kasamatsu-senpai… I haven’t seen him since Monday morning and it was such a bitter-sweet goodbye scene that I can only weep at it…”

 

“I believe that it was your fault that it went around in such a way,” pointed out Akashi, taking a quick peek to the male sitting glued to him (not by his own choice, apparently, but not that unwillingly, he came to notice).

 

“T-That’s true… Argh! No matter what I do, I always end up being kicked by Senpai…” complained Kise, though in his features couldn’t be found any ill intention or anger and only a small smile. But as he continued to talk, his expression started to grown grimmer and his smile completely disappeared halfway through. “It’s not like I want to act all perfect around him and try to put on a show. I want him to like me by who I am. But… I don’t think that’s something possible or likely to happen. I’m less of who I truly am and more of what others are, after all.”

 

“I don’t really get what your worries are, Kise-kun,” suddenly spoke Kuroko, his face still half hidden by the book, though his teal eyes were sideways glancing to the blonde sitting next to him. “Your ability is to copy other people, yes, but you are still the original. People influence others through their meetings and the things they learn through those encounters, but you are you. Do you think that you could suddenly become me if you tried to copy me, even if my ability is able to completely prevent it from happening? There’s no human that is the same as another, even if they try to be, and there’s no one whose place can be taken or replaced, if they truly hold a meaning to those they leave behind.”

 

“…Kuroko-kun…” called Kise in the midst of his baffled demeanor. His golden eyes open in surprise, he kept staring at the bluenette, his mouth slightly open. All of a sudden, he switched his gaze to the redhead, then back to the smaller male, the action repeating itself in quick succession and both of his hands slowly rose in the air. “Akashicchi, can I hug him?”

 

“You obviously can’t,” shortly answered Akashi, sending a quick glare in the blonde’s direction.

 

“Please excuse my rudeness, but no, I do not want to be hugged by you, Kise-kun,” added Kuroko, his gaze once again returning to the book, which he adjusted slightly by putting it a little bit farther away from his face – it seemed that the earlier conversation was now buried deep, after all.

 

“Oh, I don’t care! Kurokocchi, you’re the best~!” yelped Kise, jumping on his seat as he lunged his arms forward and gave a bear hug to the bluenette, knocking the book out of his hands with the momentum and strength put on the jump.

 

All of a sudden, the collar of his shirt was gripped and his body was violently pulled from near Kuroko when his clothes were tugged, forcing Kise to release the smaller male completely. When he looked over his shoulder and up, the blonde’s teeth could only teeter at the sight.

 

“Ryouta, shall I tell Yukio that you are trying to cheat on him or should I really send you back to another almost desert island once again, this time in an even more prolonged trip?” asked Akashi, a smile on his face as his eyes threatening glowed a red and golden soft light.

 

“Y-You’re a devil, Akashicchi!!” yelped Kise, immediately putting the most distance he could between himself and the bluenette while still sitting on the sofa.

 

With the opportunism of a hungry carnivore, Akashi readily sat down on the space that had been created between Kuroko and the blonde, his right arm wrapping around the bluenette’s waist to pull him closer to his body. “I don’t touch your things so don’t touch mine either. As long as you respect that simple rule, I won’t have to act as a ‘devil’.”

 

“You still act as a devil even when you don’t have any reasons for such or when in a good mood,” mumbled Kuroko under his breath, his back bending forward so he could grab the fallen book once again. He knew that even if he tried, that arm around his waist wouldn’t get out of there no matter what happened as long as another person was present in the living room – though a small voice in his head was telling him that he actually liked it that way and would prefer it to continue even if the blonde left the room.

 

“I do not,” denied Akashi, his gaze returning to the bluenette. An eyebrow slightly perked up, he stared at the smaller male with a certain curiosity. “Aren’t I always nice and gentle with you, Tetsuya?”

 

“When you are neither teasing nor making passes at me… I guess we can call you such,” pointed out Kuroko, a completely blank expression on his face as he straightened the book on his hands and searched for the page where he had left off. “But taking into consideration that you have previously threatened me in a subtle way, have forced me to make choices that I didn’t want to make and you’re constantly making… _things_ to me without my consent or authorization, I do have my doubts about calling you anything other than a ‘devil’.”

 

“I see that Akashicchi is actually a worse savage than me or Aominecchi, even though he puts on the mask of a perfect gentleman~” softly snickered Kise, a mischievous smirk on his features. “Why don’t you punch or kick him next time he enters into ‘beast mode’, Kurokocchi~?”

 

“I’ve done it before, and I don’t think it’s a good strategy on the long run,” answered Kuroko, the deadpan expression on his face becoming even more accentuated. As he thought more carefully about the blonde’s words, he slowly turned his face in his direction and broke down his poker face when one of his eyebrows made an arch. “Why are you calling me ‘Kurokocchi’, Kise-kun?”

 

“Oh, it’s just something that I do with people who have earned my respect in some sort of way,” explained Kise, a bright and satisfied grin on his lips. “I add ‘cchi’ to the name of the person to demonstrate that I hold them with high regard~”

 

“I don’t think I have done anything that deserves your respect, though,” added Kuroko, returning his eyes back to the book so he could finalize his search for the correct page. “I’ve been ignoring you throughout the time I’ve spent here in Teikou and I’ve talked with you the least by a large margin.”

 

“You’re so mean, Kurokocchi!!” complained Kise in the form of a shriek, a shocked expression on his features. “I just told you that you earned by respect and you’re bullying me!?”

 

“I’m not bullying you, I’m simply being honest,” corrected Kuroko, finding the page where he had left off when the blonde knocked the book out of his hands and putting the loose piece of paper he had been using as a marker there so he would be able to find that particular spot on a latter time. “If you want to complain to someone, then complain to Akashi-kun, who was the one who told me to be honest and try to become ‘friendlier’ with all of you.”

 

“Oh, so now you’re following after my orders, Tetsuya?” slyly asked Akashi, a smirk on his face that twisted the corners of his lips slightly. He leaned his upper body closer to the bluenette and softly purred in his ear, “Then I guess that if I said I would sleep in your bedroom once again tonight, you won’t have any complains about it, correct?”

 

“Tha… That has nothing to do with this…” shyly pointed out Kuroko, his head motioning away from near the redhead’s face as he clutched strongly at his ear, a pink blush on his cheeks. “When you told me to do that, it was a suggestion, not an order.”

 

“I’m also suggesting us to sleep together once again, Tetsuya,” counterattacked Akashi, the smirk widening all but a fraction. “Since it’s in the same level as the previous suggestion that you pointed out, I think you won’t have anything to say that could be in disagreement with this ‘suggestion’ either.”

 

“I think you need to get acquainted with the expression ‘case by case’, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko almost instantly.

 

“Oh, I’m well aware of such an expression,” acknowledged Akashi, closing the distance between their faces once again. “I just don’t mind it at all when you are on the other side of our bickering.”

 

“…!” When the redhead fully closed their distance and landed his lips on his cheek, giving him a soft kiss, Kuroko’s whole face exploded in a myriad of shades of red, almost releasing steam due to the gentle displays of… possessiveness(?)… that Akashi was showing once again. He had been so busy with trying to control the racing heart that was pumping blood to his face that he didn’t even notice the flashing sound that echoed in the living room.

 

“What do you think you’re doing, Ryouta?” asked Akashi, his gaze sideways directed to the blonde who had stood up from the sofa at some point and then sit back on the other in the opposite direction from the one he and the bluenette were using.

 

“Ah… No… It’s just…” started explaining Kise, a cell phone on his hand which he intently glanced at as he skirted around through the photos he had just taken from the two smaller males. “I think no one would believe me if I told them this so I gathered some proofs that you are in desperate need to be admitted in the psychiatry ward in the hospital. Or that you got possessed by some sort of evil spirit and need to be exorcised. All in all, it’s to prove that you have gone completely insane, Akashicchi.”

 

“I don’t really understand what about me has gone insane, though,” said Akashi, tilting his head a little bit as he adjusted the body of the still blushing bluenette against his own and cuddled together with him in the sofa.

 

“That! What you’re doing right now is strange!” almost yelped Kise as he looked to the redhead nestling the bluenette on the side of his body with a flabbergasted expression, his finger pointed in their direction. “The Akashicchi that I know doesn’t flirt and much less cuddle in a sofa with another human being. It’s also unthinkable of seeing you sharing the same bed as another person and I’ve been one of the two people who witnessed you sleeping with Kurokocchi the other day! Or you’ve gone completely cuckoo in the head or, for as shocking and completely unlikely as it may sound, you’re in l—“

 

All of a sudden, a cell phone started ringing inside of the living room, cutting of the words that the blonde was saying at the moment. Akashi readily shifted his body around and took from his uniform’s pocket his cell phone, readily connecting the call. He didn’t even have time to speak before the caller started furiously babbling.

 

 _“H-Hello, Akashi-kun?”_ started speaking Momoi immediately, her voice somewhat pained and breathless. _“I… I have something to show you. Right now!”_

 

“Calm down, Satsuki. What’s the matter?” asked Akashi, an eyebrow arched high and his body straightening at the urgency on her voice.

 

 _“I-It’s about that investigation that I’m making,”_ explained Momoi after taking a deep breath to calm herself down, as well as keep her breathing rhythm more steady. _“It’s not 100% over but… I’ve found something that it would be better and safer, I think, for you to see right now. I don’t want to risk anything to happen to it, after all.”_

 

“Just print it and put it in my office in the Student Council building. I’ll go check it after I finish talking with Ryouta,” said Akashi, throwing a masked glance to the bluenette, who had gained a slightly stiffer stance against his body – it almost seemed that he somehow understood that he was being the topic of the conversation happening right now on the phone call.

 

 _“The thing is… it’s something that can’t be printed and I don’t want to send it to you through email. It could be somehow accessed by the hacker,”_ explained further Momoi, urgency once again filling her voice. _“It’s also not only a matter of what I have found. I… I think I know— I think I remembered something. Something about Tetsu-kun that I have no idea why I know about.”_

 

“Come to the Student Council building immediately. I’ll meet you there in a few minutes,” instructed Akashi right away after hearing those words. He softly took his arm from around the bluenette’s waist and got up from the sofa.

 

 _“No, let’s meet in another place,”_ requested Momoi, her voice somewhat uncertain about what she was saying. _“I think you really, really won’t like what I have to show and tell you so it would be safer – for everyone – if we meet in a place where damages can be caused without disrupting our work or the school lectures.”_

 

“…” Akashi closely thought about it for a few seconds and then released a quick sigh. “Meet with me in the gym next door to the one where I have the trainings with Tetsuya. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

 

 _“Okay,”_ acknowledged Momoi right away, ending the call shortly after.

 

“Our conversation will have to come to a momentary halt, but your punishment will not be forgotten, Ryouta,” announced Akashi, taking a quick peek to the blonde, who uncomfortably groaned at those words. He then switched his heterochromatic gaze to the bluenette, who had also straightened his back at the moment he got up from the sofa. “Tetsuya, I’ll be back before dinner. Just do whatever you want to do, whether it’s reading in your room or staying downstairs in the living room.”

 

“O-Okay…” acknowledged Kuroko, giving a quick and short nod with his head. He continued to look in the redhead’s direction, his nose twisting a little bit as he enunciated his next words. “I-Is everything alright?”

 

“I’m sure it is,” reassured Akashi, a soft smile on his features. “Even if it isn’t, I’ll just find a solution for it as quickly as I can. You did say that one of my best qualities is how I can solve any eventual problem that crosses my way, right?”

 

“…”

 

“I’ll be back as soon as I talk with Satsuki,” said once again Akashi as he walked closer to the smaller male and softly ruffled his blue locks of hair. Part of him telling him to stay in the living room together with Kuroko, the redhead stepped away from near the other male and walked outside of the division, readily motioning to the door that provided him access to outside of Fuyu.

 

Akashi sighed and braced himself for whatever it was that the pink haired girl had discovered and that had put her usually collected and sharp self in such a panicky state.

 

“Well, then… Let’s find out what kind of secret façade I will discover about Tetsuya today.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Until the Day We Meet Again" by Ono Kenshou (Kuroko) and Kimura Ryouhei (Kise).
> 
> So you will need to wait until the next chapter to see the raging mad Akashi... Oopsie~ Gomen ne~  
> But, once again, it will be worth the wait *winks* And this chapter wasn't all that bad, was it? :D
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	116. That is the destiny worthy of my existence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's finally here with another chapter!!!
> 
> I tried to finish it earlier but well, life got in the way I guess... But it's here and you can finally enjoy the chapter that all of you have been craving for. And be prepared, because this will shake the entire story and change it in a completely new direction, in a way, in terms of Akashi's relationship with Kuroko.
> 
> Having said that~ Enjoy :D

After a quick 15-minutes walk, Akashi reached the gym that was located beside the one he had used that afternoon to the training session (and a little bit of other type of session) with the bluenette. He opened the metal door and stepped inside of the big division, Momoi already located inside as she prepared a table with a laptop on top of it. Akashi could only arch an eyebrow in suspicion over whatever it was that the pink haired girl had discovered about Kuroko that actually required not only a laptop, but also an isolated meeting spot.

 

“Oh, you’re here,” greeted Momoi while she finished turning on the computer out of its suspended session. She took a quick peek to the redhead and then returned her eyes back to the screen, her fingers skillfully hitting the keyboard. “I’ve put it inside of that pen drive for you take and keep it together with all the other information I’ve gathered. The final touches are being done to the data I got from America, but you can take all of those prints. Though I have to say… they’re not all that helpful. Not to mention, they are very few.”

 

“Right,” acknowledged Akashi, walking closer to the pink haired girl. He stopped in front of the table where it had been placed a small pile of pages and the said pen drive. Quickly skirting with his eyes through the data printed down, every so often they ended up being directed in the pen drive’s direction. “Satsuki, you haven’t told me yet what it was that you found and remembered that required such a meeting spot.”

 

“…” At hearing those words, Momoi stilled her hands and her whole body stiffened completely. She took a deep breath and hesitantly looked over to the redhead. “It… It was a video… of Tetsu-kun… being… um… t-tortured…”

 

All of a sudden, the lights on the ceiling of the gym burst all at the same time, the shards of glass raining down to the floor. Momoi quickly covered her head and protected her face from the pieces that fell on top of her – she was already quite conscious that such would end up happening, if not prepared for something much worse. Out of all of the Miracles, it was both Aomine and Akashi who had had more problems in controlling their abilities to stable grounds, and the redhead’s ability was only like that at pretty much the entire time because he had gone through great lengths to keep it as such. And that meant that the tiniest of slips on his behalf could make the entire Teikou Academy vanish into oblivion.

 

Just like it had happened 6 years ago on the day the ‘Miracles’ _awakened_.

 

“I-It’s not exactly of him being t-tortured… I guess it was a… lesson of some sort,” hurriedly tried to explain Momoi to the silent redhead. “W-Well, that doesn’t exactly make it any better either, but… Ah… You’ll understand if you watch the video. Also, about what I remembered… I can only tell you what it is after you see the video. It’ll make it easier to explain, I guess.”

 

“Put the video on,” quickly commanded Akashi, a deep frown on his face as he positioned himself in front of the laptop’s screen, beside the pink haired girl who immediately started to fiddle with the mouse to start the recording.

 

“Ah, um…” hesitantly started Momoi, her hand hovering on top of the mouse on the laptop, uncertain of what she should really do about all of this, even though the redhead had given her the go ahead.

 

“Don’t stall and just put the video working,” pressed forward Akashi, his eyes unmoving from the screen.

 

“…” After clenching her eyes shut for a fraction of a second, the pink haired girl dropped her finger and started the running of the video. This time, she had certified herself that the volume of the audio would be in much more bearable levels.

 

_“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”_

 

Hearing that initial scream right off the bat, Akashi immediately recognized the voice. Even if the person lying on top of the surgical table was half covered and the face impossible to see due to the position of the blonde beside him, the redhead knew right away it was Kuroko on top of it. The scream had been the exact same as when the bluenette lost control of his ability during the first week of classes.

 

_“Ah, that was my bad, Tetsuya-chan. I accidentally cut the wrong ligament on your elbow.”_

 

_“Hey, you psycho! Can’t ya keep his voice down while I’m fuckin’ my women!? Your pet’s screams are interfering with my women’s screams!”_

 

_“Then why don’t you use a room farther away from this one? You have a lot of different rooms here. Go screw your women on another one if my educative lessons with Tetsuya-chan bother you that much.”_

 

_“No way. My current room is the one where the screams echo the best. I’m not changing it for shit. How much longer will it take? First you put Shigehiro screaming his lungs out for two hours and as soon as he passed out, you switched to your favorite pet. You already played around with him for three hours, ya know?”_

_“That long? I guess we were having so much fun, we completely let the time slip by. Isn’t that right, Tetsuya-chan?”_

_“Aaaaahh! Ngh! Aaahhhhh!”_

_“I asked you a question, Tetsuya-chan. Pets should do what their owners tell them to do. Aren’t the two of us having a lot of fun in today’s lesson?”_

_“Y… y-yes…”_

_“That’s my boy. Ah, now that I think about it, we are approaching an extremely special date. If there’s any lesson tomorrow, it will be the session number 666. The number of the Beast. For such a special occasion, we have to do something even more fun, don’t we, Tetsuya-chan?”_

 

_“If tomorrow it will be as noisy as today, then give me a fuckin’ warning first. His screams make me horny but since you don’t let me lay my hands on your oh so special pet, it’s extremely frustrating to hear him every single day, even with all the loose prostitutes that you bought me to do whatever I want to do with them.”_

_“Yes, yes, yes. Just continue to fuck your idiotic women and keep your hands off of my little play toy. But you can use Shige for whatever you want.”_

 

_“Yeah, right… As if I wanted to drill a bigger psycho than you.”_

 

Having watched the video so far, Akashi knew right away that he had made two mistakes so far in regards of approaching Kuroko and trying to create a bond between them, in whichever form it would end up being.

 

The first mistake was forcing him to answer his questions on the first few days after he had woken up from his self-imposed comatose sleep. He had realized halfway through that the bluenette highly disliked to be interrogated on anything related to his past or even to himself, but now he understood how badly Kuroko must have felt throughout the whole process. It must have remembered him of the time where he truly didn’t have any other choice than to comply with the questions and orders issued by others – mainly the blonde appearing on the video.

 

The other mistake, which was most likely much more severe than the previous one, was claiming that Kuroko belonged to him, not only to the person himself but to others around them. Even if he did it out of love, in Kuroko’s eyes, Akashi was treating him as if a possession that he had gotten a hold of, a thing that he could and would use to his own benefit and then just throw away as soon as he became useless to his plans. Even if it wasn’t to the degree of the bluenette thinking that Akashi considered him his pet, Kuroko was probably thinking that the redhead only viewed him as a spoil of war, the prisoner that he had made one year after the events of the ‘Bloody Night’.

 

It was because of that that Kuroko always denied it when Akashi said that he belonged to him. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to belong to the redhead out of spite or due to his human rights – it was solemnly because Kuroko didn’t want to return to the same status that he previously held while being ‘owned’ by the blonde appearing in the video (and most likely in the burnt photo that Momoi had previous sent him).

 

These two mistakes, adding Kuroko’s own unwillingness to accept that Akashi truly and whole-heartedly wanted to confess to him, were keeping them apart and stopping them from fully bonding. It was preventing them from having a name that could describe the relationship they had with one another or one that they could achieve in the future.

 

_“Since it’s a special occasion, my little Tetsuya-chan, I’ll allow you to choose what we get to do in the next lesson. What would you prefer: be closed in a tank filled with water while with weights attached on your legs and arms? Having a scorching iron tube be ran over through all of your body? Having me cut all of your muscles, ligaments, tendons and break your articulations and then force you to climb the well on the lower floor with limited time? Or would you prefer some more amusing games like… Hmm… Blowing up with a hospital or an orphanage? Shooting at some of that sex-crazed guy’s prostitutes? Or maybe~ Creating more monsters to add to our collection?”_

_“Ugh… You can do… whatever you want to me… But please… don’t make me… hurt more people.”_

 

_“Ahhh… Tetsuya-chan, Tetsuya-chan… You know… When you give me the same answer every single time, it really gets on my nerves.”_

 

_“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!”_

_“Diversity is essential for society to work in a peaceful way. That’s why you find out there all types of people. Some good, some bad, some that try to not stand on either side of the clear line that separates good from evil.”_

 

_“Ngh… Haa… Aaaaaaahhhh!”_

_“If I were to put myself in one of those two groups, it would be in the ‘evil’ one. You, my little pet, don’t fit on either. Not even to the group of people that don’t want to join neither of the sides. A monster like you is too filthy to be put in the same category as me. And the good side? You are not worthy of even such a thought. ‘It is what comes from inside that defiles you. For from within, out of a person’s heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, deceit, lustful desires, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these vile things come from within; they are what defile you.’ Today’s lesson’s last question: where is that from?”_

_“Ngh… Mark… seven… twenty… twenty three…”_

 

_“Good boy. It’s such a pity that after 665 lessons with me, you no longer cry, Tetsuya-chan. I quite liked to see your ugly mug as you bawled your eyes out.”_

 

_“As if… I would continue to cry… because of a sadist… like you…”_

_“You’re wrong on that one, Tetsuya-chan. You simply fully welcomed the monster that you are and fell even deeper into the darkness that you bring forward to the world. My cute little pet, the ‘User’ that can only be compared to the Anti-Christ, if not to the Devil itself. But do continue falling, Tetsuya-chan. I really want to see you bringing the whole world down by tainting it with your wonderful ability. Ahh… There’s nothing more beautiful than seeing you corrupt those useless monkeys and become even more defiled by their blood and tears. Ahahaha! Echoing footsteps, but no one’s ever there~ A disembodied arm that drags you down the stair~ Falling where no one can hear your last good-bye~ In this monster’s lullaby~”_

 

“Satsuki,” called Akashi all of a sudden when the video reached its end. The pink haired girl readily looked over at him with a pained expression but his eyes, which threateningly shone with a furious glint, never left the screen. “Get out.”

 

“E-Eh…?” hesitantly interjected the pink haired girl, not understanding what the redhead wanted to get at with that.

 

“Like I said. Get. Out,” repeated Akashi once again, the ground underneath their feet already teetering just the slightest.

 

“Ah, y-yes!” acknowledged Momoi, her back turning in the redhead’s direction and then her legs quickly leading her outside of the gym. Akashi was currently telling her to get the farthest away from that area the quickest she could due to the fact that it wouldn’t be there for very long.

 

As soon as the door to the gym swung closed once again, a large crack appeared on the laptop’s screen and then the whole device blew up, fire igniting out of it and setting the wooden table aflame.

 

That man…

 

Kuroko’s complete lack of self-worth… The way he viewed himself as nothing more than a broken monster that couldn’t bring any good to the world… It had been that blonde male who had brain-washed him into thinking in such a degrading way about himself.

 

That man had been the one who broke the bluenette until he reached his current shattered self and, probably, drove him to cause the ‘Bloody Night’ one year ago.

 

“If, by the smallest of chances, you are still alive and hiding somewhere…” voiced out Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes’ glow intensifying by a tenfold while large cracks appeared on the floor and walls of the gym, bits of the ceiling starting to fall down on the breaking ground and shattering into small pieces. “ _I swear I will rip your beating heart out of your chest and make you swallow it whole, before sending you the pits of Hell which I’ll make sure you get fully acquainted with afterwards._ ”

 

One of the smallest walls that constituted the perimeter of the gym fell on the floor with a loud _boom_ , more pieces of the ceiling following suit and making the floor crumble even more. However, the smithereens continued to fall past the floor, going down through a black wobbling hole that appeared in that area out of nowhere. The sound of the blocks of cement and stone hitting the floor was never heard.

 

_“Hehehe… I truly was right when I told Tetsuya that pain wouldn’t be the most effective of methods to tame him down.”_

 

“You knew about this!?” hissed Akashi, the frown on his face intensifying even more as he started hearing his other self’s taunting voice echoing inside of his head.

 

_“Oh no, not at all, Seijuurou. Shame on me if I knew and you didn’t. Hehehehe~ However, I may or may not know this and that not about the man you just swore the kill in such an amusing way, but about the organization that I’m pretty sure you still don’t even know the name.”_

 

“Out with it!” ordered Akashi with a commanding and angry voice, another part of the gym coming down against the floor and then passing through it to reach the bottomless black pit.

 

_“I don’t want to. There’s nothing for me to gain with telling you any of it.”_

 

“You also love him, don’t you?” suddenly asked Akashi after releasing a soft but tired sigh.

 

_“…Excuse me?”_

 

“I’ve been wondering about what Kazunari had said the other day, during the first training session with Tetsuya,” started explaining Akashi, motioning over to the other table and picking up the small pile of papers and the pen drive on top of it. A second later, a block of the ceiling fell on top of the wooden furniture and crushed it underneath its weight. “He said that ‘both of us’ were being dyed with each other’s colors. But Kazunari wasn’t referring to Tetsuya at that time, was he? He was referring to you.”

 

_“…”_

 

“You claim that he’s the little toy you have been dying to get your hands on but you’re actually in love with him,” continued Akashi, walking in the gym’s door’s direction as the building continued to crumbled down to the black pit as he got closer to the exit. “That’s why you continue to pester me about wanting to take over to go talk with Tetsuya. That’s why you are unwilling to tell me anything that you may know about him. You’re simply sulking like a little kid over the fact that I can spend time with Tetsuya whenever I want and you can’t do anything without having to take over the body that we have been forced to share since birth.”

 

_“Heh… Ahahahahahahaha! I sometimes fall into the mistake of underestimating you and then this is what I get in return… It’s said that the one who falls first is the one on the losing end of the stick. I am absolute, even more than you are, Seijuurou, but you have won this battle by a landslide. So yes, I am sulking at the moment. Just because you are the original owner of this body, it doesn’t mean that I’m not my own being and can’t have my own thoughts about certain things. And it’s exactly because of that that I really enjoy to rub on your face that I may not know as much about Tetsuya as you, but I may as well know more fundamental things to uncover the ‘Bloody Night’ once and for all than you do. Because I’ve been aware of Tetsuya’s existence since six years ago.”_

 

“…What?” interjected Akashi, coming to a halt on his steps as that unexpected last sentence was dropped on him. “What do you mean by being aware of Tetsuya’s existence since six years ago?”

 

_“Like I said, I’m not telling you anything. I’m just a little kid who sulks, after all. Even if I’m in love with Tetsuya, you don’t want me to interfere with him out of consideration to his well-being, correct? Then solve this mystery out by yourself without resorting to my help. I’m very well aware that you are capable of such if you put your mind on it.”_

 

“…”

 

_“Oh, and just so we are clear, when I told you that you and I hold different feelings towards Tetsuya… It was the truth. You hold a puppy love for him, where you are desperate to make your feelings come across him and start something as a result.  However… I understand all about him because what makes him suffer the most came from the exact same place where I came from. In a far sketched way, I share more ‘blood ties’ with him than his own family does. He’s my loving younger brother~”_

 

“Even if you are my other self, Tetsuya is the one person I won’t hand over to anyone, not even to you, no matter what you may or may not know about him or whether you have known him longer than I do,” hissed Akashi, another wave of tremors hitting the half destroyed structure of the gym. “You call it a ‘puppy love’ but Tetsuya is more important to me than my own life. I will eliminate anything that crosses our way or that hurts him. Whether it’s that man… or the world… or even _you_.”

 

As soon as Akashi’s sentence ended, the rest of the building came crashing down, a cloud of dust spreading all around that area due to the strong gush of wind that the blocks of cement created during its falling.

 

“Oh my god! A-Akashi-kun!?” yelped Momoi in panic, running over from her hiding place to near the destroyed gym. Her pink eyes quickly skirted around the smithereens of the building to see if she could find any sign of the redhead. As far as she knew, he hadn’t exited the gym before it came down.

 

A couple of seconds after Momoi arrived to near the supposedly entrance to the gym, a few pieces of the pile of ruble started to move around and then fell down from on top of each other. From there appeared Akashi, not even a speck of dust on his clothes or body.

 

“I have watched the video, as well as have it in my possession,” announced Akashi, casually walking out of the remnants of the crumbled building as if he was walking in a completely normal path. “All that is left knowing is what exactly you have remembered that involves Tetsuya, Satsuki.”

 

For some reason, Momoi’s body shook in fear at hearing the redhead’s words. It shook with a type of fright that she had never felt before from Akashi… not even when the inner beast was out to cause mischief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter has come from the lyrics of "FINAL EMPEROR" by Kamiya Hiroshi (our devilish angel~)
> 
> Welp, Akashi... After all, your biggest rival in your quest for Kuroko's affection is right inside of you XD  
> What do you think of the way the story is evolving? Do you have any theories on any of the things that have been disclosed not only in this chapter but on the whole fic? I'm really curious to know what your thoughts on it are ^^
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	117. I will never change my mind about it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> I wanted to ask your opinion on something. Right now, as you know, I'm drowning in work. The fact that I have my own dark ghosts hovering around are making my current work quite exhausting, both physically and mentally... So, right now, I can only keep on updating one fic on a completely regular basis. "Shattered Miracles" is my priority, since it's my main fic, but I wanted to know which other fic would you want me to (try to) update as regularly as I can. None of them is dropped! I just have to find time to write them while also managing to write another something that also has a lot of priority at the moment.
> 
> Anyways~ With this chapter we have reached another milestone - Shattered Miracles has now over 300k words XD
> 
> Having said that, enjoy the chapter :D

The two remained in silence in front of the destroyed gym. The air around them was tense – asphyxiating so – and none seemed to take the next step to develop further the conversation. Momoi deeply wished she could just turn her back to Akashi and get away from that place. However, the conversation was something unavoidable. If it weren’t to happen now, it would be later on. And Akashi wanted it to be now so the pink haired girl didn’t really have any other choice or say in the matter. The fear inside of her, though, was smothering the words inside of her throat.

 

The redhead simply stood there, just a few inches away from the pile of ruble, intently staring to the female as she also stared back at him, her eyes extremely open in fright. He sighed.

 

“I apologize, Satsuki,” said Akashi, his eyes moving from the pink haired girl to another location and his arms folding over his chest. “You and he just brought forward a lot of information all at the same time. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

 

“E-Eh…? Ah… N-No… I-It’s ok-okay…” answered Momoi, her body finally relaxing now that the heterochromatic gaze had moved from her. She could breathe calmly once again, even if her brain was still in alert to anything that could go wrong (or that the redhead could destroy).

 

“Could you now tell me what it was that you remembered?” asked Akashi, his eyes returning to the pink haired girl now that he had calmed down a little bit. He couldn’t afford to let his fuse blow once again, but he doubted that there was anything that Momoi could say that would make him as angry and restless as the video and the conversation with the inner beast that followed right after.

 

“Y-Yes,” acknowledged Momoi, taking a quick deep breath. She straightened her body and looked directly to the redhead, an extremely serious demeanor on her features that mimicked the one that was present in the taller male. “In the video… The man who was torturing Tetsu-kun… I’m 100% sure that I’ve seen or meet him before in person.”

 

“What makes you think like that?” questioned Akashi, a frown appearing on his face at hearing those words. Not only Kuroko was well acquainted with the blonde, but Momoi also was familiar with him? “What was exactly that you remembered?”

 

“You know that I can’t forget anything that I hear or see, no matter what it is, right?” started explaining Momoi, her gaze momentarily averting the redhead but quickly returning to him. “Well, I’ve heard the song that the blonde male was singing on the video before. While I was on my way to the gym to meet you, I searched for the lyrics of the song in the internet. I didn’t find anything at all. Which mean, that song is probably a personal song that he sings. A non-official song created by him, most likely. So the only explanation for me knowing that song…”

 

“Is that you have met him before and heard him singing it…” completed Akashi the sentence that the pink haired girl was saying.

 

“Exactly,” acknowledged Momoi with a quick nod of her head. “When I heard him singing it and saw his face on the footage, my head suddenly started hurting really badly. Just like it happened with Aomine-kun yesterday. Um… I don’t know how or if I really should ask this but… But I think I have a right to ask, even if you don’t like it, Akashi-kun.”

 

“…”

 

“It… It was Tetsu-kun who made both me and Aomine-kun become amnesic on bits of our past… wasn’t it?” hesitantly asked Momoi, shy pink eyes peering in the redhead’s direction as a conflicted expression appeared on her features.

 

Akashi closed his eyes for brief seconds and released a soft sigh. It was no use hiding it now and regret it later by making the pink haired girl start another secret investigation on Kuroko behind his back. “If you want me to give you a certain answer, I cannot do it. However, the possibility of having been Tetsuya erasing yours and Daiki’s memories is pretty high. He is able to nullify anything, whatever it may be. Memories and other insubstantial things are probably inserted on the large group of things that can be affected by it.”

 

“Then… why would he do that?” unconsciously voiced out Momoi, her mind in a complete frenzy at the half-confirmation she had obtained from the closest person to the bluenette in the ‘Miracles’ group. “Why did Tetsu-kun erase our memories? What was it that he erased? Why are the memories missing so many and scattered through such a large period of time? Why—“

 

“I don’t know,” interrupted Akashi, a slight frown on his forehead as he continued gazing in the pink haired girl’s direction. “I don’t know why Tetsuya did it or if it’s even only the two of you affected by it. What I suspect it happened is that Tetsuya used the both of you to gather information on Teikou Academy and the ‘Miracles’. I know it may sound like something unthinkable for Tetsuya to do but he did admit he had kept a lookout on us throughout the time he has spent in here. I’m not sure of how that situation came to be, or if it even happened in that way, but something must have changed and that change forced Tetsuya to erase all of your memories of himself – from the moment you met him to the very last minute you spend together before he erased them.”

 

“…”

 

“The fact that you have listened to that man’s song before and that you only remembered it when you actually listened to it again,” continued Akashi, the frown spreading further in his face. “That comes to prove that Tetsuya was present at that moment and your memory of it was erased due to it. My guess is that you heard that song on the very same day that you and Daiki were attacked and developed amnesia.”

 

“Wait… Are you trying to say that it was Tetsu-kun who attacked us?” incredulously asked Momoi, her eyes open immensely as they silently screamed in surprise.

 

“No, I don’t think Tetsuya attacked you. I don’t believe that he would be able to do such a thing, even if he truly used the both of you to obtain information on us,” immediately denied Akashi, one of his hands slipping from underneath his folded arms and motioning up to his chin in a thinking motion. “That man was probably the one who attacked you. Him or his henchmen.”

 

“Does that mean he’s also a ‘User’ like us?” asked further Momoi, her honed mind trying to follow the same line of thinking that the redhead was using and then adding to it her own theories on the matter so that both of them could reach more conclusions, hopefully ones that could actually solve everything once and for all. “I can’t imagine a normal human causing so many damages to Dai-chan. I mean, none of you really have fought against one another on a completely serious level, but I doubt that a normal ‘User’ only could put him in a self-imposed comatose sleep for an hour even. Maybe you could, Akashi-kun, but it would be impossible for anyone else. I mean…”

 

“Yes, I know what you’re trying to get at,” acknowledged Akashi, stopping the half-babbling of the pink haired girl. “It’s something that has crossed my mind. That whoever it was that Tetsuya was with before constituted a group of unregistered ‘Users’, even if he is a registered ‘User’ in Teikou Academy himself. However, there’s a large flaw in that theory.”

 

“You mean their age, don’t you?” questioned Momoi, understanding right away which was the flaw that the taller male was referring to.

 

“Correct. ‘Users’ _awake_ during their childhood and it started happening six years ago,” continued Akashi after having confirmed the pink haired girl’s suspicions. “That man seemed to be a full grown adult, around 20, maybe 21 years old at the time of the footage. He would be around 14, or older, when we, the ‘Miracles’, _awoke_. It’s very unlikely that he’s a ‘User’, taking that into consideration. There’s just no ‘User’ who has _awaken_ at such a late age.”

 

“Then what exactly is he? Better yet, who is he?” asked Momoi, even though she wasn’t expecting to hear an answer. She knew that it was something that they weren’t able to access yet and it would be a hard quest to reach the stage where they could obtain it in a state that provided actual answers, not more questions.

 

“That’s something that I also don’t know,” confessed Akashi, a soft sigh escaping his lips. “However, after having watched this video… I have a nagging suspicion on the back of my head where I know what he is.”

 

 _But I don’t know if it’s my own suspicion or if it’s him trying to pull my leg in one more of his mind games,_ inwardly added the redhead, starting to feel irked once again at only the thought of the inner beast knowing things about the bluenette that he wasn’t aware of. It actually made him angrier than the prospect of the friendship between Kuroko and Kagami. It felt like he was competing against himself and, even with the countless conversations, kisses and all the more that had happened, he was actually a step behind his other self in terms of truly getting to know and understand Kuroko.

 

“Is there anything more that you want to add, Satsuki?” asked Akashi, trying to distract himself from such a thought. His relationship with the bluenette was already very instable – he didn’t need to add his own insecurities and uncertainties to the equation, for as much as he felt them.

 

“No, I think I’ve shown and given you everything that I have in my possession at the moment,” answered Momoi, a thin smile on her face. “I do have a pile of documents yet to read, but I think you have enough on your hands to entertain yourself. As soon as I finish going through them to select which are actual information, I’ll deliver them to you.”

 

“Okay, I’ll be waiting for them, then,” acknowledged Akashi, his head giving a sharp nod at the same time. “Also, before you leave, Satsuki…”

 

“Yes?” said the pink haired girl, turning her head back to the redhead as she was about to return to Touou Dorm and finish with her research.

 

“This whole conversation that has happened between the two of us… Don’t mention it to Daiki,” announced Akashi, a dead serious demeanor all over his features and standing position. His request immediately made a lost expression pop up in the female’s face. “I know you will have to report it to Shuuzou, if he asks you about what you have been doing, but don’t talk about any of it to Daiki. No matter what.”

 

“Um… Why?” hesitantly asked Momoi, her head slightly tilted to the left.

 

“If you told Daiki that Tetsuya was the one who erased his memories, he would immediately jump the gun and start questioning him left and right about it,” explained Akashi, another sigh escaping his lips (though this one had been a quite frustrated one). “If he does so, Tetsuya would most likely return to his self-imposed comatose sleep. That’s something that I want to avoid at all costs. Controlling Daiki at 100% is something that I long gave up on doing so it would be safer for everyone if he isn’t aware of any of this… for now.”

 

“Yes, you’re right on that one…” confirmed Momoi, rolling her eyes at the image that appeared in her mind of what would be the tanned male’s reaction if such an announcement was made to him out of the blue. Akashi was probably thinking on getting a more stable relationship with Kuroko before making public to the other ‘Miracles’ what he had uncovered so far. “I’ll try to keep this from Aomine-kun’s ear for the most time I can. But he knows that I’m doing this investigation and that Ogiwara Shigehiro is linked to Tetsu-kun. He’s an idiot but he also has a brain, though a very rusty one. So he knows that one plus one is two, Akashi-kun.”

 

“Yes, I’m aware of that.”

 

-.-

 

After he and Momoi parted ways, Akashi went to the Student Council building so that he could put the paper with data and the pen drive together with all the other information he had gathered on the bluenette. He struggled a little bit with the thought of taking the pen drive together with him to Fuyu but, just to play safe, he let it remain on the locked drawer of the desk placed on his office.

 

He was now crossing the front gates to return to Fuyu and finally meet with Kuroko. Right now, the smaller male must be holed up in his bedroom, a pile of books on top of his bed as he casually remained laid down on it, his back pressed against the wall, face hiding in between the pages of whatever novel he was currently reading.

 

It was when the redhead opened the front door that the thought of having Kuroko greet him due to returning to the space where they lived together (it was another internal struggle to not use the term ‘cohabitated’, even if inwardly) popped up in his mind all of a sudden. Akashi readily stepped inside and closed the door behind himself, darting right away to the stairs to reach the upper floor.

 

He, however, came to a halt as soon as his foot landed on the first step. He had heard a soft rustling of a page turning coming from the living room. Had perhaps Kuroko stayed in the living room even after the redhead had gone out to meet with their informant?

 

Akashi gave a quick turn to his body and started motioning over to the living room, his head peeking inside of the spacious division. There he found the bluenette in the exact same seat he had been on when he left Fuyu, a book open in his hands while his body remained curled up on the sofa.

 

“You’re really here…” incredulously mumbled Akashi, his eyes unmoving from the smaller male to certify himself that he wasn’t witnessing some sort of mirage at the moment.

 

“Hmm?” At the hearing the soft sound of a voice, Kuroko dropped the book he was holding in front of his face a little bit and took a peek in the door’s direction, where he found an all-too-familiar redhead. “Ah, Akashi-kun… Welcome back.”

 

If Akashi had been holding into something at that time, it would have all been scattered on floor as he started to quick walk in the bluenette’s direction, who was straightening his body on the sofa so he could put himself in a full sitting position. The redhead’s body didn’t even come into a stop when he just wrapped his arms around Kuroko and tackled both of their bodies down to the sofa.

 

“Eh!? A-Akashi-kun…?” called Kuroko from underneath the taller male’s body, completely lost on what was happening right now. He tried to take a peek at the other male by the means of lifting his head from the sofa, but Akashi’s face remained hidden against the nook of his neck. “Akashi-kun? Did something happen while you were meeting with Momoi-san?”

 

“…”

 

“I felt you using your ability some moments ago… and I obviously heard the loud noise of some building crumbling down,” continued Kuroko, his head moving in a masked way so he could see the expression of the redhead pinning him down to the sofa and try to understand what was happening right now. “Is there any pr—“

 

“I’m sorry, Tetsuya,” apologized Akashi all of a sudden, interrupting the question that the bluenette was making in the process. His body remained in the exact same position, but he tightened the arms around the smaller male’s body, holding unto him as if he would disappear out of there if the smallest of opportunities was given.

 

“Eh?” interjected Kuroko, now getting completely lost on both what was going on with the redhead and how he should deal with it. “Why are you apologizing, Akashi-kun…?”

 

“…”

 

Why was he apologizing? There were some many things that he should apologize for to the bluenette that he didn’t know where to begin.

 

He should apologize for putting him in a life-threatening situation 24/7 by being near the inner beast that resided inside of him and confessed to be in love with Kuroko in a completely different way that he was.

 

Akashi wanted to apologize over the fact that he wasn’t by the bluenette’s side when he got to experience all of those horrible and traumatizing events in the past. The fact that the inner beast was already aware of Kuroko’s existence at the time only made him feel guiltier and his heart was being squeezed inside out with the dark cloud that it had created on his core.

 

And he wanted to apologize over all the times he had claimed that Kuroko belonged to him, which had obviously reminded him of the time where he was treated like the ‘pet’ of the man who had abused of him time and time again until the bluenette shattered completely.

 

“Akashi-kun,” called Kuroko one more time, motioning his hands sideways and giving a quick tug to the redhead’s school uniform’s white jacket. The action seemed to have caught the taller male’s attention (or maybe curiosity) because he shifted his head just the slightest and peered over in his face’s direction. “You said that you didn’t want to hear me apologizing about anything and that you wouldn’t apologize about anything either. Are you the type of man that goes back on his words due to whatever reason it may be?”

 

“…No… I’m not,” answered Akashi, fully lifting his head out of the smaller male’s neck. In his features remained a serious demeanor, his red and golden eyes staring deeply into the teal ones of the male underneath him. “I’m not the type of man that goes back on his words. Ever.”

 

“Then I’ll pretend I didn’t hear what you said just a couple of minutes ago,” added Kuroko, giving a quick upturn to the corner of his lips that lasted a fraction of a second. Then his face got completely expressionless, in a deadpan way. “Now could you please get out of on top of me? I landed on top of the novel I was reading and I don’t want to damage the book. And you’re not exactly of the weight of a body pillow.”

 

“…” Instead of moving, Akashi remained on the exact same position, his eyes still refusing to move away from the bluenette. For some reason, words that had been said in the past to him crossed his mind out of the blue.

 

_“Listen, Sei-kun. Promises that you have made with another person is something that you should never break, no matter what it is. They are something really important and should be held precious to you, even if they may seem insignificant to others. However, there’s a type of promise that holds a much deeper meaning than all the rest. It’s called a pledge. Once a pledge has been made, it can never be broken. Because breaking it would be the same as denying the meaning that the other person has inside of your heart.”_

 

Akashi lightened his hold around the bluenette’s body and used his arms to propel his body upwards, sitting half on top of the sofa, half of top of the smaller male. Then he moved his hands forward and softly cupped Kuroko’s face, his thumbs lightly caressing his pale cheeks.

 

_No matter what it takes, no matter what I will have to give in exchange, I will never let you go through any of those terrible things ever again. Nor that, nor any type of pain, either in a physical or emotional sense. I’ll stay by your side and never let you be alone in the dark again, even if the darkness comes from within of you. Even if you don’t love me back, even if you hate me for the rest of your life, I will never seek anyone else except you as my life partner. Because you are my one and only turtle dove._

 

“It’s a pledge, then,” announced Akashi, this time outwardly. A soft smile ever remained on his lips, even if he knew that Kuroko had no idea what he was saying at the moment.

 

He probably thought that he had gone insane, like all the other people around him – but love made people crazy and behave in an irrational way.

 

If that was to be applied to every single human being that experienced it… then Akashi was the most insane man in the universe, for he held in one body twice the amount of burning love and endless devotion for another individual.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "DOUBLE CORE" by Kamiya Hiroshi (our lovestruck maiden who keeps on NOT SAYING OUT LOUD THE WORDS HE SHOULD SAY OUT LOUD!!)
> 
> I really wonder what would be Kuroko's reaction if Akashi had said his pledge to him out loud... AND! I continue to add more questions to the story - which are starting to affect the characters, since they are asking themselves the exact same questions that you probably are~ *evil smirk*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	118. To find a word I can say to you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^^
> 
> You are quite lucky to have another update this week because HELL HAS COME UP TO THE HOTEL WHERE I WORK IN THE FORM OF (drunk all the time) YOUNG FARMERS! You'll probably only get another chapter next week (if I manage to survive until Monday, when they are going to return to only god- no, only the devil knows where -.-')
> 
> Anyways, enjoy this chapter :D (which I know you will *winks*)

“Aka-chin, Kuro-chin… Dinner ish ready…” announced Murasakibara while popping his head inside of the living room, a lollipop on his mouth which he was avidly twirling around between his tongue and teeth. “The others aren’t downstairs yet but I’m going to call them now.”

 

“Since you were the one who said where I could be found, you already know that Ryouta is back, right?” asked Akashi as the purple haired giant was starting to walk away from the living room’s door. There was a slight glare on his eyes and bite on his words, but he remained sat down on the sofa beside the bluenette, a book in his hands.

 

“Yeah?” answered Murasakibara, tilting his head to the right a little bit with the incomprehension he felt. Why were they having this conversation if Akashi knew that he was always aware of the people who entered inside of Fuyu and the redhead had had his conversation with the blonde there?

 

“I see,” shortly acknowledged Akashi, the book on his hands closing and then motioning his body up from the sofa, Kuroko having already done such and walking over to the short table so he could put his own book there. “Expect to have a busy day tomorrow, Atsushi. You’ll be helping with the cleaning of the broken windows and the installation of the new ones. You and Ryouta, of course.”

 

“Ehh… That’s so troublesome…” complained Murasakibara right away, a displeased expression on his face. It was actually more of disgust over the fact that he would have to do any work that didn’t involve cooking than of displeasure over it. But when he saw the dead serious look in the redhead’s features, all that the purple haired male could do was accept his miserable fate and continue with the calling of the other three residents of the house.

 

“Why is it that you have such a Spartan way of dealing with others, especially with those that work in league with you?” asked Kuroko, an eyebrow slightly arched as he passed by the redhead and walked over in the dining room’s direction.

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Tetsuya,” denied Akashi, though a smirk remained on his lips as he followed right behind the bluenette. “With all the damages that have been caused to the high school section, it’s only normal that a few of us are to be selected to help with the supervision and development of the repairs. It just happened that both Atsushi and Ryouta will be working on it together. The world is full of curious coincidences.”

 

“Of course it is,” deadpanned Kuroko before releasing a quick sigh. The so-called ‘coincidence’ looked more like a premeditate punishment than fate pulling the cords of everyone’s lives. It was something that even the densest of humans could see at first glance.

 

“Your face is telling me that you don’t believe my words,” pointed out Akashi in between chuckles when he positioned himself beside the smaller male to walk over to the dining room.

 

“You’re right. I don’t,” acknowledged Kuroko, rolling his eyes slightly as he pushed the door open and stepped inside of the large division, the big table already set and the delicious smell of freshly cooked food hovering in the air. “ _Your_ face is telling me that you are sending both Murasakibara-kun and Kise-kun to work tomorrow in the reparations of the mess that I caused as a revenge for… what happened earlier…”

 

“The fact that only recalling through words what happened in the gym makes you blush like this…” started saying Akashi, a mischievous smirk popping up in his features as he closed the dining room’s door and positioned himself in front of the bluenette, who got stuck in between him and the wooden passage. He motioned one of his hands up and tilted the smaller male’s chin up, enabling him a more clear view of the scarlet blush in snow white skin. “Makes me want to do it all over again, this time in a place where there’s no risk of having another interruption.”

 

“Ah… Uh…” ended up babbling Kuroko, his actual words stuck in his throat due to the furious thumping of his heart and the spreading heat on his face. He started motioning his hands up to cover the mad blush on his features, but they were caught mid-air by the redhead ones. “Ugh… H-How can y-you say things like t-that with a completely straight f-face…?”

 

“Do you think I don’t feel anything while saying it?” asked back Akashi, taking a step forward and shortening the distance between their bodies. “If that’s what you have been thinking all this time, then you are very mistaken, Tetsuya.”

 

“Uhh…” softly groaned Kuroko, his head dropping to try to hide his even redder features. He felt that all of his blood was rushing straight to his face and his heart was beating as fast as if he had received a thousand injections of adrenaline. Akashi was clearly a danger for his life, even if he had nothing to do with his possible execution. “Y-You’re a… total p-player…”

 

“I don’t think I can be called that when I virtually hold no interest for other human beings,” confessed Akashi, his hands starting to lead the bluenette’s body closer to his own by tugging at the wrists he was holding into.

 

“Is that your way of admitting that you have an inclination for animals and the like?” tried to deadpan Kuroko. When he felt his hair softly rustling against the redhead’s body, he thought that his legs would turn into jelly and his whole body would come crumbling down to the floor – just like his resistance to Akashi’s advances was.

 

“No, it’s my way of admitting that I have an inclination to a single person throughout my entire life,” corrected Akashi, a soft smile on his lips as he released the bluenette’s wrists and circled his waist, his hands closing down on each other on top of the small of his back. “Just like turtle doves d—“

 

“Dinner is finally ready! I thought I was going to fuckin’ die from starvation!” grumbled a loud voice from the other side of the door. Then, all of a sudden, the door came crashing down against the smaller male’s back, pushing both of their bodies forward in the floor’s direction. When the door fully opened, Aomine’s big body came into view. “What was that loud soun— O-Oh… Were you two… behind the door?”

 

“I’m starting to consider building an annex for just the two of us…” sighed Akashi while he straightened his body to a sitting position on the floor, the bluenette placed in between his legs and sprawled all over his upper body.

 

“Please don’t,” interrupted Kuroko, his body slowing shifting away from the taller male. When he also came to a full sitting position on the floor, he massaged his back with his hands, which painfully throbbed due to the impact of the door when it was slammed open by the tanned male. A glorious blush still remained in his features. “That would be the death of me.”

 

“Well apparently the death of _me_ will be if interruptions like these continue to happen multiples times on a daily basis,” added Akashi as he  started motioning up, quickly shaking the dust stuck to his clothes, and then lunging his hand forward to help the smaller male to get up. “I guess we will have to come up with some sort of consensus on it, if the both of us want to keep on living. Also… Daiki, you’re on cleaning duty tomorrow with Ryouta and Atsushi.”

 

“Eh!? Why!?” yelped Aomine right away, fully coming inside of the dining room while featuring a completely shocked expression. “I got out of the hospital today and I was already forced to help you guys out in the mess Kuroko did. Now you want me to be a freaking maid?”

 

“Are those complaints, what I’m hearing right now?” asked Akashi, shifting his gaze sideways in the tanned male’s direction, his golden eye flickering momentarily.

 

“N-No… I-I’m not complaining…” answered Aomine, a shudder running down his spine during the brief moment where the redhead was looking over in his direction. He gulped down hard and began walking over to the seat that had been chosen by him to have his meals while in Fuyu. He softly massaged the back of his neck while pulling the chair and inaudibly grumbled to himself, “And there I was hoping to challenge Bakagami to another already won basketball match…”

 

“What’s this? What’s this~?” said a cheerful voice. When Kuroko looked over in the door’s direction, he saw Kise, Midorima and Murasakibara there, motioning inside of the dining room. “What sort of trouble did you cause this time, Aominecchi~?”

 

“The same as you and Murasakibara, since I’ll be helping you guys tomorrow with the repairs of the windows,” grumbled Aomine, lunging his elbow to the table surface and then supporting his chin with his hand, a bored expression on his face.

 

“Oh~ Is that so?” said Kise, a smirk popping up in his lips as he sideways glanced to the two smaller males. He knew he would suffer with it but he couldn’t really control the impulse of saying his next following words. “So you two even go at it here in the dining room?”

 

“Nah, they were just flirting… Like usual,” corrected Murasakibara as he casually walked over to the kitchen so he could start serving the food and, of course, eat his own dinner.

 

“Hmm~ It sure seems like I missed on a lot of stuff since I went to pay my punishment on the edge of the world,” said Kise in a sing-song voice. He passed by the two smaller males, where the bluenette seemed quite uncomfortable with all the teasing being thrown at him, and sat down in one of the chairs.

 

“Akashi, are you going to leave those three in charge of the repairs?” asked Midorima, an eyebrow slightly arched as he observed from the door the redhead and the bluenette walking over to their own seats, Kuroko still lightly rubbing his back. “I don’t think they are the most suitable of people to work on the construction of something.”

 

“Do you also care to join them, then?” asked back Akashi, pulling the bluenette’s chair back so he could sit there and then motioning over to his own chair, the one located right beside the one previously pulled.

 

“Murasakibara, what is dinner tonight?” readily asked Midorima, using the chance that the purple haired male was entering inside of the dining room once again to change the topic of conversation going around on the large division. He walked over to his seat, his eyes still kept on the taller male.

 

“Today it will be Salmon and Egg Donburi. And we have Grilled Peaches and Cream Cake for dessert,” explained Murasakibara, putting on top of the table’s surface a tray that carried six bowls with the former dish. Then he quickly started distributing the bowls through all of them, starting first with Akashi and then Kuroko, only later catering for himself and the other three. Though maybe next time he should start with the bluenette since Akashi had sent him a quick, masked look of disapproval when he was the first to be served.

 

“I-Is it only one slice per person, for the dessert?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, gulping down hard to swallow one of the capital sins that momentarily overcome his mind and body at the sound of the mouth-watering dessert.

 

“Hmm… I baked a whole cake so there’ll be some leftovers since we are only six,” answered Murasakibara, sitting down on his seat and pulling the bowl made of mainly rice, salmon, eggs and a little bit of onion. “As long as there are slices to be eaten, you can have as much as you want. But if you do, clean the dirty dishes and the kitchen afterwards.”

 

“Okay,” acknowledged Kuroko without a drop of hesitation this time, his teal eyes glistening with excitement over the delicious dessert he would get to eat on this meal. He would also get to eat a lot of them over the weekend, and in a pastry competition at that, so he had to start to prepare his body to take on massive quantities of sugar (as if he wasn’t already used to it).

 

Akashi simply chuckled at the conversation going on between the bluenette and the purple haired male and picked up his chopsticks, giving a quick ‘thank you for the food’, which was copied by all the other ‘Users’ present in the dining room, before all of them started digging in.

 

Seeing as they weren’t fully used to the presence of one another in such casual and homey situations, they mostly ate in silence, every now and then exchanging quick words between themselves about the most diverse of subjects. As such, the bowls were quickly emptied, though enough space remained in every stomach for the greatly awaited dessert.

 

“Tetsuya, you have a little bit of food here,” said Akashi after the bluenette lowered his chopsticks once he ate the last bit of rice. He motioned his hand forward and wiped with his thumb the corner of the smaller male’s lips, bringing it back to himself afterwards to clean the small piece of salmon there. The method he chose to clean it was, however, by licking his finger. “Why is it that you always eat in such a clumsy way? Are you doing it on purpose so that I touch you even during our meal time?”

 

“Wha—!? O-Of course not!” defended himself Kuroko right away, a blush appearing on his features at the words the redhead was actually saying. “How highly do you think of yourself to actually say something like that? Please don’t jump to strange conclusions all on your own.”

 

“Is it fine to ‘jump to strange conclusions’ if it’s done between us, then?” innocently asked Akashi – even if a mischievous smirk was plastered on his features.

 

“How can you do such a thing between two people?” deadpanned Kuroko, staring at the redhead with disbelieving eyes.

 

“If we are to say it technically, it would be between three people,” corrected Akashi, feeling slightly irked even though it had been him saying that sentence. “But let’s ignore that small detail. If you have doubts that it’s possible to ‘jump to strange conclusions’ between two individuals, then there’s a simple solution for such a problem.”

 

“Which would be?” asked Kuroko, picking up his used dishes and tableware and giving them to the purple haired male, who was collecting all of them, resident by resident, to take them back to the kitchen.

 

“Become one with me, Tetsuya,” announced Akashi, a soft smile on his features as he turned his head sideways in the bluenette’s direction so he could face him directly. “That would work quite well, right?”

 

“…!” Mouth opening and closing without letting any sound out from his vocal cords, Kuroko was so shocked with what the redhead was saying and had been so taken aback by it that all he could do was remain frozen on his chair, his face once again covered by a deep red blush as he stared at him with flabbergasted eyes. “…Have you… gone… i-insane…? What kind of t-things are you saying? Maybe instead of going out of Teikou to the pastry competition… you should get a check up in the hospital like Aomine-kun did.”

 

“Worried about me?” teasingly asked Akashi, the soft smile starting to gain a small mischievous undertone. “Oh, you did say that you would take responsibility over the wounds that you previous caused in me. As such, and just like I told you this afternoon, you should also take responsibility over other types of ‘illness’ that you cause in me.”

 

“I-I don’t think we share the same definition of ‘taking responsibility’…” sighed Kuroko, taking masked deep breaths to control the blush in his face.

 

“Then enlighten me in your definition of taking responsibility, Tetsuya,” requested Akashi, an amused expression on his face as he put his elbow on the table’s surface and leaned his chin on the back of his hand. His eyes never left the bluenette, who remained silent once again and fidgeting a little bit. “You can’t do it? Then I’ll continue thinking that your definition and my definition are the exact same.”

 

“That’s… not fair…” mumbled Kuroko, a soft shade of pink still present in his cheeks as he averted his gaze from the redhead.

 

“I told you a couple of times now that I have absolutely no problems with being unfair,” pointed out Akashi after chuckling softly.

 

“Hey, Aominecchi,” whispered Kise after having changed his seat to the one next to the tanned male. “Do Akashicchi and Kurokocchi always act like that when they are together? Or have I missed their wedding or something?”

 

“Ah, yeah. They always act like that when in front of us. Probably the same when they’re alone,” answered Aomine, an amused expression on his face as he observed the two smaller males continuing with their bickering. A sly smirk, however, popped up in his lips when he switched his gaze to the blonde. “I don’t know anything about a wedding, but you did miss quite a lot of juicy events. From an S&M show with a wall in the middle to a make-out session in the classroom.”

 

“They sure are having fun while together~” added Kise, a sly smirk also on his face as he kept looking to the bickering duo. “And maybe I haven’t missed all of the good stuff. I did catch them in the gym with very little clothes on and in a really~ compromising position, after all~”

 

“Oh, really? I’ve been wondering for quite a while what exactly are the trainings that Kuroko is having,” continued Aomine, a mischievous glint on his dark blue eyes as he switched them once again to the pair. “Now I see that it was simply an excuse for both of them to have a little escapade without having anyone to bother them while they are at it.”

 

“Well, would you look at that? Akashicchi isn’t all that different from the rest of the human population when it comes to love and quenching his bodily desires, after all~” snickered Kise, putting his arms crossed behind his head as he gave a quick stretch to his back. “Even Akashicchi is a slave to the oh so bitter-sweet romance that has haunted humanity since primordial days.”

 

“That’s such a fancy line, coming from you,” teased Aomine after snorting softly.

 

“I’m feeling inspired because I’ll be meeting with Kasamatsu-senpai after dinner~” explained Kise, a bright smile on his face at the prospect of meeting with his lover after so many days separated from him. “Tonight, I don’t want to run any chance of making him angry or kick me, for whatever reason it may be.”

 

“You still haven’t gotten any?” asked Aomine with a sly smirk, his eyebrows wiggling a little bit to tease the blonde even more with the insinuation he had made.

 

“Ugh… Shut up, Aominecchi…” complained Kise right away, a pouting expression on his face. He was about to open his mouth to whine more about his lack of ‘action’ since the very beginning of his relationship with the older male when the kitchen door was open and from there appeared the purple haired giant, a tray with several dessert plates on it.

 

It was finally time for the so awaited Grilled Peach and Cream Cake.

 

Murasakibara put the tray he was carrying on top of the table, near a seat which was currently empty. Six plated mouth-watering square cake slices laid there and, even with all the residents of the house already fed with the main course, there was a faint sound of a hungry stomach rumbling. The purple haired male picked up two plates and started walking over to the redhead and the bluenette, stopping beside the former so he could give him his so sought for dessert.

 

“Thank you, Murasaki—“ started said Kuroko, his hands motioning up so he could directly receive the small plate on them. However, all of a sudden, he felt something warm softly landing on his leg and remain there, a soft prickling sensation also accompanying it. Kuroko would have been able to deal with it, even if quite awkwardly, if all the hand there was doing was that – but when he felt it absent-mindedly patting at him leg with slow movements, it flipped some sort of switch on him.

 

Which was why the cake slice that he was holding onto ended up slammed on Akashi Seijuurou’s face.

 

“Ah… Aka— Um…” tried to apologize or explain Kuroko, not even him understanding what had led him into doing such a wasteful action to his own slice, which he had been desiring to eat from the moment its existence in the menu was announced. The redhead was saying nothing in relation to the cream and peach sauce dripping down from his face to all over his clothes and table.

 

“Pfffftt…!” started laughing Aomine and Kise, in initial stages with their hands covering their mouths to control their amusement of what they just witnessed. Akashi Seijuurou, the Head of the ‘Miracles’ and the most powerful ‘User’ known, just had a cake slammed on his face, almost as if he was participating on a cheap comedy show. That thought made both the tanned male’s and blonde’s control crumble down completely. “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”

 

Akashi threw a quick sideways glare to the two laughing idiots, who were almost falling off of their chairs with their lack of control, and, probably not seeing but feeling such, they immediately quieted down and straightened their backs on their seats, a serious (and extremely strained) expression being forcefully put on their faces.

 

“You will lick my whole face clean,” suddenly said Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes returning to the bluenette. At hearing those words, Kuroko uncomfortably shifted on his chair, his body slowly crawling away from the redhead. “That’s what I would like to say but I won’t. Because I’m nice and gentle to you and most definitely not a devil.”

 

Kuroko immediately sighed in relief at hearing such words. No matter how close he was to someone, he would never be able to lick their face – in Akashi’s case, it would be literally an impossible mission to accomplish seeing as the bluenette held different feelings for him that he did towards others. To add to that, the redhead was also the main people he currently owned the fact that he hadn’t been sealed off in a cell for the rest of his life, been turned to a laboratory rat or being publicly executed while the entire world was watching. No matter what where the circumstances, Kuroko would _never_ be able to lick clean the cream and peach sauce out of his face.

 

“However,” added Akashi, his hand lunging forward to grab a few napkins and start cleaning the mess spread all over his face and body. “That doesn’t mean I will pretend that this didn’t happen. I think we are in need to have a little conversation, just the two of us, so Tetsuya, you will come with me to my bedroom now.”

 

“Ugh… Y-Yes…” acknowledged Kuroko, his head dropping down in a demoralized manner. He had absolutely no way out of this one, he had come to notice, the very same moment his hands started motioning with the plate on them in the redhead’s face’s direction.

 

“Well then, if you’ll excuse us, Tetsuya and I will be taking our leave from the table,” announced Akashi, his body motioning up from his seat while he put the dirty napkins back on the table. The bluenette slowly did the same beside him. “Enjoy the rest of your dinner.”

 

“Will we need to put on ear plugs until next morning?” teasingly asked Aomine, a sly smirk on his face as he received his own dessert from the purple haired male, who was grumbling to himself about both the fact that he had to clean the kitchen all by himself now and that a slice of his cake had been wasted in such a way.

 

“No, but you should consider getting a gag or simply learn to keep your mouth shut without having anyone to tell you to do so, Daiki,” said Akashi as he simply grabbed the hand of the bluenette whose face was once again painted in a myriad of shades of red and then started to lead him to outside of the dining room, not even sparing a glance to the tanned male as he was directing his words to him.

 

“Oh… So scary~” murmured Kise as he observed the two smaller males exiting the room, a shudder running down his spine as the redhead was speaking, even if was not with him in any form.

 

“Man… I have the feeling that Akashi has recently been really annoyed or angry at me…” started complaining Aomine as soon as the redhead and bluenette were at a safe distance from the dining room. He grabbed his fork and stabbed it in his cake slice, quickly taking a bite at his dessert. “I haven’t done anything wrong recently. I don’t get why he’s being so freaking antagonistic of me lately…”

 

 _That’s most likely because Akashi/Aka-chin is jealous that you have made some sort of connection with Kuroko/Kuro-chin before he had any chance of doing it himself,_ inwardly answered both Midorima and Murasakibara at the dissatisfied grumbling of the tanned male.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> Muwahahahahaha! I'm so evil, leaving such a cliffhanger. Now you will have to wait to discover what exactly awaits Kuroko when he goes to Akashi's room *sly smirk* Any way it goes, it's guaranteed to be quite entertaining, as you must be already expecting ;D
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	119. Inspired ingredients, endless feelings of love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> So I have a few things to say.  
> I've decided to update both Break My Silence and Code M once per month, and try to update Eat Me, Drink Me as soon as I can (since I have a lot of birthdays that I need to compensate already -.-'). Shattered Miracles will continue to be updated as frequently as possible.  
> Also, I read all of your comments. I'm just taking a while to get back at them because I currently have limited Internet access and I want to save it the most I can to be able to update the chapters as soon as they are done (as well as accessing my email and arrange things with my translation group). So I will eventually answer back at every single comment, like I usually do :D
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!!

Akashi opened his bedroom’s door and made way, Kuroko, albeit reluctantly, entering inside of the other male’s private resting place. With all of the unknown surrounding what was to happen next, the bluenette couldn’t help but nervously fiddle with the hems of his sleeves. When he felt the redhead enter after him and close the door, Kuroko gulped down hard and started turning around to try to reason out with him – Akashi was probably completely furious at him due to the humiliation he made him go through in front of his comrades, after all.

 

“Um… A-Akashi-kun, I didn’t mean to— Hiyaa!” started explaining Kuroko in the form of a babble but he was swiftly interrupted when the redhead motioned his hands forward and grabbed him by the waist, readily picking him up and walking deeper inside of the room. They quickly reached the bed, where the taller male softly dropped him. “A-Akashi…kun…? W-What exactly are you planni—“

 

“Your punishment is to stay,” announced Akashi all of a sudden, closing the distance between their faces, his own housing a more amused than angry expression.

 

“Eh…?” interjected Kuroko, not being able to help the slight tilting of his head while staring back to the redhead, incomprehension written all over his face.

 

“You are to stay here, not moving a single inch from the bed, until I say you can,” explained further Akashi, a smirk on his lips as he straightened his back and stared down to the smaller male on top of his bed. “You are not even allowed to put your feet on the floor.”

 

“Eh!? You are being totally unreasonable right now, Akashi-kun!” argued back Kuroko, a small panic spreading in the back of his head, caused by the words exiting the taller male’s mouth. “You can’t expect me to just stay on top of your bed for an undefined period of time, using a ‘punishment’ due to a situation that I already tried to apologize for as a disguise. I mean, why do you even want me to stay h-here in the first place?”

 

“I wonder,” cryptically answered Akashi, his smirk widening even more as he observed the fidgeting in the bluenette’s body. He had told Kuroko that he didn’t particularly like to sleep with other people, or even allowed them close to his personal space, but that he did like to share his sleeping space with the bluenette and even would like to see him there, using it as if it was his own. However, it seemed that Kuroko was or forgetting about that conversation or so taken aback by this situation in particular that he couldn’t correctly rationalize all of the events. Akashi could only wonder when he would realize that he truly was using this as a disguise to fulfill one of his wishes.

 

Releasing a soft chuckle, Akashi turned around and started walking to his wardrobe, from where he took a few pieces of clothing. He then walked back to near the bluenette and put a clean shirt beside his legs, giving a quick upturn to his lips.

 

“I’m going to take a shower before changing these completely ruined clothes,” explained Akashi as he organized the clothes he was supposed to dress afterwards. “You should also change into that, since your clothes got covered in cream and peach sauce when I picked you up.”

 

“Ah...” Kuroko switched his gaze to his upper clothes and saw them smudged here and there with milky white and dark orange wet spots.

 

“Oh, and remember, Tetsuya,” added Akashi while motioning over to his bathroom. He stopped under the frame of the door and started opening it, his head turned around so he could look over in the smaller male’s direction. “You’re not allowed to get out of the bed. Not even while changing.”

 

Observing the redhead entering in the bathroom and closing the door afterward, Kuroko could only sigh at his poor luck. “Akashi-kun truly does have the opportunism of an experienced lion…”

 

He let a few seconds pass by and then started shifting his body around while on top of the bed so that he could find a good position to change his upper clothes. As he undressed himself, his teal eyes remained unmoving from the bathroom’s door – he just had this nagging suspicion that Akashi would find some sort of excuse to exit the bathroom while he was in the middle of changing, teasing him afterwards about his current nakedness in another person’s bedroom.

 

However, that suspicion didn’t bear any fruit seeing as by the time he was already half done with changing, water raining down from the shower started to echo through the room.

 

“…” Having absolutely nothing to do while being ‘restricted’ to the total area of the bed, one that had pretty much the same size as his own, Kuroko started scanning through the redhead’s bedroom with his eyes. He had been previously there but since Akashi had been together with him at the time (and intently studying him at that), he hadn’t been able to use that opportunity to scavenge through his surroundings. “His bedroom is really filled with nothing but books…”

 

The division had the exact same size as his, but it was mainly constituted by the bed where Kuroko was sitting on, a desk with a laptop on top, a wardrobe and then shelves on every spot where one could be fit. All of the shelves where filled from top to bottom with books of the most diverse of sizes, colors and, apparently, themes.

 

Kuroko had always dreamt of having a similar room – or better yet, a similar house. The walls would be covered by different shelves, whatever use the division would have, and then filled with the wonderful novels that he had read. However… The bluenette knew it was nothing but a dream. He wasn’t someone who could stay in the same place time enough to fill an entire house with books he had read, even if his reading speed was quite good.

 

Releasing another soft sigh, Kuroko uncomfortably shifted his body once again on the soft mattress where he was sitting. He truly couldn’t understand what Akashi was thinking right now. He basically dragged him to his bedroom, to his _bed_ , and then left him there all by himself just so he could go have a… shower…

 

“…Eh…?”

 

 _Akashi-kun said I can’t get out of his bed until he says I can… and he’s currently taking a shower…_ , started rationalizing Kuroko in the back of his mind, his heartbeat suddenly gaining a frenzied rhythm as he continued processing everything. _Akashi-kun isn’t thinking of making me stay here the whole night, right? He isn’t thinking of really continuing what we were doing before Kise-kun returned… right?_

 

After long and torturous minutes of agonizing with the unknown of his near future, Kuroko heard the bathroom’s door opening once again and readily looked over in its direction, his face housing a flustered expression mixed with slight panic.

 

“Do you also want to take a shower?” asked Akashi as he walked over in the bluenette’s direction, a towel being ran over his red locks of hair so he could dry it. When he saw the silent babbling mess that the smaller male became, he took the towel out of his head while chuckling and sat down next to him. “I was just joking, Tetsuya.”

 

“Y-You have such tasteless jokes…” grudgingly mumbled Kuroko, averting the redhead’s gaze while shifting his body farther away from him. His heart was already racing madly so he didn’t need to have Akashi too close to him and worsen the situation even more. “Better yet, you simply have no skills in telling jokes.”

 

“Well, I guess that only comes to prove that I really am not as perfect as everyone thinks I am,” pointed out Akashi as he adjusted the towel on his hands and motioned it over in the smaller male’s direction. “Will you help me dry my hair?”

 

Kuroko closely stared to the redhead after he had made that request. He had never expected to hear him ask someone from help, even if he had ahead of him a tremendously hard task to complete. Yet Akashi was currently asking the bluenette to help him towel-dry his hair. The close proximity was dangerous territory and he would be in risk to have his heart self-destruct due to it, but Kuroko still motioned his hand forward and grabbed the towel. He crawled closed to Akashi and sat down on his knees behind the taller male.

 

“I didn’t really expect you to do as I asked,” confessed Akashi, a soft smile on his face as he allowed the bluenette to softly tousle his hair around to dry it. “You said that you didn’t want to be a puppet playing on our hands and wanted to make your own choices, without being manipulated into taking a certain option. But you have been quite complacent lately, listening to my suggestions and little requests and actually putting them forward when you have the chance to.”

 

“I’m following according to it because I do believe it’s the most correct choice to follow,” explained Kuroko, his eyes taking close attention to what his hands were doing. “Even if it turns out to play according to your or anyone else’s plans, it’s something that I wanted to go through with.”

 

“Even drying my hair?” asked Akashi with a slight teasing tone, though his expression only displayed satisfaction over the close proximity and careful touches he was receiving from the smaller male.

 

“W-Well… This is because… I wasn’t really expecting you to ask for help in anything, even less in such menial tasks,” continued Kuroko, a soft blush on his cheeks. Then his expression morphed to a blank expression all of a sudden. “And, for you, I think it would be more, ‘Tetsuya, you will dry my hair right this moment’.”

 

“Ahahaha,” laughed Akashi, trying to not move his body too much to allow the bluenette to continue with his request. Even if it was being done with a towel in the middle, it felt extremely good to have Kuroko touching him. “Really? I’m not that much of a ‘dictator’. And why would I ask in such a way, if it’s done with you? I told you that I don’t want to force you to do anything that you don’t want to.”

 

“Please build a time machine and go say those words to yourself back when we were in the gym or in my apartment in Seirin, then,” added Kuroko with an even more accentuated deadpan expression.

 

“Did it hurt?” asked Akashi, his eyes closed as he relished in the soft tousling of his hair. He surely could get used to have the smaller male cater for him like this, doing the exact same in return. “Did it feel disgusting or uncomfortable? Did I continue when you seriously told me to stop?”

 

“…N-No… No but…” answered Kuroko, the blush returning to his cheeks, only five times more accentuated.

 

“Then I don’t see why you complain afterwards,” added Akashi. “You don’t fight back when I touch you and you did tell me to continue and do more this afternoon. Or are you going to tell me that it’s because it feels good that you want me to do it? Would you say or do the exact same things that you say or do with me with other people? Like Daiki or Kagami Taiga, for example.”

 

“Wha—!?” incredulously interjected Kuroko, the intensity of his blush continuing on escalating and the movements of his hands growing clumsier. “W-Why are you even bringing Aomine-kun and Kagami-kun to this conversation? No, why are we even having this type of conversation in the first place when we were previously talking about something entirely different?”

 

“It was you who brought up this topic, Tetsuya,” pointed out Akashi as he chuckled softly. “Actually, you have probably been having dirty thoughts as soon as I told you to come to my room while downstairs.”

 

“I-I have not!” defended himself Kuroko, his hands moving away from the taller male’s head while holding into the towel, only to drop it on his lap.

 

“Then tell me that while looking straight into my eyes,” announced Akashi, his upper body turning around as he remained sat down on the bed so he could look directly to the bluenette. “If you do that, I’ll believe in you and go downstairs to get you a slice of the cake that you didn’t even get to lay down on top of the table.”

 

“Ugh…” softly grunted Kuroko, readily averting the heterochromatic eyes of the redhead. He said that he hasn’t been having dirty thoughts (which was the truth!) but he did panic a bit at the thought of returning once again to the erotic activities that they got involved in while on his trainings and going even further than what they did at the time. That made him panic and get extremely anxious over what would happen after the taller male exited the bathroom. Akashi had apparently read him like a book as soon as he stepped outside to be saying this sort of thing. “I-I’m starting to believe what Kise-kun says… You are mean and definitely a devil…”

 

“As long as you don’t hate me because of it, I don’t really mind whatever way you see me as,” confessed Akashi as he motioned his hand forward and took the towel out of the bluenette’s lap. He inched his face closer and delivered a soft kiss on the other male’s pale cheek.

 

“…This is why I call you a total player…” mumbled Kuroko as he observed the redhead get up from the bed and walk back to the bathroom so he could put the towel together with his dirty clothes and wash all of them later on.

 

“It would be unfair of me to get you stuck to the bed and not putting you doing anything,” started saying Akashi, exiting the bathroom once again and motioning over to one of his shelves. “You’re almost finishing the novel you are currently reading, right? Have you decided on what you will read next or are you once again open to suggestions from my behalf?”

 

“It will depend on what you will suggest me to read,” answered Kuroko, straightening his back after having adjusted his sitting position on the bed once again.

 

“Who said I will suggest you a book so you get entertained with something?” asked Akashi, a mischievous smirk on his lips as he peered over in the bluenette’s direction. When he saw the blank expression on his face, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “I have a series of historical fantasy novels, if you are interested. It’s from a writer called Peter V. Brett and the series is called ‘The Demon Circle’. I have the first four novels and the compilation of short stories but they are in the English edition. Would you want to give them a try or is English a problem for you?”

 

“No, English is not a problem for me,” answered Kuroko, his teal eyes getting filled with hatred for a fraction of a second and then switching back to their usual calm hue of blue. “I can try reading them, I guess. What’s the plot of the story?”

 

“…” Akashi kept his gaze a little bit longer on the bluenette and then turned around to the shelf, taking from there a book before starting to walk back to his bed. “It’s about a world filled with monsters that humanity doesn’t know how to destroy or fight back against and that are cruelly hunting the humans down. However, three people from different places and with different particularities get together due to the plays of fate and start to find ways to fight those monsters, be it before they get together, be it when they are together.”

 

“Are you making it sound interesting on purpose or is the series that good?” asked Kuroko, motioning his hand forward so he could receive the book from the redhead.

 

“You will have to read it to find out. No one shares the exact same opinion about a book as another person, after all,” answered Akashi, a soft smile on his face as he gave the book to the other male. “While you are reading, I’ll finish the final preparations for our outing of Teikou to go to the pastry competition on my computer. If you have any doubts about a word, just ask.”

 

“Okay,” acknowledged Kuroko, switching his gaze from the redhead to the cover of the book. He turned it around and gave a quick look to the synopsis on the back cover of the paperback edition that he was holding into.

 

“Also, you can use my bed as if it’s your own,” added Akashi, motioning over to his desk and settling himself on his chair. “I’ve noticed that you like to curl yourself up when you read. The more you curl up and forget about your surroundings, the more you are enjoying what you are reading. Right?”

 

“Uhh… Y-Yes…” shyly acknowledged Kuroko, a soft blush dusting his cheeks as he shifted his body closer to the top edge of the bed and leaned his back on the wall, the book quickly being open in the first page.

 

After that, the two ‘Users’ remained in silence, each one doing his own thing. Akashi kept working on his computer, doing what it’s supposed for him to do as the Student Council President of Teikou Academy and the Head of the ‘Miracles’. Kuroko read the first novel correspondent to the said series, laid down on his stomach in the bed, his face almost stuffed in the pages of the book as he avidly continued to dive more into the world being build around the three main characters.

 

However, as soon as he finished devouring the first third of the novel, Kuroko gave a quick glance in the redhead’s direction. He remained sat down on his desk, extremely focused on the things he was reading on his laptop’s screen, every now and then typing some words. The bluenette softly closed the novel, his finger remaining in the middle of it to mark the place where he had left off and dropped his head, the side of his face laid down on the cover of the book as he keep intently observing Akashi.

 

It was curious. Kuroko was in the same room together with the person he once swore to kill with his own hands (and actually tried to, once) but he was having one of the most enjoyable and peaceful evenings of his whole life. He hadn’t really had a lot of chances where he could be reading a book with other people around without being interrupted or bothered by some sort of problem. But being together with Akashi was almost the same as when he was alone but without having the feeling of loneliness attached to it – it was quiet, restful and something akin to be considered Heaven in terms of tranquility.

 

It gave him a feeling of safety, even if they weren’t sharing the bed. It gave him a feeling of happiness, even if they were each one on their own spot, doing their own things. It gave him a feeling of pure warmth… almost as if he was sharing an evening together with family.

 

“How weird…” ended up blurting out Kuroko, his eyes unmoving from the redhead as he casually put his elbow on top of the desk’s surface and closely continued to read whatever it was showing on the computer’s screen.

 

_I think I’m more in love with Akashi-kun than I had initially thought. Otherwise… why would I have the same sensation of family that I had with Ogiwara-kun in the past, but without any of the negative emotions that were attached to it?_

 

“I think you are the one who needs to take responsibility, Akashi-kun…” murmured Kuroko, a soft smile on his lips as he continued to stare in the redhead’s direction.

 

“Hmm?” At hearing a soft voice, Akashi turned his head sideways and looked over to his bed, where he found the bluenette laid down while staring at him. He leaned his back on the back of the chair and fully turned around in his direction. “Aren’t you supposed to be reading? Or is the book not to your liking?”

 

“No, it’s not that,” answered Kuroko, his head shaking a little bit. “I just believe that we have to take close attention to something if we want to discover all sorts of countermeasures for it. So I decided to study the object in question while he’s in his habitat.”

 

“Oh, I see,” said Akashi with an amused voice, a small smirk on his features. He closed his laptop’s screen and got up from the chair, walking over in the bluenette’s direction. As soon as he got close to the bed, he lowered his body to a crouching position and put his folded arms on top of the mattress, where he leaned his chin on so he could look back to Kuroko on the same level as him. “Did you discover any useful ‘countermeasure’ then?”

 

“I don’t think so. I probably will have to keep doing my observation for a while longer and in other types of places and circumstances, if I truly want to obtain good results,” answered Kuroko with a serious expression, though there was some playfulness on his voice.

 

“Give me a full report of what you come up with when you discover something,” added Akashi, a mischievous smile on his face as he inched his head closed to the smaller male.

 

“Why would I give the object being studied for countermeasures the solutions that I have come up with to deal with him?” asked Kuroko, a small smirk pulling at the corners of his lips. “That would be completely meaningless since I know very well that you would find countermeasures for my countermeasure to you.”

 

“True,” acknowledged Akashi, straightening his back once again and motioning his body upwards right after. He got one of his knees of top of the mattress and softly tugged at the shirt given by him that the bluenette was currently wearing. “Scooch over.”

 

“Eh?”

 

“I also want to sit on the bed so scooch over a little bit,” explained Akashi, a soft smile on his features as he gave a few more tugs to the other male’s shirt.

 

“Ah… Um…” Kuroko readily motioned his body up to a sitting position but, after that, he wasn’t really sure of what he should do. Akashi told him to move but he hadn’t told him to get out of the bed. So he wasn’t sure what exactly did the redhead mean by ‘scooch over’ so that he could also sit in the bed.

 

“Come here,” said Akashi after chuckling a little bit. He fully climbed to the bed and leaned his back on the wall, in a similar position that the bluenette had previously used when he first started reading, and then pulled Kuroko to himself, positioning him in the middle of his legs, much like he had done when they were in the smaller male’s bedroom and he passed out while on their little kiss exchange.

 

“U-Um… I-I don’t think this is a good p-position…” shyly mumbled Kuroko, stuttering on some of the words as a new blush appeared on his cheeks. Sitting in the middle of the redhead’s legs while being carefully hugged by him from behind was more nerve-wrecking than being asked to make a critical surgery for the first time, he could bet.

 

“If you’re feeling nervous about it, then I think I can help you with that,” pointed out Akashi, a soft smile on his features as he leaned his chin over the bluenette’s shoulder. “I do have to inform you of some things so let’s talk.”

 

“Inform me about what?” asked Kuroko, turning his head slightly so he could take a peek to the taller male.

 

“It’s about the pastry competition,” started explaining Akashi. “We’ll need to pack some things that we might need tomorrow, since we’ll be leaving for Sumida after lunch.”

 

“Eh? Pack some things? Why?” asked Kuroko once again, his head tilting sideways just a little bit as he curiously stared to the redhead. “Isn’t the pastry competition supposed to start on Saturday? Then why are we going to Sumida on Friday and have to take some things with us?”

 

“Did you think that we would go back and forward between Teikou and Sumida everyday so we can attend this event?” asked back Akashi, a small mischievous smirk on his lips as he continued talking. “It’s more than obvious that we will cut our expenses short and prevent unnecessary losses of time by staying in a hotel in Sumida from Friday, tomorrow, until next Monday morning so that we can attend the pastry competition.”

 

“Eh!? Wait, what?” incredulously yelped Kuroko, his mouth gaping wide open as he stared to the redhead with a flabbergasted expression. “Y-You’re joking, right? Please tell me that this is one more of your tasteless and awful jokes.”

 

“No, I’m not joking. I just finished making the reservation, actually,” confessed Akashi, the smirk widening from a little mischievous glint to a full grown sly and calculative one. “It took me quite a while to decide which would be the best room for us to use on our first date.”

 

“…!” Kuroko’s mouth was dropped ajar once again, giving failed attempt to say anything back to the totally embarrassing words that were coming out from the taller male’s smirking mouth. No, they weren’t just embarrassing – they would be the last drop to really kill him off due to a heart attack.

 

He would have to share a hotel room with Akashi for three nights straight? That was a completely insane idea! He far preferred to travel every single day from Teikou to Sumida and then the other way around than having to share a room with the redhead in such a setting. Because it would go wrong. It would go so very wrong. Having to spend all of those days fully with Akashi, since he would use the excuse of supervising and preventing him from running away to be around him 24/7, would most likely make it be set in stone that he was in love with him (if it hadn’t been already). Worst yet, he would grow accustomed to sleep in the same sleeping space, even if not in the same bed, as him. As far as habits went, sleeping habits were the worst to disappear or change.

 

The pastry competition was turning out to be a disaster waiting to happen, as far as it concerned him.

 

“I-I think that a-after all, I won’t be a-able to go to the pastry competition…” stutteringly informed Kuroko, a deep scarlet blush on the entirety of his features as he dropped his gaze to his lap, his hands nervously fiddling with his sleeves.

 

“Rejected,” interrupted Akashi right away before the bluenette could continue to give more excuses and run away from the ‘date’ they had agreed on. “I’ve already completed all of the preparations for our travel and stay in Sumida. I even got the okay from the Prime-Minister, in a roundabout way. So I won’t let you back out, Tetsuya. Actually, even if none of this had already been arranged, I wouldn’t let you escape from our weekend date.”

 

“N-No… A-As I thought… I-It’s really impossible for m-me…” continued denying Kuroko. He had a feeling that it was being done half-heartedly since, deep down, he truly wanted to go on a date with Akashi, whatever length it would have. But danger alarms noisily rang on the back of his mind and he was more leaned to listen to them right now than to his own heart’s desires. “I can’t go wi—“

 

“Why can’t you go?” asked Akashi, interrupting the bluenette as he continued babbling back and forth. He motioned one of his hands out of his hold on the other male’s waist and softly pulled his face in his direction so he could look straight into his teal eyes. “What is it that you’re so afraid of, Tetsuya?”

 

“…Y-You… I’m afraid of… you…” ended up confessing Kuroko, his eyes stuck to the red and golden ones that intently stared at his. He wanted to avert his gaze so badly but he had been once again enslaved by those heterochromatic irises. He wanted to stop talking but his mouth wasn’t shutting close. And he knew he was doing all of this by himself since he was 100% sure that it was impossible for Akashi to make him confess anything by the means of his ability. “I-It scares me, the thought of getting tied down to Teikou… Of getting tied down… to you… Because I’m not allowed to have any of those things… I’m not allowed to _wish_ to have any of those things. I don’t want to experience happiness now when I know that I will have to throw it away in the future…”

 

“You are such a dummy, Tetsuya,” sighed Akashi. He adjusted his and the bluenette’s bodies slightly and pulled his face closer to his own, his eyes never leaving the smaller male’s. “What was it that I told you before? You don’t have to be alone anymore. You can stay in Teikou forever. You are a ‘User’ and it’s in Teikou that all ‘Users’ belong, without exception. Even if you are ‘The Phantom’ and consider yourself nothing more than a ‘broken monster’, it’s in Teikou, together with me, that you belong. Why are you over thinking and complicating things so much? If you wish for something, then work for it. Don’t throw it away just because you think you’re not worth it. Don’t throw it away before even trying to take a hold of it.”

 

“…” Kuroko continued to stare to the redhead, his features slightly twisted with sadness and pain. “Am I… really someone worthy of even trying to take a hold of it…?”

 

“Of course you are,” confirmed Akashi, a soft smile on his lips as he lovingly cupped the bluenette’s face. “Why wouldn’t you be? Because you have killed people? I told you that I have killed my own father to save my mother. Because you have destroyed a part of Tokyo? I’ll let you know that I sank a part of Kyoto to Hell. So if I’m someone worthy of having it all… then so are you, Tetsuya. You are free to have whatever you want to have, to go wherever you want to go and to live the way you want to live. You are your own being and you can start moving on from your past whenever you want to. Move on from your past and go to the future that you want. But include me on it because you would have to give me a 100% complete and unchangeable death to even dream of getting rid of me for the rest of your life.”

 

“A-Are you trying to become a stalker now?” asked Kuroko with a deadpan expression, though the corner of his lips were slightly perked up.

 

“No, a stalker is only close to their victim in secret, usually without fully interacting with them on a direct level,” explained Akashi, motioning his face closer to the bluenette’s and delivering a soft peck on his lips. “I wouldn’t be able to do this so I don’t want to be a stalker. I want to be more than a stalker. I want to be an existence in your life that you fully acknowledge and that can be there for you, when you need and when you don’t need. And, of course, an existence who is allowed to touch you whenever I can or want.”

 

“Pervert,” said Kuroko right away, a pinkish blush once again on his pale cheeks. “You are probably thinking that you’ll get to do whatever you want while we’re in Sumida, aren’t you? You are really mistaken if you think it’ll go as you want, Akashi-kun.”

 

“Is that so?” asked Akashi with a teasing tone. “Does that mean that I can do whatever I want _before_ we go to Sumida?”

 

“Ah… Um… That’s…” started babbling Kuroko once again, his eyes dancing around through the redhead’s bedroom. After a few more incomprehensible sounds came out of his mouth and throat, the bluenette’s eyes settled back on the heterochromatic ones of the male still hugging him from behind. “M-May…be…?”

 

“I knew you were having dirty thoughts while waiting for me to come out of the shower,” teasingly said Akashi, a smirk on his features. Before the bluenette could start denying the obvious one more time, he joined their lips for a hungry kiss, Kuroko shivering against his body when he inserted his tongue inside of his mouth and slowly rubbed it against the other male’s.

 

“Mmhm…” softly whimpered Kuroko, his body sliding down against the redhead’s chest as he got in a more laid down position. He leaned his head even more and motioned his hand up, pulling Akashi’s face closer to his own by grabbing at the back of his head, every now and then running his fingers through the red locks of hair that he had helped drying.

 

“You’re getting better at kissing, Tetsuya,” teased Akashi in between small pecks to the lips sensually moist with the concoction of both of their saliva.

 

“I-I’m not getting better… haa… I’m just getting used to it,” corrected Kuroko while panting slightly. He shortened the distance between their faces once again but stopped his movements before their lips touched once again. “I’m getting used to having you kissing me.”

 

“And is that a good thing or a bad thing?” mischievously asked Akashi before erasing the small distance between them and locking their lips for one more feverish kiss. He pulled the bluenette’s body closer to his own and settled his hand on top of his navel, his thumb softly rubbing that area through the fabric as the kiss prolonged.

 

“Mhmm… I think… it’s both a curse… ngh… and a blessing,” confessed Kuroko, his mouth immediately seeking for more of the redhead’s kisses even when he himself chose to break the kiss.

 

“Vanilla style?” asked Akashi with an amused voice and a small smirk on his lips. He lowered his head a little bit and delivered a soft peck on the back of the smaller male’s neck, the skin rippling just the slightest with it.

 

“Ngh… Vanilla style,” acknowledged Kuroko, his body shivering once again when he felt the hot and slippery tongue of the redhead slowly running through the back of his neck. “Haa… Akashi-kun, please don’t leave any marks.”

 

“You should say ‘don’t leave _more_ marks’, then,” corrected Akashi, his mouth opening and his teeth softly scrapping on the bluenette’s neck, which made his whole body shiver in a noteworthy manner for the hundredth time.

 

“…Eh?” interjected Kuroko, his head tilting just a fraction as his mellowed brain tried to understand what the taller male was currently trying to imply. After a few seconds had passed, he jumped on the bed, straightening his body and separating himself from the redhead. Then he just quickly pulled his upper clothes up and looked to his chest area – which he readily found covered with bite mark and hickeys.

 

“You didn’t notice them while you were taking a shower in the gym or while changing to that shirt in here?” asked Akashi, an innocent look on his face as he stared to the surprise written all over the bluenette’s face, his head tilted sideways in an almost child-like way.

 

“A…”

 

-.-

 

“Hey, hey, Aominecchi! What are they saying?” asked Kise in a whisper, his ear stuck to the wooden surface of the redhead’s bedroom’s door.

 

“If you don’t shut up, I won’t be able to hear anything,” answered Aomine in a whisper too, his head also leaned closer to the redhead’s door.

 

“You are going to get in trouble for this,” pointed out Murasakibara with a soft voice, almost silently snacking on a bag of potato chips as he leaned his back on the opposite end of the corridor, right in front of the two smaller males who were carefully glued to the door.

 

“This is such a stupid thing,” mumbled Midorima while adjusting his glasses, every now and then sneaking a glance in the redhead’s bedroom’s direction.

 

“If you don’t want to get involved in this, then leave,” said Aomine, turning his eyes to the purple haired giant and the green haired male while his lips housed a sly smirk. “But I totally want to know what exactly is happening inside of Akashi’s room right now. If you want to complain, do it after I get some more juicy bits.”

 

“Aominecchi, shhhhh!” hurriedly interrupted Kise, making a shushing motion with his finger while leaning his ear closer to the door. “I think I can hear something.”

 

All four of them got extremely quiet after the blonde announced that, Murasakibara stopping his munching on his snack and even Midorima giving a step forward to get closer to the bedroom where both Akashi and Kuroko had been closed in for near two hours now.

 

_“Akashi Seijuurou, I am so done with you! Don’t you dare to bite or mark me again or I swear I will start using pepper as body washing lotion!!”_

_“Are you searching for a way to add even more spice to our little escapades as well as trying to find countermeasures against me?”_

_“Be quiet, you pervert! Look at my chest! I see more red than my own skin color!”_

_“Red suits you, though.”_

_“Do you also want to try to become covered in black, then?”_

_“Wait, Tetsuya… You aren’t really thinking of punching me again, right?”_

_“Don’t worry, Akashi-kun. It only hurts for a little bit and then you won’t feel anything. Ever. Again.”_

_“Tets— Just wait a second! I was only—“_

_“Not my problem.”_

_Crash. Bam. Crash. Bam._ And then silence.

 

“I-I think I’m starting to worry more about Akashicchi than Kurokocchi…” mumbled Kise as he slowly moved away from the closed door. He gulped down hard and kept his eyes locked on the entrance that now seemed far scarier than when they started trying to listen into what was going around inside of the redhead’s bedroom after both Akashi and Kuroko left the dining room. “Do you think… he’s still alive?”

 

“I’m sure he’s in… fixable conditions,” answered Midorima, adjusting his glasses with slightly sweaty fingers. “But just to be safe, I will have a first-aid kit near me.”

 

All of a sudden, the door was open and all four ‘Miracles’ immediately jumped at the unexpected movement. From there appeared Kuroko, housing a completely expressionless face that didn’t show any surprise at seeing all of them there in front of the redhead’s bedroom.

 

“Akashi-kun will probably wake up in half an hour, in case you need to report anything to him,” casually announced Kuroko as he walked back to his own bedroom, a book on his hands. He opened his room’s door and stepped inside, softly closing it behind him afterwards.

 

“Aka-chin, you definitely have weird tastes…” mumbled Murasakibara as he once again started munching on the remaining potato chips.

 

“Kuroko may as well be more dangerous and scary when angry than Akashi when in a bad mood…” added Aomine as he took a peek to inside of the redhead’s bedroom. “Huff… Midorima, you should prepare some ice for Akashi. He will need it since I don’t think even my punches would get him unconscious.”

 

“I’m on it,” acknowledged Midorima, turning his back around and starting to motion over in the stair’s direction.

 

 _Kuroko Tetsuya, the small monster who is able to make Akashi Seijuurou, the strongest ‘User’ and the Head of the ‘Miracles’, fall in love with him and actually K.O. him when angry at something he has done,_ inwardly chanted the other four ‘Miracles’, still taken aback by the unexpected way some events were starting to unfold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter has come from the lyrics of "Punky Funky Love" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> I know, I know... Where is the angst which is the trademark of this fic? Lately we have been having a big wave of fluff and comedy but, as they say... IT'S THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM <3 *evil smirk*  
> Though it feels really good and satisfactory to put these two lovebirds in such relaxing and fluffy scene >///< They truly should held a wedding and get officially married since, unofficially, they are already stuck to one another until the ends of times!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	120. Show me more of your suffering, now, here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> I would like to ask for a little bit of help from anyone who can. I'm in need of a beta/proofreader for a little~ something~ that I'm writing, so if there's anyone who would like to help me out, I would be eternally thankful. Be aware that it will be a long term thing, most likely, and if you would turn out to be a native English speaker (or with C2 level in it or have previous experience with proofreading), it would help even more :D
> 
> Any~way~ I think Shattered Miracles is in need of officially begin the mini-arc that I have announced quite a while ago. So, if you had any doubts that this weekend date won't be only Akashi and Kuroko flirting with each other while stuffying themselves with sweets... this chapter will change your minds on it *evil smirk*
> 
> Enjoy!

“Ugh… I’m exhausted…” complained Hyuuga Junpei, rotating his left shoulder so he could release some of the tension and tiredness that had accumulated on his body throughout the afternoon and evening. “Geez… Having to certificate that all students staying in Seirin Dorm are aware of all that has happened and that they are excused from classes until next week, as well as seeing if there hasn’t truly been any more injured students sure is as tough as having to do manual work. More so when I had to lie to them about the reason why the windows exploded all of a sudden.”

 

“Ahahaha, thank you for your hard work,” said Kiyoshi, a grin on his face as he gave a quick slap to the glasses wearing male’s back.

 

“ _You_ should be the one doing the ‘hard work’!” admonished Hyuuga right away when he heard those words coming from the brunette’s mouth. He turned his body to the taller male and pointed a finger at him, a vein popping up on his forehead. “You should have been the one who got the role of the dorm leader, being a freaking ‘Uncrowned King’! I still don’t get why you refused to take that role from the very beginning, if you are much more capable and well prepared to being the dorm leader than me.”

 

“You’re underestimating yourself, Hyuuga,” interrupted Kiyoshi as the smaller male was about to continue with his furious speech, a gentle smile on his features. “You have been doing a great job so far so I don’t really see the reason why I should take that role now. Besides… I do have a very well funded reason why I refused to be the dorm leader. And I can be of help to everyone, even if I’m not the one leading all of them.”

 

“…” Hyuuga continued staring to the other male, a soft glint of suspicion on his eyes. But he decided to not go over with the same conversation of always with the brunette and simply sighed, resuming once again with his walk to his own apartment in the large building that corresponded to the dorm he was in charge of, Seirin Dorm. “Hey… How has your knee been holding up?”

 

“Same old, same old,” answered Kiyoshi, his smile stretching a little farther due to the question being made. “It’s not like anything can be done in regards of it at the moment. All I can do is deal with it the best I can and continue to move forward. Oh, speaking of which! Riko is out doing some sort of errand so why don’t you do today’s massage to my knee?”

 

“Ehh? I don’t want to,” protested Hyuuga right away, a sour look on his face. “Riko has done it enough times for you to have memorized how it’s done, right? Why don’t you do a massage to yourself?”

 

“I don’t think that’s how massages are supposed to work,” pointed out Kiyoshi after a short laugh. They both crossed the door that allowed access to the corridor of Seirin where both of their apartments were located and continued to casually walk in their direction. “I’ll give you a little treat. I have some food cooked by Mitobe, from when I had dinner with him and Koganei the other day. How does that sound?”

 

“Trying to use food to buy my massages, are we?” suspiciously asked Hyuuga, his arms crossed over his chest as he closely thought about the taller male’s proposal. “Hm… It’s late already and I don’t have anything ready for my dinner. I guess it won’t hurt to give you a massage.”

 

“You’re the best, Hyuug—“ started saying Kiyoshi, a bright smile on his lips when he came to a sudden halt to his own words, at the same time his body also stopped in front of his apartment’s door. He kept his eyes glued to it for a few seconds, his face housing a serious demeanor, and then switched his gaze back to the glasses wearing male, his usual goofy expression back. “Ah, you know what? We should do the massage later. My apartment is a total mess right now and you are totally going to yell at me if you see it right now. Why don’t you show up once again in… two hours, maybe?”

 

“What makes you think that I won’t change my mind meanwhile, since I’ll have enough time to cook something in that time span?” asked back Hyuuga, an eyebrow slightly arched at the sudden and unexpected change of plans that the taller male was making all on his own.

 

“You’re not that type of person, Hyuuga,” pointed out Kiyoshi, his grin widening even more.

 

“Suit yourself,” said Hyuuga, turning around so he could continue walking to his own apartment, the one situated right beside the brunette’s. “If Riko doesn’t return by that time, come knocking on my door, Mitobe’s food coming with you as payment. If she returns, then give me the food anyway and go back to your messy apartment empty handed.”

 

“Ahahaha! I will, I will,” conceded Kiyoshi, observing the glasses wearing male open the door to his apartment and then step inside. Once the door was closed, he returned his gaze to his own door, a serious expression once again present on his features. He released a quick sigh and motioned his hand forward, swiftly unlocking the door and stepping inside.

 

The moment Kiyoshi closed the door, a small knife came lunging in from the dark living room and was stabbed on the wooden entrance. All that the brunette could do was clench his fists in frustration… and helplessness.

 

“Are you trying to add trespassing to your large list of crimes?” asked Kiyoshi, taking the knife out of the door and walking further inside of his apartment, turning the lights on as soon as he reached the living room. “Why are you here, Hanamiya?”

 

“Hmm? I’m only here to pay a visit to my good, old friend,” answered Hanamiya Makoto, a sly smirk on his face as he dangled around two small knifes, each blade on one of his hands. He switched his gaze to the brunette and threw one of the knifes in the air, catching it once again in between his fingertips.

 

“I’m sure you’re not here to do just that, you being who you are,” pointed out Kiyoshi, a glare on his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest, the knife still being tightly held on his hand.

 

“Ahahaha! All the years we have spent together sure show at moments like these, don’t they?” taunted Hanamiya, his smirk widening even more. He swiftly threw the knife being held with his fingers, readily being stabbed right until the middle of its blade on the wall behind the brunette, right beside his face. “I have a new mission for you.”

 

“What makes you think that I will do as you say?” asked Kiyoshi, a frown on his face as the glare continued to grow more threatening – a completely foreign expression to his usual gentle and pacific demeanor.

 

“What makes you think that you have any say in the matter?” asked back Hanamiya, getting up from the sofa where he had settled himself on since he had arrived to the apartment. “You are my puppet and I’m the puppeteer. You do everything that I tell you to do, no matter what it is. Just like you have been doing for years now.”

 

“…”

 

“Don’t tell me that you still think you can find a way to break out of my control,” taunted Hanamiya once again, stopping in front of the taller male, a malicious smirk and glint on his lips and eyes. “You sure are foolish, oh ‘Iron Heart’. Have you perhaps tried to ask for help from any of the five ‘Miracles’? They may be able to find a solution for _this_.”

 

“…!” A sudden bolt of pain hit Kiyoshi’s knee and his body threatened to fall to the floor for a fraction of a second, if the brunette hadn’t found enough balance to remain in a standing position.

 

“Oh, how could I forget? You can’t because you would be labeled as a traitor and expelled from Teikou Academy like I was, a bounty on your head until the day you would be arrested and, possibly, disposed of,” continued Hanamiya, his face getting closer to the taller male’s, which housed a pained expression. “But you don’t care about that, do you? All that your stupid brain thinks about is how you can protect everyone in Seirin. You’re slacking off on your mission, then, Kiyoshi. One of your precious friends is currently in a coma because of me. What was his name? Furihata Kouki, I think?”

 

“…” Kiyoshi nothing could say at those words – only clench his fists at the frustration and helplessness that always overcome his being when the black haired male was involved in some way. It always had been like that… Every single day of his life since over ten years ago.

 

“Who should I make my puppet next?” asked Hanamiya with a sing-song voice, his body turning around as he continued playing with the remaining knife on his hand. “Hm… Izuki Shun? Tsuchida Satoshi, maybe? Or Mitobe Rinnosuke or Koganei Shinji? It could also be Kawahara Kouichi or Fukuda Hiroshi. Then again… it could very well be Aida Riko or Hyuuga Junpei, for all I care~”

 

“Keep your hands far away from all of them!” yelled Kiyoshi, a glare full of hatred on his eyes. “I won’t let you use them as you like for your sick and twisted ploys! I never did and it won’t be now that I will allow it!”

 

“Then continue to act like the good puppet that you are,” simply added Hanamiya, throwing the last knife in the brunette’s direction and grazing his cheek with it as the blade got impaled on the wall, a thin red string of blood flowing down from the cut. “You have been aiding me throughout all of these years, informing me of everything that goes around in Teikou since I was expelled by Akashi and the former headmaster, Shirogane Kouzou, when they found out I was associated with a group of unregistered ‘Users’ and was kidnapping registered ones to experiment on and then sell them. Midorima was especially angry at me since Takao Kazunari was one of the ‘Users’ on the list. Pity that he’s now completely useless, the way he’s ill. You have also being doing me other small favors… like erasing the surveillance cameras’ data and sending me some documents that can be found inside of the Student Council building. Oh yes, you surely can’t go ask for help from any of the ‘Miracles’ without suffering some sort of punishment, ahahahaha!”

 

“…” A pained and strained expression on his face, Kiyoshi dropped his gaze to the floor, his nails strongly biting into the flesh of his palms and the knuckles of his fingers going white with the strength being put on his clenched fists.

 

He had absolutely no way out of this problem – he would have to obey and listen to every single thing that Hanamiya Makoto would tell him for the rest of his life. If he didn’t, he would feel pain. Not only the pain that the puppeteer could inflict on the puppet whenever he pleased and that kept them chained to the black haired male, but also the pain of seeing his beloved friends and companions paying for his lack of obedience or failure in any mission he was assigned to by the puppeteer.

 

“Where’s your stupid smile now, Ki~yo~shi?” taunted Hanamiya, a sly smirk on his lips as he once again walked closer to the taller male, whose head remained dropped. He motioned his head slightly down and took a peek, finding a sorrowful expression in the brunette’s face. It made the black haired male shiver with satisfaction, seeing Kiyoshi so distressed over his absolute dominance over him. “I have a new mission for you. But, it will only be set into motion if a certain thing doesn’t go according to my plans. For now, just continue doing the same you have been doing up until now. If everything goes well, then I’ll release you from your role as my puppet since you will become completely useless to me afterwards. A broken toy isn’t enough to satisfy me anymore… Not when I’m about to have a new and much more interesting one soon enough.”

 

“What exactly are you planning on doing, Hanamiya?” asked Kiyoshi, finally lifting his head once again so he could return to glare to the black haired male. “Why have you ordered me to get the full schedule of all five ‘Miracles’ for the next upcoming weeks and made Furihata-kun attack Kuroko-kun?”

 

“Why would I tell you that?” asked Hanamiya, his head slightly tilted. “You’re a tool, a piece of trash that I use until I’m tired of it or it gets completely broken. I don’t owe you any explanation of what I do or make you do. Just continue to be a puppet for a while longer and behave yourself. If not, I’ll use any of the other students in Seirin to obtain the same results. And who knows if they’ll come out of it unscathed… or even alive?”

 

“…”

 

“Anyway, I think that my own mission here is done,” announced Hanamiya, taking the knife stabbed in the wall out of it and putting it back inside of his sleeve. “I can’t stay around Teikou for too long since I’m a searched ‘User’ and this area right now is being closely kept under watch by several cameras and guards. And Akashi also knows that I’ve returned to Tokyo, as you were so kind to inform me. I’ll be taking my leave now since I have to make the final arrangements to my next playtime session.”

 

The black haired male turned around and started to walk over to the small balcony from where he had accessed to Kiyoshi’s apartment. He casually opened the windowed door as he whistled a song and stepped outside, an amused and anxious expression on his face as he disappeared in the midst of the darkness of the late evening time.

 

 _Maybe I should have told Kiyoshi that, even if I get a new toy, I won’t throw him away,_ inwardly wondered Hanamiya, an evil smirk twisting the corner of his lips upwards. _I hate him far too much to give him any type of mercy and releasing him from my web._

_Even if ‘The Phantom’ is to become mine this very weekend._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "MAD BREAK" by Fukuyama Jun (the scheming-something Hanamiya).
> 
> Muwahahahaha! Let the game begin! You got some answers about some little details of previous events, but an enourmous question has appeared: WHAT EXACTLY IS HANAMIYA PLANNING TO DO THIS WEEKEND!?  
> I guess you will need to wait to find out~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	121. I’m not trying to atone for the past – I don’t want to be rescued, either

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with a new chapter~ 
> 
> I finally managed to solve my Internet shortage so I can (finally!) answer back to all of your comments like I usually do :D And that means I will also be able to update the fics as soon as the chapter is finished!!  
> Though my free time is still very limited so please be patient with me and don't start to panic if I take longer than usual to update my series because I WON'T DROP ANY OF THEM. I also have to finish writing a little something by the end of this month and I'm not even halfway done with it -.-' I know understand how frightening deadlines are for writers (if you can catch my drift on this one~ *winks*)
> 
> Anyway, enjoy ^.^

“Hmm~ Hmm~ Lalarara~” hummed Kise as he happily crossed the road that connected Teikou Academy and Kaijou Dorm – aka he was pretty much skipping like a young maiden walking through a field full of flowers to meet with her beloved lover. Which was exactly what he was going to do by paying a sudden and unexpected visit to his former dorm.

 

The blonde had been far too long away from Kasamatsu and he had really only stayed for that long in Fuyu due to the possibility of his punishment for having interrupted the redhead and the bluenette back in the gym getting worse than, just like Aomine had called it, acting as a maid to clean after the mess that Kuroko had unconsciously caused (or so he had been told).

 

“But from what it was explained to me, shouldn’t it be Akashicchi the one cleaning up everything, since he was the one who accidentally scared Kurokoc—“ started mumbling Kise as he came to a stop to his happy-go-lucky humming and calmed down his skipping by a tenfold, though he truly came to a complete halt to all three actions when he saw an unexpected shadow moving around in the middle of the dark from the corner of his eye. “…?”

 

He more closely observed the place where he had seen the shadow coming from, but now all he could see was the shape of the buildings around that area and Seirin Dorm in the end of the said street.

 

“…” For his own safekeeping, Kise kept his gaze on the completely-devoid-of-people street for a couple more of seconds and then continued with his walk to Kaijou, this time in a more hurried stride. For his own safekeeping once again, but this time for an entirely different reason, the blonde picked up his cell phone and quickly dialed a number. He waited for a few seconds for the call to connect and then started speaking before the other person had a chance to say something. “Midorimacchi, there may be suspicious people roaming around the dorms once again so tell the guards to keep a closer look and make more surveillance rounds. Now bye bye since I’ve reached my most beloved Kasamatsu-senpai’s apartment~”

 

 _“Hey, Kis—“_ started saying Midorima but the blonde was quicker than him and simply ended the call as he was in mid sentence.

 

With quick finger movements, he fully turned off his cell phone – there was no way in hell he would let his ‘reunion’ with the black haired male be interrupted by any type of reason, even if it was to announce that the world was going to end. Besides, if the world truly was to come to an end, he wanted to be beside Kasamatsu and he surely would also appreciate no sort of interruptions at that time.

 

Resuming, in a way, with his skipping, Kise entered inside of the dorm and immediately made a bee-line through the staircases to reach the floor where the older male’s apartment was located. As soon as he spotted his target’s location, the blonde quickly gave a thorough check to his appearance (clothes, face and hair included) and stopped in front of the correspondent apartment. Heart thumping on his chest, Kise rang the doorbell and anxiously waited for the door to open. And, just like he was expecting, a few seconds later the door was opening. However…

 

“Kasamatsu-senpai, I’m bac— Wait, why are you making that kind of face on our first meeting since I’ve returned from my punishment trip!?” started to happily greet Kise, but when he saw the look of almost disgust on the older male’s features, he could only painfully yelp at it.

 

“What are you doing here already, Kise?” asked Kasamatsu as he tried to not roll his eyes at the blonde’s words. “Weren’t you supposed to spend a whole week in only god knows where?”

 

“I finished all of my work there the quickest I could and have returned today to Teikou!” readily explained Kise, still talking with the black haired male from the front door of his apartment. “And it was because I couldn’t wait any longer to meet you! If I had my cell phone with me… which I actually had but couldn’t use because Akashicchi would surely know that I broke part of the punishment that he set for me… then I would have stayed there for the designated time since I could always call you and talk to you every couple of hours!”

 

 _I think I owe a thank you to Akashi now…,_ inwardly mumbled Kasamatsu as he hear the taller male’s once again exaggerated discourse – which he should have been used to by now since Kise has been an overdramatic pup since the very beginning.

 

“Or… are you trying to say that you… didn’t miss… me…?” hesitantly asked Kise, tears starting to gather in the corner of his eyes as he looked at the black haired male with down-casted eyes.

 

“Ugh… Don’t you try to pull your puppy-eyed stunt on me!” angrily admonished Kasamatsu as he fully opened the door. He motioned his hand forward and yanked the blonde’s clothes, pulling him inside of his apartment.

 

“W-Woah!” interjected Kise as he tried to close the apartment’s door behind himself while still being tow-hauled by the older male. “S-Senpai, why are you—“

 

“Just shut up already with your whining!” continued to admonish Kasamatsu, his head turned to what was in front of his while he continued to drag the blonde to the living room. His ears had an unusual pinkish coloring to them. “I’ll let you know that your crocodile tears have long stopped working on me. Actually, not even once did they work!”

 

“I know! I’m sorry!” hurriedly apologized Kise, his brain starting to enter into panic mode. The black haired male highly disliked to be lied to or deceived, whichever reason it may be for. Kise hadn’t done it on purpose but he succumbed to his usual way of convincing people into giving him what he wanted by using his appearance into his advantage – bad habits die hard and something that had been drilled to his head since a young child could be even harder to break than some bad habit acquired later on throughout life. “It wasn’t my intention! I was just—“

 

“…I-I-It’s obvious… that I… missed you…” shyly mumbled Kasamatsu in a soft murmur, the red on his ears darkening by a tenfold. “You… idiotic dog…”

 

“…Senpai…” softly called Kise, not believing what his own ears were hearing right now. Did the black haired male actually just admit that he _had_ , in fact, missed him during the few days he had been away? He came to a sudden halt, making the smaller male pulling him along also stop on his track. He slowly wrapped his hand around the one grabbing into his upper clothes and pulled it out of there, forcing Kasamatsu to come closer to him by entwining their fingers and pulling him closer. “Kasamatsu-senpai, I love you.”

 

“Uh…” readily groaned Kasamatsu, turning his face away from the blonde as much as his neck allowed him to. He could feel that his face was acquiring extremely high temperature and he didn’t want to spur the younger male even further by showing him such a sight. “J-Just shut up and l-let me g—“

 

“No, I’m not shutting up this time,” interrupted Kise, stepping closer to the smaller male and wrapping his arms around his waist, his chest leaning over the other male’s back as he hugged him from behind. “You can kick and punch me all you want but I’m not shutting up until I say everything I need to say.”

 

“…”

 

“You know, seeing Akashicchi and Kurokocchi growing closer to one another and seeing Akashicchi acting so desperate to create a bond between them made me realize how stupid I was in the past,” started saying Kise, his arms squeezing more tightly the black haired male’s torso. “Even if I was just a haughty brat at the time, I shouldn’t have forced you into starting a relationship with me. If I hadn’t tried to rush everything and actually had listened to what you said… and to what you felt… then things wouldn’t be the way they are right now. Shougo-kun wouldn’t have betrayed Teikou and stolen your ability if I had made the right choices…”

 

“Kise, I told you already that I never blamed for what happened between me and Haizaki,” sighed Kasamatsu, his blush calming down a little bit with the heaviness of the conversation. “And even if our r-relationship did get a very unorthodox start, it’s not like you really forced me into doing anything against my will. I told you a hundred time alrea—“

 

“What’s wrong is still wrong!” interrupted Kise once again, his eyes tightly closed as he hugged the black haired male more closely. “It wasn’t fair of me to do that to you! To the person I love! I did to you exactly what my parents did to me and manipulated you into going along with my wishes… And that’s just…! Even if it was out of love, I still shouldn’t have done it… I’m sorry…”

 

“…”

 

“I also used my time during my punishment trip to think about several things,” added Kise, opening his eyes once again and lightening his hold on the black haired male a little bit. “You say that I never forced you to do anything against your will… and I know that your ability made you aware of every single lie I told you or anyone else, or every act I put on to get something playing in my favor… But I’ve made up my mind.”

 

Kise slowly took his arms from around the black haired male and turned his body around so they could look to each other directly. Then, with a strained smile on his lips, the blonde continued.

 

“I won’t ever force you to do anything that you don’t want to. Even if that means that I’ll only be able to visit or see you once or twice per week, I won’t come to your apartment if that’s what you want. I won’t pay you unexpected night-time visits if that’s what you want. I won’t kiss you or touch you or smell you or fantasize about you while I—“

 

“HEY!” readily interrupted Kasamatsu, a bright crimson blush once again covering the entirety of his face at the direction the serious conversation was suddenly taking.

 

“Sorry, I got a little bit side-tracked,” apologized Kise, scratching the back of his head with a soft grin on his face. “Anyway, I just want you to know that I won’t do anything that you don’t like. I won’t repeat the same mistakes as before. I swear on my life that I won’t force you to do anything anymore! …Ah! But… since I forced you to become my lover, I guess that means we will have to break up now…”

 

“…” Kasamatsu could also swear that he could see two down-casted ears on the blonde’s head and a tail tightly tucked between his legs as he said that last sentence. Rolling his eyes slightly, he motioned his hand up, closed it in a fist and quickly lunged it forward, violently hitting the taller male’s gut.

 

“Ugh!” With the unexpected strike to his stomach, Kise bent his back forward while clutching at his stomach, the corner of his eyes getting slightly watery with the pain that shock through his whole body at the punch. “S-Sen…pai…?”

 

“You are a fucking idiot! No, not an idiot… A coward!” admonished Kasamatsu right away, giving a quick, but strong, kick to the blonde’s right leg. “Even with your position as a popular model and as one of the ‘Miracles’, you have serious problems in terms of self-confidence, though that just happens when it’s related to me! Or is it that you just fucking ignore everything I say? Huh!? I told you that you never forced me to do anything! I’m not d-dating you because of the stupid ass stunt you pulled last year! I never once let you inside of my apartment against my will! And… even though it’s embarrassing as hell… I… It’s not like I dislike it when you k-kiss me… or t-t-touch me…”

 

“…”

 

“What I’m trying to say is!” continued Kasamatsu after having cleared his throat to change the gears in my brain back to the actual topic of discussion. “There are two people involved in a relationship. And _none_ of them has to submit to the other or be forced to do what the other wants. So… I mean… I never told you that you can’t come to my apartment, right? Or told you to not k-kiss me… I don’t want to restrain you just because you are finally trying to stop being a childish asshole. You say you don’t want to force me to do anything but if that means that you will be refraining yourself from doing what you want… then I prefer that you continue to be a forceful bastard for the rest of your life!”

 

“Ah, geez! This is why I love you, Kasamatsu-senpai<3” cheerfully said Kise, once again wrapping his arms around the older male and surrounding his body in a tight embrace. “Does that mean that I can come to visit you whenever I want?”

 

“Yes, you can,” sighed Kasamatsu, giving soft, awkward pats to the blonde’s back as he allowed himself to be hugged by him once again. “But no coming here at ungodly hours! Or I will fucking kick you black and blue!”

 

“Then, then~ I don’t have to ask you for permission to kiss you or touch you?” asked further Kise, a satisfied smile on his lips as he peeked over to the older male while leaning the side of his face on his shoulder.

 

“D-Do you have any idea how embarrassing it is for _me_ to be asked about every single little thing!?” yelped Kasamatsu, giving a soft kick to the blonde’s leg. “I would feel much more comfortable if you didn’t!”

 

“Hehe~ Roger that~” happily acknowledged Kise as he lifted his head from the black haired male’s shoulder and gave a quick peck to his lips, grinning in a satisfied manner afterwards. “I love you, Kasamatsu-senpai. I can’t wait for the day when you will allow me to call you by your first name.”

 

“…” Kasamatsu allowed himself to be hugged by the taller male by the hundred time and, this time around, corresponded to the soft embrace by grabbing into the blonde’s clothes. “I can’t wait either, Kise…”

 

_Even if I know that such a day will never come since it’s impossible for me to become a ‘User’ once again…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "NEVER LOOK BACK" by Hoshi Souichiro (our, especially Kise's, beloved Kasamatsu-senpai).
> 
> Ahh~ I really love to write about this foolish dog XD I truly missed writing KiKasa in this fic and that's probably the reason why Kise actually managed to finish his work for the "punishment trip" so quickly :P  
> And~ With this chapter, we have concluded one more day in "Shattered Miracles"! Next chapter will be what we can call the real official beginning of the pastry competition mini-arc (even if we are in it already with the appearance of Hanamiya in the previous chapter *bites nails*) Expect a lot of lovey-dovey AkaKuro moments (and maybe some smutty ones too, who knows? *wiggles eyebrows*) from now on XD 
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	122. Even any play on words can become the right answer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> I used my three-hour break between shifts to write this chapter~ That's how excited I was to get it on paper and out in the world XD Now that I'm back from the terrible and frighteningly pushed dinner shift in the restaurant, I can give you even more reasons to fangirl about because things surely start going in the direction that ALL OF US have been craving to see becoming a reality >///<
> 
> Enjoy :D

That warmth was the same indicator of all the other times. The warmth and the peacefulness. The comfort and the safety. And that all so familiar fragrance. Kuroko didn’t even need to open his sleepy eyes to know that Akashi had once again sneaked into his bed somewhere during the night.

 

“Nn… Akashi-kun… You should start to learn… to not come uninvited to other people’s beds…” slowly mumbled Kuroko as he tried to move his body around from his sleeping position. He wasn’t even surprised that the redhead was once again glued to him – or the other way around, actually, as the pale hand gripping into the taller male’s clothes came to prove.

 

“Then maybe you should start to learn to not immediately grab into them the moment they lay beside you,” countered Akashi, an amused smile on his features as he led his face closer to the messy bird nest that the bluenette’s hair had become once again. His lips softly pressed against the top of his head and then he rested the side of his face in the same place he had kissed. “Good morning, Tetsuya.”

 

“Ugh… I didn’t… immediately grab into you…” shyly denied Kuroko, a soft shade of pink in his cheeks. “Probably…”

 

“Well, I don’t have any way of proving to you that you did immediately grab into me, but I know the truth and that’s more than enough,” pointed out Akashi, chuckling briefly as he nestled against the new position that the smaller male had put himself under after shifting and stretching his body around. He then added as he tightly hugged the bluenette laid down on top of half of his body, “For now, that is.”

 

“I sort of have a bad feeling about what you just said,” deadpanned Kuroko, moving his head around against the taller male’s chest so he could peek at his face. “What kind of evil scheme are you planning on putting forward this time, Akashi-kun?”

 

“I have no idea of what you are talking about, Tetsuya,” answered Akashi, tilting his head just the slightest against the pillow as he also looked over to the bluenette. “What makes you think that I’m ‘scheming’ something right now?”

 

“The fact that you added ‘For now’ just now,” explained Kuroko, his expression still remaining completely blank. “And the fact that you sneaked into my bed _again_ , even after I hit you with the book yesterday night.”

 

“You have surprisingly good aim, when it comes to throwing books,” pointed out Akashi, chuckling once again as he remembered that the bluenette actually managed to KO him with the single throw of the novel he had been reading while on his bed. He couldn’t really 100% understand why the smaller male had done it, but he figured it had been for him putting his claim on him in a physical state once again. Not that he could be blamed for having done such, seeing as Kuroko had been such an adorable, tempting, panting mess while they were in the gym.

 

“I suppose I do. Since I already allowed Aomine-kun to experience receiving a direct hit in the head once, I figured it would be for the best to also allow you to experience it in person, or you would eventually find a way to turn that accident into a reason to feel jealous of him,” deadpanned Kuroko as he once again started to stretch his body against the redhead’s. He was about to separate their bodies for good when an arm was wrapped around his waist and kept him in the same position of being laid down half in the mattress, half on top of the taller male.

 

“Have you also gut-punched Daiki before, then?” asked Akashi, slowly pulling the bluenette’s body more closely to his own.

 

The way Kuroko readily averted his gaze was more than answer enough for his question – somewhere during their mysterious shared past, Kuroko had gut-punched Aomine for whatever reason it might have been. That thought really didn’t sit well with Akashi, especially the ‘shared past’ bit, but it was something that he couldn’t change and, unfortunately, inquire any further about.

 

“Tetsuya,” softly called Akashi all of a sudden, interrupting the stretched silence that had filled the whole room. When the teal eyes settled once again on his heterochromatic ones, the redhead gave a small smile to the other male. “You still haven’t given your greetings to me.”

 

“G… Good morning, Akashi-kun…” greeted Kuroko, his eyes trying their best to keep looking straight to the redhead, but from time to time averting them with the embarrassment he felt over saying those words. At least, Akashi wasn’t asking for more than a simple greeting – like he had done the other morning.

 

“Hm… Just like I thought, that’s not enough,” said Akashi, more to himself that to the smaller male. He gave a quick jerk to his head, lifting it from then pillow, and locked his lips with Kuroko’s, giving a gentle but long kiss to the bluenette. When he opened his eyes while departing their lips once again, he found the so adorable blushing expression that he would get to see housed in the bluenette’s face from time to time. “Yes, now the morning greetings have been successfully accomplished.”

 

“Uhh… Such a player…” mumbled Kuroko as he buried his burning face in the redhead’s chest, his heart beating as fast as a pneumatic hammer breaking down a cement floor – which was, in his case in particular, the wall that he had set for himself to keep everyone, including Akashi, far away from his heart.

 

It was more than obvious that the said wall was pretty much covered with cracks by now.

 

“I told you this yesterday, Tetsuya, but I can’t be a player if I only care about one particular individual throughout my whole life,” said Akashi, his free arm motioning up and then using his hand to slowly ruffle the bluenette’s hair. A gentle smile on his lips, he once again kissed the top of the smaller male’s head. “But I know you can’t hear any of this right now so I’ll stop talking about it now.”

 

“…”

 

“Will you need my help to pack your things?” asked Akashi as his fingers continued to softly move in between the messy bedhair of the smaller male, who continued with his face plastered against his chest. “I prepared my things before sneaking into your bed so I guess all we have to do is prepare yours, have breakfast and then wait for the time to leave. Our train is at half past eleven so we still have a lot of time until then. Once we arrive to Sumida, we will have a taxi waiting for us at the station that will take us to the hotel we will be staying in until Monday, when we make the exact same route backwards to return to Teikou.”

 

“You sure sound excited about the pastry competition…” suddenly interrupted Kuroko, shifting his head around against the redhead’s chest so he could take a peek at his face. “You planned everything out almost like an elementary student preparing himself to go to his first school field trip.”

 

“I don’t really know about that sort of excitement, but I guess I am quite satisfied with the way things are going,” confessed Akashi, the soft smile on his lips widening just a fraction. “And I’m going on my first date with you. It’s obvious I want everything to go well or I fear that you will refuse to go on other dates with me afterwards.”

 

“T-This pastry competition is not a date…” stutteringly denied Kuroko, his cheeks gaining a reddish coloring one more time. His heart was once again running amok inside of his ribcage and he had a very strong suspicion that the taller male could feel that maddening heartbeat through their touching chests.

 

“Let me ask you this then, Tetsuya. What is a date, in your opinion?” asked Akashi, a serious demeanor suddenly appearing in his features. He tightened his arm’s grip around the bluenette’s waist and pulled him up against his body, so that their faces could be closer and, with it, more easily seen by the both of them.

 

“Eh? Ah… Um…” started babbling Kuroko, trying to put his brain working once again and formulate coherent words. “A d-date is… when two people who have the same feelings of a-affection for one another… go out in a pre-arranged day and hour… and spend time… together…”

 

“I see that we at least share the same definition of a date, then,” acknowledged Akashi, a soft, bright smile popping up in his face. “How exactly are our own circumstances for this weekend different from what you just said?”

 

“Uhh…” He had dug his own grave with that answer. Kuroko was about to use his new and already well acquainted hiding location and tried to lower his head to hide his face in the nook of Akashi’s neck, but the redhead softly cupped his cheek before he had a chance of succeeding at it.

 

“You’re a smart person, Tetsuya,” started saying Akashi, lovingly staring at the bluenette while softly rubbing his thumb on the fluffy, pale cheek of the smaller male. “Even if you don’t allow me to tell you those words straight out of my mouth, I know you know what I want to say when I use this roundabout methods to tell them to you. Even if you keep denying them in your head and use your barbed wire to maintain them far away from your heart, it won’t change any of it. Because what’s in here… is to stay there for the rest of my life.”

 

As he spoke the last sentence, Akashi released the bluenette’s waist and grabbed his hand with his own, leading both of them upwards in their upper bodies’ direction. He then strategically positioned them on top of his chest, right above his heart.

 

“No matter what it is that I find about you or what you have done in the past… Not even what led you into causing the ‘Bloody Night’ one year ago… Nothing will change what’s in here,” continued Akashi, holding more strongly into the bluenette’s hand, especially into the fingers that had been broken in such a barbaric way by the unknown blonde in the video shown to him the previous day. “So believe in me when I tell you all of these roundabout words. Put the past where it belongs and let’s enjoy this weekend – our date – as if we were all but normal human beings. Not as ‘Users’. Not as a ‘Miracle’ and ‘The Phantom’, but simply as Akashi Seijuurou and Kuroko Tetsuya. Are you with me in this ‘evil scheme’?”

 

“Nn…” acknowledged Kuroko with a soft nod of his head, his lips housing the beginning of a small smile. “I guess I can go along with your evil schemes at least once in my life.”

 

“I don’t really like the fact that you actually agree when I call them evil schemes but it’s better than nothing,” also acknowledged Akashi, once again leading the bluenette’s hand around, this time to near his face. He delivered a soft and chaste kiss on the back of his hand and smiled to the smaller male. “We definitely need to change our vocabulary to more suit our true intentions and thoughts.”

 

“We can always go to a bookstore while we are in Sumida,” pointed out Kuroko, also letting his face be led closer to the redhead’s. “I bet there are a lot of bookstores there and one of them will have a dictionary that can fix our shortage in that regard.”

 

“It’s a deal,” acknowledged Akashi once again, closing the final gap between their faces and hungrily kissing the bluenette, which accepted their lips’ joining without any sort of protest.

 

Though it wasn’t entirely bad to express his feelings to Kuroko in such a way, Akashi wanted to tell him his true thoughts about him. He wanted to go on date after date with him. He wanted to stay together with him for the rest of his life.

 

He wanted to tell the bluenette about himself, his past and family circumstances included.

 

Akashi wanted to tell Kuroko just how much he meant to him… just how much he _loved_ him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ANSWER" by Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Kenshou (our lovey-dovey, basically married already Akashi-kun and Tetsuya).
> 
> Excited to see where the pastry competition (aka weekend date) will lead to in regards of our lovebirds? Well, I sure am because this little event will open up doors left and right to everyone - both for us, who read the story, and for the characters that are living inside of it ^.^
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	123. Is it better to go or not to, and to be or not to be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san~ Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> You may have noticed, but I returned to release my fics following a schedule (though only Shattered Miracles, Break My Silence and Code M have one). I had to do it because I have to try to entwine my other project, which has a monthly deadline (and that you will get to hear in a short while ;D), with my fics - I thought this schedule was fairly good since as soon as I complete the deadline, I will have time to work in completing other fics and, who knows, finally write down the fics that were supposed to be released during AkaKuro Week~
> 
> Enjoy~

“Good morning, Daiki… and Ryouta, too, I see,” greeted Akashi as he entered inside of the dining room, the bluenette walking a couple of steps behind him. “I wasn’t expecting to see you here this morning, since you went to Yukio’s apartment last night.”

 

“Morning, Akashicchi~” greeted Kise back, a bright and completely satisfied smile on his features as he turned around on his chair so he could peer to the redhead. “I wanted to spend the night there but Senpai kicked me out before I could convince him to let me stay there until morning~”

 

“If you were kicked out, how come you are this happy…?” grumbled Aomine, an eyebrow slightly arched as he looked to the sunshine incarnated in a human being. “Are your masochistic tendencies taking a turn for the worst again?”

 

“Shut it, Aominecchi!” admonished Kise, his nose twisting a little bit at the knowing smirk that popped up in the tanned male’s lips while he spoke the last sentence. However, the same happy and accomplished expression of before started slipping into his face and the previous frown readily disappeared. “I have my reasons to be so happy right now, okay~? Spring time has finally reached me and Kasamatsu-senpai, and you can bet I will enjoy it to the fullest<3 But I’m not the only one experiencing that Spring, isn’t that right, Akashicchi?”

 

“I wonder if Atsushi left something prepared for our breakfast,” said Akashi, pushing the bluenette’s chair out of the table so it would have space for the smaller male to sit there – in the chair right next to his own, like it was becoming usual. “Tetsuya, hold on a few seconds while I go check the kitchen.”

 

“I can prepare my own breakfast, if there’s none already prepared,” pointed out Kuroko, already preparing himself to get up from the chair that he had just sat down on.

 

“Of course you can. But if it really isn’t there anything prepared, then I want to be the one preparing your breakfast today, so just stay there and wait for me,” interrupted Akashi, pushing the bluenette’s shoulders down so that he would remain sit down in the chair. He softly ruffled the blue locks of hair that had taken almost twenty minutes to completely tame down and turned around on his heels to go over to the kitchen.

 

“Uwah~ They are so totally in their own little world…” softly mumbled Kise as he observed the bluenette remaining slightly turned backwards as he continued peering down to the door which the redhead had crossed. “If they had asked, then I would have told them that their breakfast is half inside of the fridge, half on the counter.”

 

“Just leave them be,” said Aomine, stuffing in his mouth a slide of toasted bread smeared with strawberry jam. “Akashi will notice right away the food in the kitchen as soon as he steps inside. Unless he wants to pretend it’s not there and really make it himself, that is.”

 

“Ah, yes... I can see that happening…” acknowledged Kise, cringing just a little bit at the weird actions that the redhead took from time to time, especially when Kuroko was concerned in any form. The fact that he had been punished twice in a row just because the smaller male was involved in it came to prove his point. When he saw the redhead once again stepping inside of the dining room through the door that connected it to the kitchen with a tray with food on his hands, he couldn’t help nor the smirk that tugged at the corner of his lips, nor the words that escaped out of his mouth. “Akashicchi’s way of spoiling Kurokocchi sure is weir— Buwah!”

 

All of a sudden, the blonde’s head was pushed by an invisible force in the table’s direction, readily smashing his face on the bowl with cereals and hot milk that he had been leisurely enjoying.

 

“Your mouth seemed extremely bored, Ryouta, so let me give you a hand in entertaining it a little bit,” almost hissed Akashi as he looked over to the blonde, his golden eye having flickered for a sparse second. He walked over to the table almost as if he hadn’t just used his ability to ‘drown’ Kise in his own breakfast and put the tray on top of its surface, in between his and the bluenette’s seats. “Atsushi left everything ready, unfortunately, so here you go.”

 

“Eh…? This is…” started saying Kuroko, observing with surprised eyes the glass filled with a milky-white beverage. The fragrance of vanilla immediately tickled both his nose and appetite.

 

“Atsushi left a note on the counter explaining which our breakfast was. He prepared everything for my morning tea, like usual, and then put a couple of glasses filled with vanilla milkshake in the fridge, leaving in the open for us to choose what we would eat to accompany those two drinks,” explained Akashi as he put his tea set on the table and distributed the rest of the food that he had brought from the kitchen: some slices of white and brown bread, an assortment of different jams and honey and a couple of different kinds of biscuits. “Feel free to eat any of these.”

 

“No… I don’t think they’ll be necessary,” answered Kuroko, his teal eyes sparkling as they fixedly pinpointed the glass with the sweet beverage inside. He quite impatiently waited for the redhead to also have a seat and give away his thank you for the food.

 

Once the pleasantries had been dealt with, Kuroko immediately  grabbed the glass and started slurping on the straw, his body almost emitting waves of satisfaction as he drank his oh so favorite vanilla milkshake after days to no end of abstinence.

 

Chuckling softly as he observed the sparkling eyes of the smaller male, Akashi started giving the final preparations for his tea, putting a spoonful of sugar in his teacup and then slowly stirring it around as he waited for his own beverage to cool down a little bit.

 

“Geez~ Akashicchi, what have I done to you to deserve this type of treatment?!” complained Kise, wiping his wet face with a couple of napkins. “And you, Kurokocchi! Why haven’t you admonished him yet over what he just did to my beautiful face?!”

 

“You were asking for it, Kise-kun,” pointed out Kuroko, speaking while with the straw in between his lips. “Akashi-kun is not spoiling me in the least, and I, too, have no wishes of being spoiled by him. Nor of spoiling him, of course.”

 

“I think you already spoil him a shitload,” pointed out Aomine this time, a smirk on his lips as he caught a little reddish mark in the bluenette’s pale skin, half hidden by the collar of his clothes. “Both of you do and in a completely unconscious way.”

 

“Exactly!” agreed Kise, putting down the bundle of used napkins back on the table. He pointed a finger to the redhead and got up from his chair. “You, Akashicchi, are always doing whatever you want when it comes to Kurokocchi, not minding other people around you two at all. Look at all the food you brought to the table and you didn’t even bother sharing any with me and Aominecchi!” He then switched his finger to the bluenette, who stared back at him with a completely deadpan expression as he continued drinking his milkshake. “And you, Kurokocchi! You just allow him to do anything he wants, which usually ends up backfiring on us and gets us caught up in terrible, frightening punishments!!”

 

“Since when are the both of you specialists in analyzing other people?” asked Akashi, an eyebrow slightly perked up as he slurped on his tea. “The last time I checked, you, Daiki, were in risk of failing to reach high school due to excessive number of missed classes and you, Ryouta, were in risk of also failing because… Well, to put it in a nice way, you are worse than Daiki when it comes to studying.”

 

“Ugh… I really wish I had a comeback to that one but Akashicchi is absolutely right…” groaned Kise with a low voice, stuffing a spoonful of his cereals into his mouth and munching at them aggressively afterwards.

 

“I would too but being a maid for a day is more than enough for me,” added Aomine, continuing to eat his toast while with a dissatisfied frown on his face.

 

Satisfied with the outcome of that conversation, Akashi sideways peered to the bluenette, who silently, but happily, continued to slurp the cold drink. He gave a few more gulps to his own drink and smiled softly to the smaller male. “Is it good?”

 

“Yes,” readily acknowledged Kuroko, also nodding his head a little bit. “This vanilla milkshake is definitely better than the ones I used to drink in Maji Burger. It’s pretty much in the same level as the one that Kagami-kun… ah… made to me… the other day…”

 

In a quite hesitant way, Kuroko peeked to the redhead beside him, expecting to see him boiling in anger at the taller redhead for the millionth time; however, he only saw Akashi leisurely drinking his tea, serenity in person as he also looked right back at him with a sideways glance. It was a good sign that he hadn’t gotten all defensive and possessive over him mentioning Kagami… but it was sort of unsettling – and lonely – that he hadn’t.

 

“Um… Would you like to try the vanilla milkshake?” shyly asked Kuroko, hesitantly motioning the glass in the redhead’s direction.

 

“…” Akashi kept staring to both the smaller male and the glass being outstretched in his direction, switch his heterochromatic gaze between the both for a couple of seconds. Then a mischievous small smirk popped up in his features. “Sure, why not?”

 

“Her— Mmnh!!” The moment Kuroko thought that the redhead was going to grab the glass filled with the sweet beverage, Akashi got a hold of his wrist and pulled him over in his direction, their lips crashing against one another. In the midst of his confusion, the bluenette let his mouth be open by the probing tongue and the kiss deepened into a passionate exchange of tongues and saliva.

 

 _Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!,_ inwardly screamed Kise while he tried to maintain, together with the tanned male, the most undisturbed facial expression that it would be humanly impossible for them with the erotic show right in front of them, being performed by the redhead without any shame or hesitation.

 

“Mmhm…! Haa…” Breaking the kiss by pulling his head backwards, Kuroko immediately covered his panting and slippery mouth with the back of his hand, his usually pale features covered in a deep red blush that seemed to begin to imitate the same shade that the taller male’s hair had. He gave a very quick glance to the blonde and tanned male, who he was painfully aware that had witnessed the kiss, and then switched it back to the redhead. “A-A-A-A-Akashi…kun!?”

 

“It’s good, indeed, and so very sweet,” acknowledged Akashi, a smirk on his lips as he wiped the wet traces left by the kiss there with his thumb and then licked them. “A vanilla-flavored Tetsuya, that is.”

 

“…!” Blushing ten times more strongly (if it really was possible to, without having a blood rush to his face in a matter of a fraction of a second), Kuroko had to strongly remind himself that if he activated his ability and nullified his presence, much like he had done in the gym during his first training with the redhead, and where Takao and Midorima had been present, the barrier surrounding Fuyu would crash down and that would possibly get him in trouble with not only the redhead and the purple haired giant, but also with the Japanese government – angering all three of them was something that he surely wouldn’t like to see happening. “P-Please don’t do something like this so suddenly, Akashi-kun! And I was offering you to drink a little bit of my milkshake, not to get a taste of a ‘v-vanilla-flavored Tetsuya’…!”

 

“I thought that way I could kill two birds with one stone,” answered Akashi, a smirk still present in his lips as he resumed with the drinking of his breakfast tea.

 

“Uhh… T-Then maybe I should also kill two birds with one stone and not pack any of my things,” grudgingly pointed out Kuroko, a pink blush still present in his face as he avoided making eye contact with anyone in the room and put the straw of his drink on his mouth once again, to try to ignore the prickling sensation that lingered in both his wrist, where the redhead had grabbed him, and lips, which sent electric signs to his brain and beckoned to have more of that smoldering touch and kisses on him once again. “That way I won’t need to waste my time in preparing anything and won’t have to deal with you non-stop for the whole weekend.”

 

“Good luck with that, Tetsuya,” chuckled Akashi after having sipped a little bit more of his tea. Compared to the sweetness he had experienced with that kiss, the tea had now acquired a more acrid taste and surely would continue to have one, no matter how many spoonfuls of sugar he would put in that cup.

 

“W-Would you just so openly flirt and make-out in front of other people…?” whispered Kise, still completely flabbergasted at what he had witnessed once again – Akashi truly seemed to have no qualms with his intention of making the bluenette his, going as far as Kuroko would allow him, whether alone or in front of other people.

 

“That’s not the most shocking thing here, Kise,” whispered back Aomine, even he affected by the astonishment of having seen the usually serious and business-like redhead kissing, teasing and flirting with the smaller male in such a blatant way. “What is really shocking in all of this it’s that it’s _the_ Akashi Seijuurou the one doing it! I wouldn’t even bat an eye if it was you, but Akashi? Dear lord, the world is going mad!”

 

“Shut up, Ahominecchi!” grumbled Kise with a hushed voice, looking over to the tanned male with a dissatisfied frown over what he was trying to imply with that accusation in particular. “I would never do anything that would upset Kasamatsu-senpai or make him feel uncomfortable! …Then again, Kurokocchi doesn’t look all that angry at Akashicchi. They almost look like they are—“

 

“Bickering,” finished another male voice, coming from the entrance of the dining room, the one which was connected with the entrance hall and the staircase. When the four original occupants of the room looked over to the door, they saw both Nijimura and Momoi there, the former with an amused glint in his eyes and the latter waving animatedly to both the tanned male and the bluenette. “I never thought there would come a day where I would see you bickering with another human being, Akashi.”

 

“And I never thought there would come a day when I actually saw you being idle, walking around doing nothing in particular, Shuuzou,” countered Akashi, an eyebrow slightly perked up at the sight of the older black haired male and the pink haired male there that early in the morning. “I always hear you complaining about your lack of free time and about being extremely busy with your work in the Department of Abilities and ‘Users’ and yet it’s the second day in a row that I actually see you around.”

 

“I didn’t come here to be ‘idle’, I came here with business in mind,” corrected Nijimura, feeling a vein pop up in his forehead at hearing the redhead’s words. “You’re to come with me and Satsuki-chan now. You too, Aomine, Kise.”

 

“What? What’s going on?” immediately asked Aomine, a frown appearing in his brows, the blonde also perking up in his chair as he had also been summoned by the older male. He switched his gaze between the black haired male and the pink haired girl… who seemed to be uncharacteristically nervous about something as soon as Nijimura had called their names.

 

“Did anything unexpected happen?” also asked Akashi, a defensive glare on his eyes as he shortened the distance between him and the bluenette. He could only hope that whatever it was that this was about, it wouldn’t affect neither the pastry competition and date with Kuroko… nor being related with the foreshadowing and warning words that the Japanese Prime-Minister, Shirogane Eiji, had told him while talking on the phone.

 

“No, it’s simply a meeting between me, the Superintendent-Chief of the Department of Abilities and ‘Users’, my secretary, and all five ‘Miracles’,” explained Nijimura with a matter-of-factly voice. He then turned his gaze solemnly to the redhead, a slight frown on his face. “A meeting that should have happened quite a while ago. Isn’t that right, Akashi?”

 

“Tsk!” Akashi immediately clicked his tongue at hearing those words and seeing the pointed stare that the older male was directing at him.

 

“I’m so sorry, Akashi-kun…” apologized Momoi with a guilty voice, feeling even more nervous and scared now that the redhead knew that, most likely, it had been her revealing some of the reasons why the meeting was to take place now out of all times.

 

“…” Taking a quick glance to the bluenette beside him, who had stopped drinking the milkshake and was now cautiously looking around to all of the current occupants of the dining room, Akashi had to control the urge to glare at both the pink haired girl and the black haired male. “Don’t worry about it, Satsuki. It would have to occur at some time. I just really regret that it has to be now, out of all time.”

 

“I’ve already summoned Midorima and Murasakibara, who are going to meet with us in the Student Council building,” added Nijimura, uncrossing the arms over his chest and dropping them to the sides of his body. “The meeting is appointed to start in twenty minutes, so quickly finish your breakfast and get going to the main office.”

 

“Eh!? So soon? Couldn’t you have called or something like that, Nijimura-san?” asked Kise, frantically starting to gulp down the half-eaten bowl of cereals.

 

“If I had, I think a certain someone would cleverly find a strategy to not go… like giving an early departure time of the train to Sumida or something along those lines,” stated Nijimura, once again glancing over to the redhead, who simply silently stared back at him. It seemed that he had hit the nail in the head with that one. “I think that with having said that, everyone in here is conscious that they _need_ to be present for this meeting. I’ll be waiting for you three in Fuyu’s entrance.”

 

Nijimura turned around in his heels and exited the dining room once again, followed by an extremely hesitant Momoi, who switched around her pink gaze in between her childhood friend, the redhead… and the bluenette.

 

“Tetsuya, I’m sorry but it seems that I won’t be able to help you prepare your things for the pastry competition,” apologized Akashi, a dissatisfied look on his face as he looked straight to the smaller male.

 

“No, i-it’s okay. Please don’t worry about me and just go do your own things. But…” acknowledged Kuroko, though he came to a sudden halt to his own words. He kept looking over to the redhead in silence and, after short seconds had passed, he withdrew his teal eyes from the taller male and resumed with drinking his milkshake. “Never mind. I’ll start preparing my clothes in a bag after I finish my breakfast.”

 

“All right,” agreed Akashi, giving a quick upturn to his lips and then ruffling the blue locks of hair of the smaller male. He quickly finished drinking the last bit of tea present in the cup and got up from his chair, very much at the same time as the tanned male and the blonde had. “I don’t know how long this so-called meeting will last, Tetsuya, but I’ll be back before the time we are arranged to depart to the train station.”

 

“Nn,” acknowledged Kuroko with a small nod of his head. When he saw that the redhead was still looking over in his direction instead of leaving to meet with Nijimura, he tilted his head as he stared back at him. He wondered what exactly was making Akashi hesitate so much – it wasn’t like he didn’t know that the main topic of the meeting would be him. “Akashi-kun?”

 

“I’m leaving now,” sighed Akashi, motioning his upper body up in the chair and rearranging it once again near the table. He then walked to behind the bluenette and deliver a quick and chaste kiss on the top of his head.

 

“See you later, Kurokocchi~” said Kise as he started walking together with the yawning tanned male in the door’s direction. “If I don’t see you before you leave with Akashicchi, I hope you two have loads of fun in Sumida – in all sorts of ways~”

 

“Kise, shut up already or you’re gonna get yourself killed before _you_ can have fun in all sorts of ways,” advised Aomine while rolling his eyes slightly. He unconsciously took a last glance to the bluenette when he reached the door and then exited the room, for some reason, feeling a type of irkness that had absolutely no reason of being at the moment.

 

“Yes, yes~”

 

The two taller males having disappeared in the entrance hall, and with Akashi shortly doing the same, Kuroko remained completely alone inside of the dining room, staring the door all five of them had used.

 

He disliked the ‘Miracles’. He had to, after all. So it was completely unfounded of him to enjoy his vanilla milkshake more when they had been present in that room than now, that he was all alone.

 

Even if that had been his status ever since the ‘Bloody Night’ had occurred.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> *facepalm* Kise, I swear...And Nijimura, why do you have a death wish by using every little method to interfere with our AkaKuro in the most convenient of moments?!?!?! God, I'm feeling nervous now... What exactly will happen during this meeting, I wonder?
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	124. That would be our starting point of one day…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, Mafy's here with this Friday's chapter ^.^
> 
> I'll be soon entering in a little holiday time so I'll be able to quickly write all the programmed chapters of June. And, if I do have enough time in between my sightseeing, deadline and translation, I'll try to update my other fics and (maybe) start writing the AkaKuro Week fics~ Are you curious about them? :3
> 
> Enjoy!

What sort of meeting would be the tensest, most nerve wracking and fundamental to decide the future of, possibly, the entire human population?

 

  1. A) A meeting between all of the heads of state from all around the world.



 

  1. B) A meeting between the general-in-command from an army and the president and/or prime-minister to discuss the outcome of a raging war.



 

  1. C) A meeting between a group of high schoolers, the oldest of them not even reaching 18 of age.



 

Answer: option C

 

While tapping his finger on his upper arm, both of which remaining crossed over his chest, Nijimura observed with half amusement, half annoyance the sour look in Akashi’s face, who was sitting on his usual seat in the large meeting’s table in one of the countless divisions inside of the Student Council building.

 

The only door that provided access to the room was open and from the corridor appeared the last member to the crucial meeting that was about to happen.

 

“I’m sorry for being late,” apologized Midorima, quickly striding to sit on his usual seat too. All of them were in the correspondent chairs that had been assigned to them according to their position and functions in the Student Council and organizations associated with it.

 

“Now that we are all here, I can officially give this meeting as open,” announced Nijimura, motioning up from his chair. He picked up a thin stack of papers from the table, which had been placed in front of his seat by the pink haired girl, and then looked over to the redhead. “Is that okay with you, Akashi?”

 

“…Yes,” unwilling acknowledged Akashi, averting his gaze from the black haired male as a new frown appeared in his usually serious expression. “Since there’s no other option at the moment, we can give this meeting as open.”

 

Nijimura gave a quick nod with his head and looked down to the first page present in his hands. “Satsuki-chan has made, behind both me and Akashi’s backs – though Akashi got to know about it at some point –, a world-wide investigation about Kuroko Tetsuya. The results of the said investigation are… well, shocking, to say the least.”

 

“…” The other four ‘Miracles’ exchanged quick glances in between themselves, Midorima and Murasakibara flashing one of them in the redhead’s direction. They then continued to attentively listen to what was to be revealed about the ‘User’ that they had spent over a year looking for.

 

“Satsuki-chan has found a footage about Kuroko and some other non-official bits of information about him. The video is of him being tortured and it’s definitely not a pretty sight to be seen,” continued Nijimura, a frown darkening his features. “I would show the video to all of you but… Akashi, do you think you can watch it for a second time without destroying the whole building, like you did to that gym?”

 

“That video is to be shown to no one, not even to the other ‘Miracles’. It is to be kept very well locked inside of my office… unless you want more than a building to be send to the pits of Hell,” almost hissed Akashi, a glare in his eyes as his golden orb shone threateningly in the well illuminated room.

 

“R-Right,” stutteringly acknowledged Nijimura, a shiver running down his spine at the sight of the currently glaring redhead. “We’ll be skipping the footage, then. Any way it goes, the video is, like I said, of Kuroko being tortured by an unknown blonde male, seemingly older than us by a good couple of years. There’s no confirmation of whether he is a ‘User’ or not, but taking the age into consideration…”

 

“It’s impossible for him to be one, correct?” interrupted Midorima while adjusting his glasses, finishing the words that the older male was about to enunciate. “Even if all the studies done about us ‘Users’ are extremely faulty and incomplete due to lack of data on a lot of factors, it has been proved that only young children are suddenly _awoken_ to these so-called abilities. We were 9 years old when we _awoke_ and we’re the first ‘Users’ in history. If you’re saying that the unknown blonde male is older than us by a good couple of years… then yes, I would also say that it’s impossible for him to be a ‘User’.”

 

“Exactly,” agreed Nijimura, also nodding his head. “My suspicion, and probably Akashi’s, is that Kuroko was previously, or still is, involved with an organization made of non-registered ‘Users’, that unknown blonde male being the boss of the organization or someone who detained a lot of power in it, taking into consideration the conversation he had with another male. It’s to be noted that the conversation between the both of them was in English and the video was found while scanning every nook and cranny of the North American continent so there’s a big possibility that the both of them are American citizens.”

 

“The photo that Satsuki previously sent me also had that very same blonde, and it was a shared file between the DIH and the CIA so yes, there’s a very large possibility that he and whoever it was the other male he was talking with are from America,” added Akashi, finally coming out from his sulking mood and joining the conversation with his own version of the information being announced. “However, there’s an error in your theory, Shuuzou. Even if Tetsuya truly belonged to an organization made up of non-registered ‘Users’, he hasn’t been a part of it since the ‘Bloody Night’.”

 

“How do you know that, Akashicchi?” asked Kise, an eyebrow slightly arched at hearing that bold statement from the redhead.

 

“I can’t say this with absolute sure, but from the conversations I had with Tetsuya since he has woken up from his self-imposed comatose sleep, I can tell that he hasn’t been involved with them for a while now. Actually, I think he hasn’t been in contact with anyone at all since the ‘Bloody Night’,” explained Akashi, releasing a quick sight as he remembered how the bluenette had reacted when he had taken him to the cafeteria so they could have lunch together.

 

“So he cut himself off from society and has been living hidden in the shadows, no pun intended, ever since he caused the ‘Bloody Night’,” mused Nijimura out loud, more to himself than to the other students present in the room.

 

“Yes, I believe that’s the case,” acknowledged Akashi, even though he really didn’t like nor that what the black haired male was saying was the actual truth nor that it was being put in such a way. Kuroko must have suffered plenty over having to disappear from society while still breathing – a type of pain that couldn’t be healed without a lot of time and patience, and one that would leave an everlasting scar in his heart.

 

“Then I guess we don’t really have to worry about him trying to run away,” pointed out Aomine, crossing his arms behind his head as he stretched his body lightly. “If he has cut himself off from everything and everyone, then that means he wouldn’t have any place that he could use as a temporary shelter.”

 

“He could go to his family,” added Murasakibara in between loud munching of potatoes chips.

 

“Tetsuya says that his family is not a possibility in terms of shelter and help,” interrupted Akashi right away, feeling that maybe the conversation was starting to slip into grounds that the bluenette would feel extremely uncomfortable with them talking about – he too would if someone was secretly talking about his deceased family. _Besides, I have the feeling that Tetsuya said that he could never see his family again because he erased their memories just like he did with Daiki and Satsuki._

 

“What were the other bits of information that you’ve got on Kuroko, Nijimura-san?” asked Midorima, intending on furthering this conversation even more than it was already. If they did, then maybe… Just maybe…

 

“They are nothing too revealing, unfortunately. Just plainly creepy, in a way,” sighed Nijimura, flipping the documents in his hands to another page. “Care to explain this part, Satsuki-chan?”

 

“Yes, of course,” nodded Momoi in agreement, not needing any sort of paper on her to recite all that had been stored inside of her brain. “Officially speaking, there’s no Kuroko Tetsuya, age 15, in the whole world. Even though I discovered some very thin traces of documents about him, there’s no data in any official database all over the world, including, of course, Japan. Birth certificate, medical records, school information, bank account… zero. However, there are some bits of information here and there in the less savory corners of information gathering spots that mention him a couple of times, mostly associated with a yet to be named organization.”

 

“I guess we can take that as setting in stone that Kurokocchi really was involved with some sort of organization made up of non-registered ‘Users’, then,” pointed out Kise, crossing his arms over his chest as he gave a thought about it. “I don’t really know him all that well, but I think that he would never join something as sketchy as that. Well, unless he had a reason to… one big enough that made him stick with them, even with the torture thingy and all.”

 

“…” Akashi continued to look to the blonde for a couple more of seconds and then turned it to the tanned male, who was unusually attentive, and even slightly participative, to the conversation. “Daiki, what do you know about Tetsuya?”

 

“Nothing that you don’t know, most likely,” shortly answered Aomine, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders after having dropped down his arms from behind his head. “You’re the one who’s always glued to Kuroko. If I know something about him, you obviously know it too since you would be there to see it.”

 

“That wasn’t what I asked you,” said Akashi, his voice dropping down in temperature just the slightest.

 

Sighing, Aomine straightened his back on the chair and switched his dark blue gaze to the redhead, a grave demeanor on his face. “I know that Kuroko is ‘The Phantom’ and that he’s associated with Ogiwara Shigehiro, which is a person that has appeared in one of the flashbacks from my lost memories that I recently had.”

 

“Nothing else?” asked Akashi, a serious expression on his features. He saw the tanned male shake his head in denial and, from the corner of his heterochromatic eyes, he saw the pink haired girl looking over in their direction with a distressed expression – one that showed extreme pain and sadness. It was now his time to sigh. “I will now reveal my side of the information that I have gathered on Tetsuya. But I want everything that will be said in here to remain between all of us only. No one else is to know about this. Even if there’s a chance of you being tortured or threatened in any form or shape, _you will tell absolutely no one about any of this_. Is that clear?”

 

All of the occupants of the room could only gulp down hard and hesitantly nod their heads in acknowledgment to the command that the Head of the ‘Miracles’ and strongest ‘User’, the one who had gained the title of ‘Emperor Eye’, had sent their way. Now, under no circumstance, would they be able to voice out the redhead’s next words to anyone that wasn’t present in this meeting – Akashi’s commands were absolute and there was no way of going against them once they had been sent.

 

“I still don’t know at what extent does it work, but I have confirmed that Tetsuya’s ability is indeed nullification. He can nullify anything that he wishes, be it on purpose or accidentally,” started explaining Akashi, leaning his back on the backrest of the chair he was sitting on. “I’ve seen him nullifying things like this presence, a portion of a wooden structure and, though not personally, wounds that had been inflicted on his body. He has also successfully nullified Shintarou’s arrows during the first training session.”

 

“…” Midorima adjusted his glasses, seeing as the slightly scrunching of his nose made them slide down through its bridge.

 

“Regarding his shadows, it’s a slightly more complicated matter,” continued Akashi. “He doesn’t have a 100% control over them and it’s highly difficult for him to prevent the shadows from attacking anything that moves and that they deem dangerous to Tetsuya’s well being. Also, it seems that it’s an extremely heavy and painful burden for him to use and control the shadows. That’s something that I don’t think will change even if he manages to master his ability.”

 

“Do you have any idea of why that happens?” asked Nijimura, a frown on his face. “I don’t think I have ever heard of any ‘User’ feeling pain while with their abilities activated.”

 

“Like I said, his ability is nullification. Hence, when it’s activated, it can nullify anything… including Tetsuya himself,” explained Akashi, a frown also appearing in his features. “My take on this is that, whenever Tetsuya uses his ability, it starts nullifying him inside out, starting from the core from where his ability most likely comes from. However, that very same ability that is destroying his body, also makes it so that it’s restored back to its original form.”

 

“If I’m not misunderstanding what you are trying to say, then…” started mumbling Midorima to himself, his eyes open in surprise as he connected the dots in his head. “Doesn’t that mean that his healing abilities would be off the charts, even surpassing ours, the ‘Miracles’, and the ‘User’ whose ability is healing, Aida Riko?”

 

“I don’t know how strong it is, nor how quickly it works, but yes, Tetsuya’s healing ability far surpasses any of those,” acknowledged Akashi with a short nod of his head. “He has absolutely no scars on his hands from the cuts caused by the mirror and I took notice of that on the day after the incident in Fuyu had happened, during my lunch time with Tetsuya.”

 

“That’s just some scary ability right there…” snorted Aomine, his eyebrow slightly perked up at hearing that information. “So, what now? Are you going to tell me that his nullification really works in every single thing that exists in the universe?”

 

“Yes, I will. And it’s because I will that I need you, Daiki, to remain calm and not cause any permanent damages to my relationship with Tetsuya or put him under any kind of pressure that may make him returned to his self-imposed comatose sleep,” announced Akashi, a glare once again pinpointing the tanned male.

 

“Huh?” interjected Aomine, not understanding anything that the redhead was talking about. “What exactly could I do that would put whatever relationship you two have at stake?”

 

Sighing deeply, Akashi mentally prepared himself to reveal the words that, if it would be his choice, would never be heard by anyone, much less by the tanned male. Twisting his nose just the slightest, the redhead maintained his gaze, still in the form of a glare, in the taller male’s direction. “Tetsuya was, most likely, the one who erased your and Satsuki’s memories. No… Not most likely, it’s only possible for Tetsuya to be the one who did it.”

 

“…!” Aomine immediately got up at hearing those words, the chair he had been using being thrown to the floor due to the momentum of his movements. “What… do you mean by that? Why… Why would he do something that like that!?”

 

“A-Aomine-kun, please calm down!” yelped Momoi, also getting up from her seat so she could run over to the furious tanned male. “Listen to everything that Akashi-kun has to say before you do anything rash! Okay?”

 

“You knew about this, Satsuki!?” loudly roared Aomine, turning his head around to look over to the pink haired girl. “You, the person who knows the best how important this is to me, didn’t tell me anything about this when you already knew!?”

 

“No… I…” hesitantly tried to explain Momoi, but all of her words seemed to be stuck in her throat. She knew that her childhood friend would be angry at her for keeping this matter a secret, even if it had been done due to Akashi’s orders, but she had never expected him to be _this_ furious at her. Tears gathering in the corner of her eyes, she tried to suppress a whimper and continued speaking, even if with an extremely broken discourse. “I didn’t mean to… D-Dai-chan, I was just… worried about you… If something… happened to you because of your flashbacks… I… Ngh… I wouldn’t know what to do…”

 

“Fuck…!” Aomine heavily slammed his fists on the table, a large crack appearing in the surface as the whole room teetered around with the humongous impact.

 

“Is it okay for me to continue now, Daiki?” calmly asked Akashi as he observed the tanned male panting laboriously while tightly clenching his fists.

 

“…Yeah… Continue with what you’re saying…” acknowledged Aomine after taking a deep breath. He pulled the chair straight up and sat down on it once again, his eyes switching briefly to the still teary-eyed pink haired girl as he did so.

 

“Tetsuya erased your memories to protect you,” announced Akashi as soon as the room was once again filled with silence and everyone was listening to what he was saying.

 

“To protect… Aominecchi and Momocchi?” repeated Kise with a completely surprised expression on his face. He looked over to the two ‘Users’ he had mentioned and saw the exact same look on their face – no, in everybody’s faces.

 

“Satsuki, you said that you remember hearing the song that the unknown blonde was singing in the video, correct?” asked Akashi, parting his back from the backrest of his chair and positioning his body once again closer to the table, where he put his elbows on while entwining his fingers.

 

“Y-Yes, I did say that,” acknowledged Momoi, still sniffing a little bit. “But what about it made you think that Tetsu-kun erased our memories to protect us?”

 

“If you truly heard that song directly from the unknown blonde, then it was at the same location as Tetsuya,” elaborated further Akashi, his gaze dropping just a fraction as he also closely thought about the words he was saying – he feared that if he went deeper into detail, it would bring about mayhem to those who inhabited in Fuyu so everything he would say needed to be carefully measured and well chosen. “Making the sums, it can only have happened on the day you two were attacked and then woke up with amnesia in the hospital. My conclusion on it is… You, Daiki, Satsuki, would be dead right now if Tetsuya hadn’t stopped whatever was happening and erased all of your memories as a bargain chip to keep you alive.”

 

“Then… Are you saying that the person I’ve been searching for close to two years now… is Kuroko?” incredulously voiced out Aomine, his body fully slumping down on the chair. “No way… That’s just—“

 

The extremely pained expression that Kuroko had done when he was giving him the basketball while helping him organize his clothes and belongings on the day he moved to Fuyu… The basketball in the corner of Kuroko’s bedroom, one that was of the exact same brand as his and had burnt marks in one of the sides… Then that last flashback where a shadow tried to kill him and a distorted voice stopped it from happening…

 

“Holy shit…” unconsciously cursed Aomine, his fingers running through his short dark blue hair as his body slid down the chair even more. “I need to—“

 

“You will _not_ mention any of this to Tetsuya, Daiki,” interrupted Akashi right away as soon as he noticed the tanned male’s intentions. “I won’t allow you to interrogate him about it either.”

 

“W-Why not!?” yelled Aomine right away, jumping straight on his chair as he looked over to the redhead with a frown on his face. “If we already know this much, then we might as well—“

 

“Tetsuya doesn’t want to talk about it and he doesn’t want you two to remember anything about him either,” interrupted Akashi one more time, a small glare returning to his eyes once again. “I want to respect Tetsuya’s wishes and, honestly, I think it would be for the best to let things remain as they are.”

 

“But I—“

 

“This is not a permanent thing, Daiki,” announced Akashi, his golden eyes softly shining a small light that started gaining intensity as he continued speaking. “I am indeed quite curious to know what exactly happened between you and Tetsuya in the past. Especially what kind of relationship you two had that made him chose to remain by the side of the man that tortured him 665 times, at minimum.”

 

“…!” Though he had all the intention of getting up from his chair and go question the bluenette right away, Aomine’s body remained frozen in a sitting position, his body teetering just the slightest as a cold sweat covered the entirety of his skin. If he wanted to keep on breathing, staying put in place was his only choice. _Even if I really want to know what happened all those years ago… it won’t be dead that I will get to know anything… and fix whatever it was broken._

 

“What more can Kuro-chin nullify, Aka-chin?” asked Murasakibara all of a sudden, munching down this time on a savory Maiubou. All eyes were switched in his direction, though he remained completely unfazed by the attention he was receiving or the interruption he had caused at such a critical time. “He can nullify his presence, heal himself at lightning speed and erase other people’s memories. What more can he nullify?”

 

“I can’t really put my finger on it but…” slowly started saying Akashi, closing his eyes for a brief fraction of a second. “I believe that Tetsuya can nullify both material and immaterial things… as well as restoring them to their original form, as long as it would be related to abilities or a possessor of abilities. Just like he can do with himself.”

 

“Then that means…” mumbled Momoi, her pink eyes unconsciously shifting through every single ‘Miracle’ sitting at the table on the large room.

 

 _Kurokocchi can return to Kasamatsu-senpai his ability,_ inwardly said Kise, a frown appearing in his fine features.

 

 _He can completely erase all traces of Takao’s illness from his body,_ concluded Midorima in the back of his mind as he adjusted his glasses for the hundredth time.

 

 _Kuroko would be able to restore all of my and Satsuki’s memories of him,_ finished Aomine the sentence that his childhood friend was most likely trying to say, a serious demeanor on his face.

 

 _Kuro-chin may be able to take Muro-chin out of the mirage realm,_ inwardly voiced Murasakibara, his munching on his snacks halting completely as he crumpled down the empty Maiubou package in his hand.

 

“…” After he had said those last words and seen the expressions that immediately popped up in every single one of his companions’ faces, Akashi immediately knew what all of them were thinking.

 

They now knew what Kuroko may be able to change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "RAY OF SHINE" by Ono Kenshou and Suwabe Junichi (our black cat and panther~)
> 
> Well... Now he knows...  
> How exactly will Aomine act around Kuroko now that he knows that he's not only the missing "someone" but that it was also him that erased his memories? And why is it that Akashi feels so threatened by their shared past? What are the four "Miracles" planning on doing regarding Kuroko and the things that he may be able to change?  
> So many questions are once again brought by a single chapter~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/


	125. The after image of overflowing fragments of heat left scattering in midair

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> I would like to make two announcements today, one of them directly linked to this fanfiction.
> 
> I will soon make my debut as a writer by releasing my own original light novel. This is the deadlines I've been complaining about recently XD My official website is already up (which you can find here: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi) and the first volume is already on its production, which you will be able to follow with the weekly progress reports.
> 
> The second announcement is... Shattered Miracles MAY receive its own official adaptation/release as a light novel series XD All the details have been given in my website but the main requirement to see such a miracle (no pun intended) happening is reaching the goal: achieve the milestone of 1,500 kudos. It doesn't seem that far-sketched of a goal, right? Especially considering that we are over 1,400 kudos already and there's still more than one month to go until the deadline of the goal.
> 
> Well~ Now that the extremely good news have been given, I must announce some bad ones... Which are connected to this chapter TT.TT
> 
> TRIGGER ALERT: mentions of suicide attempt
> 
> Enjoy (if such is possible *sniff*)

“Okay, guys. Now that all the necessary conversations have been made, you can all return to do what you were doing or were about to do,” announced Nijimura, getting up from his seat and straightening the small stack of papers in his hands. All of the other members of the Student Council who had been present in the out-of-the-blue meeting started to get up in tandem, but a new remark coming from the black haired male made one of the members halt his movements momentarily. “Akashi, be careful while you are in Sumida with Kuroko. And I’m being serious here.”

 

“Do you really think I’m the type of man that would let anything bad happen to Tetsuya, out of all people?” asked Akashi, a serious expression in his face as he looked straight back to the older male. “I would kill anyone who dares to interfere with my date with him, let alone cause him any harm.”

 

“T-That wasn’t what I meant but as long as you keep that in mind, then I don’t think I really have to worry about anything,” acknowledged Nijimura, part of him slightly taken aback over hearing the redhead say the word ‘date’ and it being related to both him and another human being. Apparently, love could bring ridiculous changes even to Akashi Seijuurou.

 

“If you don’t have anything else to say, then I’m returning to Fuyu, so I can help Tetsuya packing up his things, if he hasn’t finished doing that already,” added Akashi, starting to motion to outside of the large meeting room.

 

“I would say I would go with you, Akashicchi, but I’ll be stepping by Kaijou now to give my morning greetings to Kasamatsu-senpai<3” happily said Kise, walking with a goofy smile on his sparkling bright features. He gave a quick wave with his hand to the other males and instantly disappeared from their sights.

 

“Mukkun, Mukkun,” called Momoi, walking over to the purple haired male with a soft smile on her pink lips. “Are you going to see Himuro-san now, too?”

 

“Yeah…” sluggishly answered Murasakibara, stuffing in his mouth a handful of M&Ms and then noisily munching on them. “I haven’t gone to Yousen for a while now and I’m starting to crave for Muro-chin’s cooking so I’ll be going there now. Hm… I wonder if there are any ingredients in my apartment?”

 

“I’ll come along with you too, then,” said Momoi, the smile on her features widening a little bit more as she observed the anxious glint in the purple haired giant’s eyes. “You said that Himuro-san wanted to make some sort of request to me, right? I’m free right now so I can use a couple of hours to help him out with whatever it is that he needs.”

 

“Okay~” acknowledged Murasakibara with a soft and lazy nod of his head. He gathered all of the unopened snack and candy packages on his arms and started walking over to the door as well, the pink haired girl right behind him.

 

“See you later, Aomine-kun. Please don’t misbehave in my absence, you hear me?” warned Momoi, giving a quick wink to her childhood friend as she gave a last peek to inside of the meeting room while keeping the rest of her body already outside.

 

“What are you, my mother?” grumbled Aomine, a pouting expression on his face as he crossed his arms over his chest and furiously tapped his foot on the floor.

 

“She might as well be your mother,” pointed out Midorima, walking beside the redhead as both of them crossed the door to enter the corridor. “We all know how much you need someone to keep an eye on you and have you fully on check.”

 

“Especially now,” suddenly added Akashi, throwing a quick sideways glance to the tanned male as he delved deeper into the corridor. “I can rest assure for the next couple of days but I hope you don’t plan _anything_ at all in regards to Tetsuya after we return from Sumida, Daiki.”

 

“Ugh… I value my life enough to not do something like that…” mumbled Aomine as he also stepped outside of the meeting room and started to follow the other two ‘Miracles’ a couple of meters behind. They quickly reached the main door of the Student Council building and exited through it, all of them intending on returning to their shared living place. “I want to know. I really do. But I also know that it would be meaningless to get all of my memories back only to experience a terrible and gruesome death by your hands, Akashi.”

 

“It puts my heart to rest the fact that your almost suicidal impulses have finally started to calm down,” acknowledged Akashi, not denying in the least that he would really make the tanned male have such an ending.

 

“Hah! What suicidal impulses are you talk—“ started saying Aomine with a smirk on his lips but he came to an unexpected halt to his own words, his expression darkening in a fraction of a second when his dark blue eyes caught for brief moments a shadow hovering in the outside side of the protection grid of the tallest building inside of Teikou grounds.

 

His eyes extremely open as he continued to look over to the same direction as his body came to a complete stop to his walking, Aomine felt that a word got stuck inside of his throat. He wanted to say it so very badly, scream it with all of his strength… but not a single sound escaped his lips.

 

“Daiki, what’s the mat—“

 

“Sorry, I have to go!” interrupted Aomine, bending his legs a little bit and then straightening them once again, which enabled him to jump several meters high in the air and land once again very far away from the other two males.

 

“Somehow, I have a strange sense of déjà vu right now,” said Midorima, adjusting his glasses as he looked over to the redhead beside him. He immediately noticed the deep frown on his features, making a slight shudder crawl up his spine.

 

“Yes… I feel the same.”

 

-.-

 

His body quickly moving through the school grounds in order to reach that building in particular the quickest he could, Aomine had a strange nagging feeling in the back of his head that told him that he was right now repeating the same actions and steps that he had done a long time ago – a time that he had lost at the same time as his memories.

 

When his feet landed in the base of the building and he gave a quick jerk to his body so he could land this time around in the rooftop of the tall structure, the vision of the shadow on the edge of the building returned once again to his eyes. For some reason, Aomine didn’t remember ever being so afraid in his life, not even the intense life-threatening fear he got to experience in the moment of his _awakening_.

 

Not about himself, but about the life that would surely be ended once the shadow hit the ground as it got ready to fall into its demise.

 

“-----!” Throat once again screaming a silent word that not even he knew which it was, Aomine’s arms ended up catching nothing but air as his body quickly motioned over to the rooftop and softly landed there.

 

Two voices floating around inside of his brain, which was being continuously stricken with painful bolts of electricity, the tanned male furiously banged his hand on the wall beside the door that gave access to the rooftop, a large impact hole appearing in its surface.

 

_“What do you think you are doing, -----!?”_

_“I can’t do this anymore… I can’t, Aomine-kun… If it’s to live like this, I might as well try again and again until I finally die!”_

 

“Shit…! Stop fucking around with me!” furiously roared Aomine, letting his back crash against the wall he had previously punched. He motioned his right hand up and quickly ruffled his dark blue locks of hair in a frustrated manner, his body sliding down through the wall as he came to a sitting position of the floor of the rooftop.

 

His face twisted in pain, the tanned male dropped both of his hands to the side of his body and looked up to the sky.

 

“When I can’t ask anything… Don’t have such a flashback when I can’t ask Kuroko anything at all… stupid me…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Netsu no Kakera" by Suwabe Junichi (our panther that is now completely heartbroken by the newest flashback TToTT)
> 
> God, why do I make my babies suffer so much and in such terrible, terrible ways? I feel that karma will catch up with me one of these days -.-' Or maybe I'm getting the good karma now after all the bad one I had previously throughout my life? Anyway, KUROKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! My sweet lovely bluenette, I'M SO SORRY FOR DOING THIS TO YOU!!! TToTT
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi


	126. The heart is pondering as it’s always putting heart into things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with... a late release -.-'
> 
> It was supposed to have came out on Friday but things happened and only now did I have the time to release it. Unfortunately, my release schedule may be like this for a while since I had to resign from my work due to several reasons (one of them is that my boss was a freaking asshole to me and what turning my working hours into a literate Hell - I'm not masochistic enough to deal with his mood swings nor with the slave-like work that is slowly deteriorating my body's health and not-that-literally putting me at death's door). As such, I'm now back to square one in terms of living location and job as of the end of this month -.-' (Saki, you are an angel for allowing me to stay with you for a couple of days until I find a new apartment T^T I owe you for the rest of my life!!)
> 
> Also due to that, I did some alterations regarding my light novel. Please check my website if you are curious about what they are ;D
> 
> But let's forget about all the bad things and enjoy one more chapter of Shattered Miracles... which isn't all that happy on the whole and will make you scream at me once again because I'm bringing even more unanswered questions forward :P

Inserting a couple of shirts and t-shirts inside of the same sports bag that he had used to move out of his apartment in Seirin, Kuroko ran through the mental list that he had done while finishing his breakfast alone in the dining room of Fuyu. All that he would need to do to fully finish preparing his own things to go on his so-called ‘date’ with Akashi was putting his toothbrush and toothpaste in the bag. As he tried to tell the redhead countless times while they were dressing up to have breakfast, he was more than capable of doing his own things alone, without resorting to any help from him whatsoever.

 

On his way back from his bathroom with the two hygienic instruments in his hands, Kuroko passed by the small shelf he had been using to store the books that Akashi had lent him, as well as the books he had taken from the school library, and came to a sudden halt. His eyes readily pinpointed the picture book that the redhead had told him to read since it would open his horizons in relation to how he viewed ‘Users’ and how they all shared the same burdens.

 

The brunette almost unconsciously put the toothbrush and toothpaste on top of one of the shelves and motioned his hand forward to take the thin book out of the resting place that had been claimed by it in the last couple of days. He read the title for the second time since he had received the book from Akashi and experienced the exact same reticence at seeing it now as the first time he had.

 

He doubted that a lot of children would be interested in reading a picture book which title was ‘The Blood-Red Monster and the Mirror of the Truth’. An eyebrow slightly arched, Kuroko quickly turned its pages back and forth. He could catch glimpses of text but its entirety was mainly made up of several sets of drawings, its target being clearly children by the cute and sort of fluffy type of characters and images that it displayed on its insides.

 

Once he reached the last page, he closed the book and continued holding into it, intently staring to its back cover. All of a sudden, the bluenette brought the slim picture book closer to his face, reading again and again the name of the author that it featured in the bottom right corner.

 

“Akashi… Shiori?” read out loud Kuroko, the two names easily rolling through his tongue. Whoever the author was, they shared the same last name as the heterochromatic redhead, most likely being a relative of his.

 

Which was weird. Akashi had told him that he no longer possessed any relatives alive, his father having been killed by his own hands and his mother, most likely, passing away shortly after it had happened. ‘Shiori’ didn’t really sound like a male name and he wasn’t sure if he had had any other relative prior to this date so Kuroko figured it was his mother’s name.

 

But for a parent of a ‘User’ to write a book aimed to symbolize and pass on the message of how ‘Users’ felt… Like he had thought, it was weird. ‘Users’ were mainly seen by the world population as a threat to everyone’s well being, as terrorists that had been biologically altered in some sort of way that enabled them to gain their abilities. They were hated and feared by everyone, including their own families, who threw them away in hopes to find safety and receive the monetary compensation that was always delivered once the ‘User’ was collected by Teikou Academy.

 

So why had Akashi’s mother written a picture book, one used to describe the true and shared feelings between all ‘Users’?

 

“Akashi Shiori… Shiori…” mumbled Kuroko as his teal eyes continued to closely observe the set of kanjis that formed that name. “Akashi… Shiori…”

 

_“Don’t touch my mother! I’ll kill you if you dare to hurt her in any way!”_

_“Shiori-sama, the car is ready to bring both of you back to Kyoto.”_

_“Oh my god, you’re covered in blood! Are you feeling oka— Wait… You’re the little boy that helped me and Sei-kun that day! What happened to y—“_

 

“Ngh!!” Kuroko readily motioned his hands over to his head, dropping the picture book on the floor as he clutched desperately at his throbbing brain due to the voices floating around inside of him. “N-No… I don’t… I don’t want to… remember anything else…!”

 

Staggeringly walking backwards to try to run away from the unknown words and images he could see surfacing in his mind, Kuroko’s trembling body bumped against a wall and his back slowly slid down through the straight surface, coming to a crouched down position on the floor… coincidentally right beside the basketball he had been keeping in the corner of his bedroom, much like he had previously done while living in Seirin Dorm.

 

“Haa… haa…” As he continued to intently stare in the basketball’s direction, the bluenette’s wild panting started to slow down as the voices and images started to grow cloudier and more distant, until they simply vanished on the whole. Releasing a tired sigh, Kuroko wiped with the back of his hand the sweat that had gathered on his forehead and then dropped it once again, landing his lower arm on top of the ball resting beside him.

 

Kuroko gave a quick tap with his fingers to the top of the basketball, which lightly bounced against the floor and then was swiftly grabbed by two pale hands. With a trained and memorized movement, the bluenette rotated the ball horizontally while holding into it, only stopping when the burnt marks were right in front of his face. He lowered the basketball into his lap and let his fingertips slowly trace the claw-like burns on its prickly surface.

 

_“Tetsuya-chan, I won’t repeat myself again. Get out of in front of those two monkeys and let Shige finish them off or I swear to God I will blow up with this fucking school like I should have done last year when your stupid family sold you off to it.”_

 

“I’m sorry…” apologized Kuroko with a small voice, his head lowering in the ball’s direction so he could lean his forehead on it. “I tried but… It’s impossible, after all. I can’t go back to that time so, even if it’s Akashi-kun the one asking about it, I can’t let anyone know about it. I can’t die just yet… _no matter what_.”

 

The bluenette separated his slightly damp forehead from the ball and softly returned the basketball back to its resting place, carefully certifying himself that the dark burnt mark was on the side facing both the floor and the wall – hidden from everyone’s eyes, but mostly from his own.

 

He got up from the floor and slowly walked over to his wardrobe, opening the door that gave access to the blanket’s storage place. Kuroko pulled them slightly up and inserted his hand on the hole it was formed in between a set of blankets, from where he took the small brown box that he had hidden there on the first night he spent in Fuyu.

 

Kuroko intently stared in the box’s direction for a couple of seconds and then softly put the box on top of the blankets, taking the lid out and positioning it beside the open storage object. At the sight of the blood-smeared black wristbands, a sorrowful expression readily appeared in the bluenette’s features. Like he had done countless time before, he softly caressed the old and used wristbands, ignoring the dried up bits of blood stuck to its once smooth and fluffy clothe material.

 

“Ogiwara-kun…” softly whispered Kuroko, giving a quick squeeze to one of the wristbands and then putting it back inside of the box. He searched around through the countless letters stored inside of the brown box and then took a hold of one of them – its envelope was filled with crease marks and there was a small tear in the top middle.

 

The bluenette had once tried to rip the letter in half and get rid of it, after all, in a foolish attempt to deny the truth of the events that had happened in the past.

 

Kuroko was about to open the envelope and take the two sheets of paper neatly placed inside when…

 

“If you have cold during the night, I can turn on the central heating instead of you putting more blankets in the bed.”

 

“…!” Kuroko awkwardly returned the letter to inside of the box and clumsily put the lid on, immediately slamming the door of the wardrobe close once again and turning around in the door’s direction. “A-Akashi-kun…”

 

“I’m sorry. Did I scare you, Tetsuya?” apologized Akashi, closing the door of the bluenette’s bedroom behind himself as he came deeper inside of the room.

 

“Y-Yes… You sort of scared me…” hesitantly acknowledged Kuroko, anxiously wondering when exactly had the taller male gotten there and how much had he seen him doing while in front of the open wardrobe.

 

“Once again, I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention scaring you but since the door was open, I thought I didn’t need to knock on it,” apologized Akashi once again, stopping beside the bluenette, who seemed extremely nervous and uncomfortable at the moment. Had he truly scared him that much? “Are you okay?”

 

“Yes, I’ll be okay,” answered Kuroko, averting looking directly to the redhead, who had motioned his hand up and was softly running his fingers through his light blue locks of hair.

 

“Good,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a quick upturn to the corner of his lips to form a smile. He lowered his hand back to the side of his body and started walking over to the smaller male’s shelf, where he grabbed the picture book that had been left on the floor and then took a hold of the toothbrush and toothpaste left forgotten in one of the shelves. “Are you going to take these three things with you or are they supposed to be left here?”

 

“Ah…” Kuroko switched his gaze around between the picture book and the redhead holding into it for a couple of seconds, not really sure of which would be the correct answer to give right now, one that wouldn’t raise any sort of suspicions on the taller male. “Yes, I’m taking them with me. All three of them.”

 

“Is that so? I’ll put them in your bag, then,” acknowledged Akashi, a gentle but quite bright smile on his lips as he motioned over to the bluenette’s bed, where the sports bag had been prepared. “Is there anything else missing?”

 

“No… It’s ready now,” answered Kuroko, also walking over to the bed with a certain reticence towards the redhead’s actions. He put on a forced blank expression on his face as he stopped beside the taller male and closed the zip of the bag. “I was thinking that I would finally get to do something without having any type of interference or help from you, but you winded up putting the last things on the bag.”

 

“Ahahaha. I’m sorry about that,” apologized Akashi with a more amused voice than one that pointed at him as guilty of a crime. He grabbed the strip of the sports bag and put it over his shoulder, motioning his head forward to deliver a quick peck to the bluenette’s forehead. “Shall we leave now? The car that will take us to the train station is already in the main gates and I’m feeling quite anxious to give our date as officially open.”

 

Chuckling softly, Kuroko rolled his eyes slightly as he motioned his hands forward and took his bag from the redhead’s shoulder, so he could be the one transporting it. “You really do seem quite anxious, seeing as you are grinning like a fool.”

 

“Given the circumstances, I don’t really think I can control my facial expressions at the moment,” confessed Akashi, wrapping his hand around the smaller male’s and entwining their fingers together. “I hope you get used to seeing me ‘grinning like a fool’ because I think my expression will remain like this throughout the whole weekend. I wonder if I will get to see a similar expression on you too.”

 

“I wouldn’t hold my breath on it,” deadpanned Kuroko as he started walking over to the door together with the taller male.

 

“Your unwillingness makes me more fired up to see it happening,” chuckled Akashi, opening the door and making way to the bluenette to pass. “Not only that, but much, much more.”

 

“Pervert,” deadpanned Kuroko once again while exiting his bedroom, though there was an almost imperceptible hit of a small smile on his lips.

 

“If you say so,” acknowledged Akashi with a shrug of his shoulders. He turned around to once again close the door after he had also exited the smaller male’s bedroom, his eyes momentarily stuck to the wardrobe. “If you say so, Tetsuya.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Kimi Ga Hikari de Aru Tame ni" by Ono Kenshou (our extremely mysterious bluenette~).
> 
> Well... What are we supposed to do now but kill our brain matter due to formulating theories to the flashback that Kuroko had? *evil smirk* Because I sure as hell won't tell you anything until the right time as come! Muwahahahahahahahahah- Ack! *cough* *cough* God, I really need to train my evil laughs -.-'
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi


	127. You’ve got nothing on this mirage – nothing at all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with a new chapter ^.^
> 
> I've packed everything, shipped my things and tomorrow I'm ready for leave my current location to adventure in the wild~ (aka around the London area) I'll be busy looking for a new apartment/job for the mean time, so I can't guarantee the frequency of my updates - you may get more, since I'll have more free time, or you may get the same amount, since I'll have to use my free time to search for living quarters and steady income -.-'
> 
> Also~ From July 14th to 16th, I'll be attending a convention in London (Hyper Japan Festival). If anyone wants to come say hello to me during one of those days, I'll be around during the whole convention so just say something or here or on Twitter/Tumblr :D
> 
> Well, enjoy the chapter!

“Muro-chin~ I’m back,” announced Murasakibara after having unlocked his apartment’s door and opened it. He made his way inside of the apartment, the pink haired girl following right behind him with a happy and satisfied expression on her face – she must have been feeling quite bothered over the fact that she had to keep her conversations with Akashi a secret from her childhood friend. “Muro-chin?”

 

After calling for the black haired male a couple more of times and walking around through the few divisions and rooms that his former apartment has, silence had always been the answer that the purple haired giant got.

 

“Maybe Himuro-san is in his apartment?” asked Momoi, taking a glance around the apartment she had stepped on. “I don’t really mind having to wait for him to show up in here right now but I do have some work-related things to do after lunch time so…”

 

“Hmm… Muro-chin is usually around at this time of the day so I have no idea where he went,” mumbled Murasakibara, slightly down at the fact that his lover hadn’t been there to greet him back to his apartment (it was actually more ‘their’ apartment than ‘his’, since the older male spent more time there than on his legit living quarters). “We can wait for a couple of minutes but if he doesn’t show up meanwhile, I guess you’ll have to pass by here later on the day. Or another day, I don’t know.”

 

“I don’t really think I would have time to pass by here again after lunch time…” said Momoi with an apologizing voice. “Do you have any idea of what it is that Himuro-san wants my help for?”

 

“He said that it’s something related to his family,” explained Murasakibara, feeling even more down at remembering how sad and nostalgic the black haired male’s face had looked at the moment they were talking about it. “But I don’t know their names so I can’t give you any more details abo—“

 

“Oh, Atsushi!” suddenly called a voice, interrupting the words that the purple haired giant was saying. Both Murasakibara and Momoi looked over to their right, where they saw Himuro coming out from the taller male’s bedroom, a small smile on his lips. “So you decided to pass by today. And I see that you also brought Momoi-chan along with you.”

 

“Good morning, Himuro-san,” greeted Momoi, giving a quick bow with her head to the older male. “Mukkun said that you wanted to make some sort of request to me a couple of days ago. I have some free hours right now so I decided to come along with him and help you out.”

 

“I appreciate it,” acknowledged Himuro, widening his smile for a fraction of a second as he nodded his head at the pink haired girl. He started walking over to the sofas and sat in one of them, leaving the biggest one to his lover and another individual one to the ‘Miracles’’ informant. “It’s not a very hard to do request. I just wanted to know how my family in America is doing. I haven’t talked with them for a couple of years now and… I worry about my younger brother and his quest to discover our parent’s murderers.”

 

“Oh, I didn’t know you had a younger brother, Himuro-san!” exclaimed Momoi, surprised to hear about that detail of the black haired male for the first time, even though she was very knowledgeable about every student from Teikou Academy.

 

“We’re not really blood related, if that’s what you are thinking,” confessed Himuro, lowering his gaze a little bit as he entwined his fingers on top of his lap. “We used to live together with the same woman who decided to take us in after our real families were killed during a terrorist attack in America. We were sort of fighting with each other by the time I left America, which happened shortly after I became a ‘User’, and I haven’t heard of any of the two since then.”

 

“I see…” acknowledged Momoi, feeling a little tinge of similarity between herself and the older male – she was also an orphan and the only person who she could really call family since very young was Aomine. One didn’t need to share blood ties with another for them to be cared for or be called as family. She put her hand on her school jacket’s pocket and took from there her cell phone, which she readily started fiddling with. “Okay, I’ll check on them right away. Which are their names?”

 

“My adoptive mother’s name is Alexandra Garcia and my younger brother’s name is… Kagami Taiga,” said Himuro after a brief pause in between the older female’s name and the younger male that were akin to be the most important people in his life if he was to exclude the purple haired giant, his lover and support since the moment he set foot in Teikou Academy.

 

“Eh?” readily interjected Murasakibara and Momoi, exchanging a quick glance in between the two of them at the sound of an extremely familiar name since the beginning of that school year.

 

“Wait… Kagami Taiga? You mean… Kagamin?” asked Momoi, returning her gaze to the black haired male as she tried to connect the dots in her head. “Kagami Taiga, male, born on August 2nd, Leo?”

 

“Eh?” interjected this time Himuro, not understanding how the pink haired girl had that type of information on her when she wasn’t aware that he had a younger brother until a couple of minutes ago. “Yes, that’s right but… How…?”

 

“Kagamin has been a student in Teikou Academy since halfway through his second year of middle school, after he _awoke_ as a ‘User’ while still in America and was persuaded to attend Teikou while staying in Seirin Dorm,” explained Momoi, still feeling incredulous over all of these weird coincidences happening on the latest times. “He’s a friend of Tetsu-kun, ‘The Phantom’, and… well, also a ‘close friend’ of Aomine-kun.”

 

“Taiga is a ‘User’!?” asked Himuro, completely flabbergasted at that information. “There’s no way… He was still in America when I left and he was all but a regular human at that time. How can he be a ‘User’ and stay in the same school as me since close to two years ago and I never heard anything about it? Or even seen him!”

 

“From what I know, Kagamin didn’t really attend a lot of classes during his short stay in second year of middle school,” explained Momoi, accessing the mental data she had on the redhead. “He only started to seriously attend school on his third year and, by that time, you were already…”

 

“Locked up inside of the illusions realm…” completed Himuro the sentence that the pink haired girl had started. “I’ve been staying mostly in Yousen Dorm since then so I guess it would be extremely unlikely to bump into him here, since Seirin is on the opposite direction…”

 

“Muro-chin, are you okay?” asked Murasakibara, worried that the black haired male’s expression had become even more conflicted since he knew of the redhead’s current whereabouts.

 

“Yes, I’m fine. It’s just…” started saying Himuro, his eyes not fully looking in the purple haired giant’s direction as he entwined and released his fingers consecutively. “I didn’t have an _awakening_ under very good circumstances. You didn’t have one either, Atsushi, just like all the rest of the students attending Teikou. It makes me wonder… Just what sort of troublesome mess did he get himself in to have _awoken_ as one of us while still in America?”

 

“Why don’t you ask him that yourself?” pointed out Murasakibara, an eyebrow slightly perked up in his forehead as he intently stared to the adamant older male. “He’s your ‘brother’ and you live fifteen minutes away from each other, not to mention you are attending the same school. You can just materialize yourself in Seirin and talk with—“

 

“I can’t do that!” yelled Himuro, interrupting the purple haired giant’s words. Seeing the two sets of eyes that looked at him with surprise written all over them over the uncharacteristic raise of his voice, the black haired male cleared his throat and tightened his fingers into fists. “I only wanted to know if both of them are doing well. Since he’s in Teikou, that means that Taiga has been safe and I take it that Alex is the same, taking her personality into consideration. I don’t need to go talk with him or even pay him a visit.”

 

“A-Are you sure, Himuro-san?” hesitantly asked Momoi, suspiciously looking over to the older male. “I can call Aomine-kun and ask him to pass a message to Kagamin since I have the feeling that they will soon meet with each other, whether to play basketball in the court next to Teikou or to… hang out, maybe?”

 

“Thank you, Momoi-chan, but there’s no need for that,” said Himuro, giving a quick, kind smile to the pink haired girl. He switched his gaze to the taller male and saw him intently looking over in his direction, analyzing him to the tiniest of details. “A-Atsushi, you’re not eating any of your snacks? Ah, did you come because you wanted to eat my food?”

 

“…Yes, I did,” acknowledged Murasakibara, still peering over to his lover with half suspicion. He probably wouldn’t care if it was any other person, but he noticed right away that the black haired male had changed the topic of conversation to another menial thing on purpose.

 

“I see. Let me check if there are enough ingredients in the kitchenette for me to cook you something,” acknowledged Himuro while getting up from the sofa, a warm smile on his face. “Are you also going to stay for lunch, Momoi-chan?”

 

“Ah, no, it’s okay! Don’t bother about me,” said Momoi, also getting up from the sofa she was staying sat down on. “If that’s all you needed from me, then I’ll be going now. But… Are you really sure you don’t want me to say anything to Kagamin? I bet he’s really worried about how you are since, from what I can gather, you simply went and disappeared without saying anything to your family.”

 

“I don’t really mind the way things are right now so…” confessed Himuro, opening the fridge to survey the things stored inside of it. Unconsciously, one of his hands motioned forward and clutched through his clothes the ring wrapped around his neck with the help of a silver chain. “Please don’t mention anything to Taiga about me being here. Obviously to Alex neither. Atsushi, I have all the necessary ingredients to make curry except green onions. Could you go buy some from the grocery store?”

 

“Sure, no problem,” acknowledged Murasakibara as he sluggishly got up from the large sofa and started walking over to the counter in the kitchenette area where he had settled his snacks and sweets. “I’ll use this chance to buy a few more potato chips and maybe some Nerunerunerune.”

 

“Okay, I’ll start prepping the other ingredients while you’re out then,” informed Himuro while taking out of the fridge the vegetables and meat to be used to cook the said dish. “It was nice to see you, Momoi-chan. Of course, your help was also appreciated.”

 

“I’m always here to help you, even if you’re not a ‘Miracle’ or associated with the Student Council,” declared Momoi, puffing out her chest and softly banging her closed fist on top of her heart. “You’re Mukkun’s special person so you can count on me for whatever you need~”

 

“Ahaha, thank you,” acknowledged Himuro, once again flashing a soft smile to the pink haired girl.

 

“I’ll be out for a couple of minutes then,” announced Murasakibara as he opened the front door to his apartment and let the pink haired girl pass underneath his arm. “Do you need me to buy anything else?”

 

“No, there’s no need. See you in a bit, Atsushi,” answered Himuro, once again inserting his head on the fridge to take a couple more of necessary ingredients for the curry.

 

Not even a couple of seconds later, the door was closed and the apartment was once again filled with silence.

 

“…”

 

Himuro softly put the small package of carrots down and let his hands fall back to the sides of his body. He could feel minutes pass by but he didn’t make any attempts to start preparing the ingredients, much like he said he would. The moment he did move his body was to take the ring usually hidden underneath his clothes and intently stare at the metallic round accessory, a conflicted and pained look on his face.

 

“Just like a ghost, it’s my regrets that keep me linked to the real world. That and this stupid proof of brotherhood that I stubbornly refuse to throw away.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Ready Fight!!" by Taniyama Kishou (our poker face Himuro).
> 
> Well, I guess we can't count on having Himuro and Kagami reuniting once again any time soon, can we? -.-' Why are my darlings so damn stubborn when it comes to the people who are important to them, I wonder... *sigh*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi


	128. One by one will become the reassuring support

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> I can say now for sure that Akashi's dream of going in a date with Kuroko will become true XD Though I think they are both very wrong if they think that our devilish redhead as planned everything to the tiniest of details~
> 
> Enjoy! (which I know you will, hehehe *evil smirk*)

“Akashi-kun,” called Kuroko, a soft blush on his cheeks as they waited in front of the main gate of Teikou Academy for the car that was supposed to already be there to take them to the train station. When the redhead softly hummed in acknowledgment and turned his head in the smaller male’s direction, Kuroko readily averted his gaze, feeling somewhat even more embarrassed at having him look over in his direction. “Please tell me that you are _not_ going to hold my hands like _this_ the whole weekend.”

 

“What’s wrong with holding your hand?” asked Akashi, tilting his head slightly to the left while he raised their entwined fingers and clasped hands above their waists. “It’s not like I’m bothering anyone by doing it. I’m not even really bothering you with it since I know you quite enjoy it when I hold your hand like this.”

 

“T-This is not a matter of bothering or enjoying…” shyly pointed out Kuroko, averting even more the redhead’s intense gaze as he felt his blush spread even further through his features. “While it’s sort of okay to do it while inside of Teikou… in a roundabout way only, I guess… this is not something we are supposed to do outside. Much less when you said that you want to pass a good image by going to this pastry competition. So… Um… P-Please release my hand now…”

 

“…” Akashi continued to peer to the bashful semblance of the bluenette, wondering back and forth in his head if he should deny the request being made by him or simply surrender once again to the smaller male’s words.

 

He knew very well that if he truly wanted to do as planned and pass on the image that ‘The Phantom’ was not a merciless degenerate that was roaming around free to prepare the next demise of the Japanese population, he would need to make Kuroko seem the most normal and ‘human-like’ as possible. A male holding another male’s hand was not normal, in the standards of the general population.

 

In Teikou and for ‘Users’, it was viewed as something acceptable, since those that gained abilities at some point in their later childhood were bound to lose most of the views and common sense that regular humans tightly held into – the world to which a ‘User’ belonged wasn’t exactly restrained by liabilities like ‘homosexual relationships are against the natural order of things’ seeing as it was a world where ‘time can be stopped at will’ and ‘people can fly in the sky as if they had wings on their backs’.

 

Humans saw it as ‘loose morality’ – ‘Users’ saw it as ‘accepting who they truly where’.

 

 _Sometimes I wonder who is the real human being when it comes into views of the world,_ inwardly pointed out Akashi, releasing a soft sigh as he slackened his grip to the bluenette’s hand.

 

“Once the car arrives to the front gate, I’ll let go of your hand,” conceded Akashi, a half-dissatisfied expression on his face. “But until then, I will continue to hold into it.”

 

“I told you before, I don’t have any plans of running away,” deadpanned Kuroko, taking a sideways glance to the redhead. What he saw surprised him and made him fully turn his head to the taller male.

 

“I’m not holding your hand because I think you are going to run away, I’m holding your hand because it’s what makes me feel happier when outside with you,” confessed Akashi, a soft smile on his face as he stared away in the distance of the street in front of the main gate. “It gives me a wonderful sense of accomplishment, since I know that you wouldn’t do something like this with someone else, much less with one of the ‘Miracles’. Actually, you should feel the same way about it too since I would _never_ hold someone’s hand. I do it because it’s you and no one else, Tetsuya.”

 

“…I sort of get what you mean…” admitted Kuroko with a low voice, his gaze lowering to the floor. He observed with his teal eyes the small pebble he was softly rolling around on the floor with his feet, the corner of his lips faintly lifted. “It sounds completely ridiculous and weird, even to myself and especially taking into consideration past events, but… being together with you makes me feel like I’m a normal human, living a normal life. That’s an accomplishment that I didn’t think possible, not even once in all of my 15 years of existence. I think it’s because it’s you that I can feel that way.”

 

“That truly does sound weird.”

 

“You’re not supposed to agree with… that… part…” started deadpanning Kuroko once again, but when his eyes unconsciously shifted back to the redhead, he felt all the air in his lungs getting caught up in his throat and his brain system went into overload mode, together with the fast paced heartbeat on his chest.

 

The smiling expression on Akashi’s face could only be called gorgeous and it was making Kuroko melt into a sloppy mess of emotions and love-crazed thoughts – he knew that he was the cause of that smile, after all. If nothing, it only came to renew the sense of accomplishment that they were talking about.

 

The bluenette only started interacting with the redhead since the beginning of that school year, a little bit over a month ago, but he had continuously kept an eye on all the ‘Miracles’ throughout his middle school days.

 

So, better than anyone, most likely, Kuroko knew that Akashi never had gotten such an expression on his face while inside of Teikou Academy.

 

“I-If there’s no one around… you can h-hold into my hand to your heart’s content,” softly mumbled Kuroko, trying to maintain his features’ skin as pale as always and not let the embarrassing words that were knowingly slipping out of his lips affect him more than they already were.

 

“Is that so? What more can I do to my heart’s content while no one else is around?” asked Akashi, a mischievous smirk on his face as he inched his body closer to the bluenette until their shoulders were touching one another.

 

“Why is it that you always have to lead the conversation in such a direction?” deadpanned Kuroko, taking a sideways step away from the taller male. “I wouldn’t expect Akashi Seijuurou, the Head of the ‘Miracles’ and most powerful known ‘User’, to be such an easily affected by hormones person.”

 

“And I’m not,” acknowledged Akashi, his smirk widening a little bit more as he brought his face closer to the bluenette. “I told you before – you make me act like a mischievous child, something that I didn’t get a chance to be while younger.”

 

“This is not acting like a mischievous child, it’s sexual harassment,” deadpanned Kuroko once again, though his cheeks were lightly dusted with a pinkish coloring.

 

“You prosecute me with such strong words, Tetsuya,” pouted Akashi, a dissatisfied look on his face. Though it wasn’t to last, as the knowing and sly glint on his heterochromatic eyes came to prove. “If I really wanted to sexually harass you, I would do something like this.”

 

“Eh?” softly interjected Kuroko, slightly surprised that the redhead suddenly released his hand. However, he was fully taken aback when their bodies crashed against one another, their chests tightly pressed together, and Akashi’s hands landed on his rear, giving a firm squeeze to his butt cheeks. “—!?”

 

“When will you let me get a piece of this too?” softly purred Akashi, his hands squeezing more tightly into the bluenette’s rear and pushing their bodies even closer to one another. He put his face half an inch from the smaller male’s, whose mouth was opening and closing in the midst of all those sexually implicit words and actions and cheeks fully flushed with a glorious red blush, and mischievously smirked. “If you continue to entice me with such skill, I may be lead around to take a bite when you least expect it and let you experience more than you can handle, Tetsuya.”

 

“Ah… Um… Ah…” started babbling Kuroko, his head spinning around due to the seductive purrs being thrown at him. His face felt so hot that he thought that his brain would melt down completely… or better yet, he couldn’t think about anything at all. The maddening beat of his heart also wasn’t giving a hand at calming him down and extinguish the fire burning his face to crisp.

 

“This is what I would do if I really intended on sexually harassing you,” slyly announced Akashi, his face still extremely close to the babbling mess being held in his arms. “Though I’m starting to see that doing such brings forth quite interesting results so maybe you will get to experience me really sexually harassing you in the future.”

 

“…!” Kuroko’s blushing expression darkened even more, his heart almost jumping out of his chest through his throat. He had already prepared himself for a hellish weekend in terms of quickened heartbeats and sudden blushes… but the pastry competition might really end up being the event that sent him to an early grave. Shifting his body uncomfortably, the bluenette motioned his shaking hands up and grabbed into the taller male’s sleeves. “P-Please stop t-teasing me, A-Akashi-kun.”

 

“It’s not teasing, it’s sexual harassment. Isn’t that what you called it?” pointed out Akashi, the smirk on his face widening as the once mischievous glint on his heterochromatic eyes started to gain a more predatory approach.

 

“I… I did but… Y-You don’t really n-need to do it for r-real…” continued babbling Kuroko, the skin underneath his clothes rippling due to the prickling sensation shared by their bodies and the hands still present above his rear and pushing their fronts glued to one another.

 

“Tetsuya, I will apologize beforehand,” suddenly announced Akashi, pulling the bluenette on his arms closer to his body, which made the strap of the sports bag which the smaller male was holding into on his shoulder slip down, and diminished the distance between their faces to less than a fraction of an inch. “But if you make a face like _that_ , I won’t be able to contr—“

 

“What the heck are you doing in front of the main gate, Akashi?”

 

Both Akashi and Kuroko turned their faces to the left and saw there a black car, the driver’s window open to show a silver haired male, his grey eyes unusually lifeless and blank.

 

“Chihiro.” Straightening his back a little bit, Akashi maintained his body in the exact same position, tightly holding into the bluenette surrounded by his arms. “You’re late. We’ve been waiting for you for almost twenty minutes now.”

 

“…Ak-Akashi-kun… let go…” softly mumbled Kuroko, his head spinning around at the fact that he had been caught by an unknown male in such a compromising position with the redhead.

 

“I’ve been waiting for you two for an hour now,” pointed out Mayuzumi, a slight frown on his face at the accusation being sent his way by the smaller male. “I actually even had to entertain myself with a light novel while waiti— Ah, shit… Don’t tell me that I got so into it that I let my ability slip and turned the whole car invisible again...”

 

“A-Akashi-kun…!” softly called Kuroko once again, awkwardly tugging at the redhead’s sleeves.

 

“How many times has that happened now, if I can know?” asked Akashi with a dissatisfied expression on his face. If he had known that the car truly was there, he and the bluenette would be far, far away from Teikou Academy by now and could really begin with their weekend-long date.

 

“How long are you going to continue to half rape that pipsqueak in public, if I can know?” sarcastically countered Mayuzumi as he rolled his eyes in annoyance. He put his head back inside of the car and looked down to the light novel on top of his lap. “I can continue reading while you two proceed with your PDA. Actually, yes, just stay there and continue. I stopped reading in a really good spot and I want to know what the main character will choose to do.”

 

All of a sudden, both Akashi’s and Kuroko’s body experienced an unexpected bounce and sank down on the floor a good inches. An eyebrow arched in incomprehension, Akashi lowered his gaze back to the bluenette and found him with an adorable deep red blush, his mouth gaping open and close as his eyes danced around their surroundings, but never focusing on the male holding into him. When he lowered his gaze even more, he saw that the concrete flooring underneath their feet had completely disappeared, as well as the protective layer of gravel that was placed below the concrete. His body was spotless, though.

 

 _Sometimes I wonder if Tetsuya has a completely perfect mastery over his ability, even when he loses his control over it accidentally or unknowingly,_ inwardly wondered Akashi, chuckling softly as he took his hands out of the bluenette’s rear and separated their bodies – even though he greatly relished on their extremely close proximity, they couldn’t afford to cause any sort of damage to any place in those next following days.

 

“No, we’ll be leaving now so focus your attention on driving without any accident and not on your weird books,” said Akashi, adjusting the strap of the sports bag on the bluenette’s shoulder and then grabbing his own luggage for the pastry competition outing. Afterwards, he strategically slipped his hand towards the smaller male and entwined their fingers once again, even though he had told Kuroko that he would let go the moment the car arrived.

 

“They are not weird books, they are light novel featuring exciting adventures in fantasy worlds filled with cute magical girls and anthropomorphic beings,” started explaining Mayuzumi, turning on the engine of the car as he saw through the rear-view mirror the redhead and the still completely taken aback bluenette opening the door and entering inside of the car, settling themselves in the backseat.

 

“Call them whatever you want, Chihiro. Let’s just go to the station before Tetsuya and I lose our train,” interrupted Akashi when he sensed that if he didn’t put a stop on it now, the older male would continue to go on and on about his tastes in literature.

 

“Yes, yes,” acknowledged Mayuzumi while rolling his eyes once again. With quick movements, he put the car moving and departed from Teikou Academy’s main gate.

 

Akashi released a soft sigh and then took a peek in the bluenette’s direction. He immediately saw him staring at him with a completely blank expression on his face, making him tilt his head just the slightest. “What is it?”

 

“I’m so done with you, Akashi-kun,” admonished Kuroko, his face completely expressionless. When he saw the redhead opening his mouth, he continued talking, interrupting him before he questioned him further or tried to make any excuses. “When I give you an inch, you take it as far as a whole mile. Do you have no shame to do something like that in a public place? Why do you enjoy tormenting me in such ways, when you know very well how uncomfortable I feel with not only being in public places, where people can see me, but also with the prospect of others touching my body? I don’t care about for what reason you do it or what sort of reasoning on your head makes you put these embarrassing actions forth, but please do not do them as you please. Please have some consideration towards me… and…”

 

Without any apparent reason, Kuroko’s speech started to slow down and then came to a complete halt. Even more unexpectedly, to both the driver of the car and the redhead sitting next to him, the bluenette jumped on his seat and lunged his body forward in Akashi’s direction, crawling above his lap and then slamming his hands against the tinted window of the vehicle. With his extremely open teal eyes, he surveyed the road they were currently driving through.

 

“Tetsuya?” called Akashi, a soft frown on his face as he observed the expression present at that moment in the bluenette’s face. It was a mixture of hope and despair, happiness and sadness – earning and doom. “Is something wrong outside?”

 

“Ah… N-No… It’s nothing…” answered Kuroko, his eyes still fixed on the exterior area of the car. He forced himself to tear his eyes away from the window and looked over to the redhead, making him realize that he was currently sideways straddling the taller male. “Ah… I’m sorry! I’ll get out of on top of you right—“

 

“Is everything really okay?” pressed further Akashi with a serious expression on him, taking a hold of the bluenette’s arm when he started climbing down of his lap.

 

“Yes, everything is okay. I guess I’ve been away from outside of Teikou Academy for too long and I’m now seeing impossible things,” answered Kuroko, fully crawling out of on top of the redhead’s lap and sitting once again beside him.

 

“If you say so, then I’ll believe you. But if there’s any problem or if you’re not feeling well, then tell me right away, okay, Tetsuya?” added Akashi, releasing the thin arm of the smaller male, his eyes unmoving from the still slightly restless bluenette.

 

“I doubt anything will go wrong, the way you planned everything to the tiniest detail, but yes, I will tell you if something unexpected happens,” acknowledged Kuroko, wrapping his fingers around his sports bag’s strap and tightly holding into it.

 

He took another glance to the window and to the street they were crossing and then released a masked sigh.

 

_There’s no way I saw what my eyes think I saw. Because… I was there when Akashi-kun killed Ogiwara-kun. I was there when his heart was pierced and his head was cut off from his shoulders._

_Seeing Ogiwara in the midst of the crowd in the street… is nothing more than an illusion created by having reminisced on the letters inside of the box earlier._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "We're just moving" by Ono Kenshou (our lovely bluenette who doesn't know how to react when Akashi "sexually harasses" him :P)
> 
> I hate Mayuzumi. I really do. But I think he was the most suitable character to cockblock AkaKuro escalating smutty moment in the funniest way possible (and almost more damaging way to their surroundings -.-') Though I guess his presence is only momentary (which I always praise the gods for) and then they will have N~O~ O~N~E~ to cockblock them *winks* Well... Maybe...
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi


	129. If it looks like I’m about to lose, I’m counting on you for a push from behind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here... with a late chapter -.-'
> 
> I'm really sorry about the lateness of this chapter but it's here and that's what it matters! It also means that the next release will come more quickly than usually since you only need to wait two more days until the next Friday ^.^
> 
> And~ I'm sure you have noticed but Shattered Miracles has reached over 1,500 kudos! Which means~ Shattered Miracles will have its own original light novel adaptation XD Thank you very much for all of your support *bows* About when it will happen and how it will happen... well, I guess I can't answer any of that for now. But as soon as I have any news about it, you will heard them directly from me *winks*
> 
> Enjoy!

“And we’re here,” shortly announced Mayuzumi as he pressed his foot on the break, immediately making the car come to a soft and fluid stop in front of Shinjuku Station, the closest railroad station to Teikou Academy that could enable them to reach Sumida. “Are you okay on time or have you found a new reason to be pissy at me, Akashi?”

 

“No, we’re good,” answered Akashi, grabbing once again his own bag. “We have a whole 5 minutes before our train reaches the platform so we have plenty of time to get there. Well, if we do indeed lose that train, we can just wait a couple more of minutes for another. …But I do believe Tetsuya wouldn’t like that idea all that much.”

 

The redhead switched his eyes to the smaller male and saw him shifting around on his seat, his eyes quickly moving from person to person as they crossed and walked around the street. Shinjuku Station was known as the busiest station in the entire world and Akashi didn’t need to be an expert at reading people to see Kuroko’s current discomfort at the prospect of having other people around – it was so visible that even a blind person would be able to feel it in a physical sense.

 

“Tetsuya,” tentatively called Akashi, a soft smile on his lips. He saw the bluenette turn his eyes in his direction, but it was for nothing more than a fraction of a second – his teal eyes were ripped from him and continued to aimlessly look for any possible threat around them. “Tetsuya, our mission is to arrive to the platform that will lead us to Keio Line, where we will get inside of a ‘more secluded’ passenger car, as we may call it. We will get off in Kikukawa. It’s an half an hour trip and we only need to change trains in Sasazuka Station, so we can switch to Keio New Line.”

 

“…”

 

“You know that if we miss our train, you will need to spend more time surrounded by other people, right?” pointed out Akashi, inching his body closer to the bluenette. He gave a quick tug to his sleeve to catch his attention, but it only made Kuroko outright grab into his arm, his hand trembling just the slightest. “We also can’t keep the car parked here for too long. So if you want to, you can just grab into my hand while we—“

 

“Please stop treating me like a baby, Akashi-kun,” interrupted Kuroko, a slight pouting expression on his face as he sideways glanced to the taller male.

 

“Then prove it to me that I don’t need to treat you like one,” challengingly pointed out Akashi, a small smirk popping up in his lips. He had completely forgotten that the bluenette’s sense of pride was as tall as Mount Fuji and that he highly disliked losing in whatever way it might happen under. So, even though he was quite worried over what kind of reaction Kuroko might have while out there in the middle of thousands of strangers, Akashi swallowed the comforting words that wanted to exit his mouth and simply went for the more unorthodox route – make Kuroko’s sense of pride even stronger and, in a roundabout way, make it so that he would think of getting out there and reach the platform as winning against him. “How’s it going to be? Can you do it or not without having to hold my hand?”

 

“I don’t need to hold your hand to do anything,” deadpanned Kuroko, the pouting not showing on his face but displayed on the sound of his voice.

 

“Is that so? Then I take that we can reach the said platform before the train leaves, right?” asked Akashi, increasing the smirk on his face so that the little ‘challenge’ would grow deeper in the bluenette. He took a quick glance to his wristwatch and let his eyes remain there, watching as the seconds pointer continued to move. “We have less than 4 minutes now. I don’t think we will get there on time, the way you are hesitating so much.”

 

Akashi was forced to lift his head once again when he surprisingly heard one of the doors of the car being open all of a sudden. When he looked in the bluenette’s direction, he saw him with his body already half way out of the vehicle, even if the other half was teetering around in a masked way.

 

“For someone so tiny, he sure dislikes to lose, huh…” mumbled Mayuzumi, who had been silently listening to the ‘challenging’ conversation unfolding on the backseat while reading one of his light novel volumes.

 

“He does, doesn’t he?” knowingly acknowledged Akashi, a soft smile on his lips as he shifted his hold on his bag and motioned his free hand to the handle on the door. “Especially against me. But well, that’s just one of the many things about Tetsuya that I love so much.”

 

“…!” Mayuzumi’s eyes were readily ripped away from the page he had been reading and looked over in the redhead’s direction… but all he found there was a door being swiftly closed. “…I’ll be damned… Maybe I really should have paid attention when Mibuchi was babbling right and left to me, Nebuya and Hayama about how that bastard is getting ‘human-like’ because of the little ‘Phantom’.”

 

The silver haired male softly closed the book on his hands and turned his body fully around so he could observe more closely through the rear glass as the two smaller males got farther away from the car and started to disappear in between the crowd.

 

“Kuroko Tetsuya, huh… Maybe keeping an eye on him could be as interesting as reading the top 10 lights novels in ‘Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi!’”

 

-.-

 

“Are you okay, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi with an amused voice. When he saw the smaller male stiffly turn his head in his direction, all the little color he had completely drained from his face and mouth opening and closing without releasing any sound whatsoever, the redhead had a feeling that he was pretty much bordering a panic attack – which, surprisingly enough, made him chuckle. He motioned his hand forward and softly grabbed one of the bluenette’s sleeves, pulling him over in his direction in order to prevent a businessman from crashing against him. Obviously, such didn’t come as unnoticed to him.

 

“A-As I thought, t-this is a bad i-idea,” stutteringly mumbled Kuroko, his eyes continuously shifting around his surroundings once again. They had successfully reached the platform to take them to Sumida but it seemed that the train had been delayed in another station and the crowd in that one had taken such intensity and volume that the bluenette couldn’t afford to keep track of all the people near his vicinity. “W-We should go b-back… We s-should return to T-Teikou Academy and just—“

 

“Just keep on running away from reality forever?” interrupted Akashi, a slight frown on his face as he sideways glanced to the smaller male. “You claim that you will leave Teikou eventually. You make arguments against what I say by accusing me of taking away your freedom in several ways. But would you be able to leave Teikou the way you are right now? Would you be able to call yourself free if you keep on holding into the chains of the past restricting you?”

 

“…”

 

“Time is said to heal, and I’m more than willing to give it to you, but such only happens if you are able to accept that change. And I know it will probably take a lot of time for you to even start accepting the fact that you are a person worthy of that change,” continued Akashi, once again pulling the bluenette and taking a step forward himself in order to avoid collision with a high school student running around to reach the other end of the platform, most likely due to the lateness to reach the educational institution he belonged to. “But you need to realize now that changing doesn’t mean that you will stop being who or what you are. Do the changing at your own pace and rhythm. Do it in the way you feel more comfortable with. Though I really would like it if it happened because of me, it’s still you who needs to make the decision and gather it in you to take that step forward. So pull out all the tricks you need in order to enable us to successfully reach Sumida and attend the pastry competition throughout the weekend.”

 

“T-Tricks…?” repeated Kuroko, his head slightly tilted as he looked over to the redhead for the first time since they had gotten outside of the car, at least if it was being done without a panicky expression.

 

“You said that you had remained ‘invisible’ to everyone throughout all three years you have stayed in Teikou, right?” pointed out Akashi, releasing the bluenette’s sleeve and grabbing into his hand. “Then just use the same trick that you used with me when we were in the gym if such would make it more bearable for you to be in the platform. I’m sure the train is almost here so you wouldn’t have to do it for a long time, but I will need to hold into your hand nevertheless if you do. For safety measures, of course.”

 

“I-I told you that I don’t want you t-touching me while I’m using my ability, though,” pointed out Kuroko, his eyes unconsciously turning down to shyly peer to their entwined hands and putting to the side the countless number of people around them. It really hurt his pride to admit it, even to himself, but having the redhead hold his hand really seemed to calm him down. Barely but it still did.

 

“Then just grab into my clothes while on your ‘invisible mode’,” proposed Akashi, softly releasing the smaller male’s hand and taking a step sideways to get closer to him. “Even if you are nullifying your presence, I will still be able to feel the weight of your hand on my clothes, won’t I?”

 

“Y-You will. But…” hesitantly acknowledged Kuroko, uncertainty still running around inside of his brain. _But that doesn’t mean that I might not hurt you just because I’m not touching you directly._

 

“What makes you more uncomfortable: having all these people’s gazes focusing on you every now and then or being forced to use your ability in front of my eyes only?” asked Akashi, an eyebrow slightly perked as he peered over to the bluenette with a serious demeanor all over his features.

 

“Ugh… Definitely the former…” softly mumbled Kuroko as he slowly motioned one of his hands forward and then wrapped his fingers around the redhead’s sleeve, tightly gripping into it as he took a last glimpse to Akashi’s face. He had told him in front of the other ‘Miracles’ that he wouldn’t use his ability in the presence of any of them, for whatever reason it might be, and this time it would be the second breaching of his own words. He understood that the first one, in the form of his ability control trainings, was unavoidable but this time he was very conscious that it was his own weakness that was forcing him to go against it.

 

One second, Akashi was looking at the bluenette; in the very next one, he was gazing into an empty spot in the packed platform. He did feel the weight of Kuroko’s hand grabbing into his sleeve and there was a very soft prickling sensation near that area of his limb but other than those things, it really seemed as if the smaller male had completely disappeared from that location.

 

 _How unsettling…,_ inwardly mumbled Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes unmoving from the blank place. He knew Kuroko was there but the lack of proof that it was him, the adorable bluenette that he could make blush with only a couple of words or a fleeting touch to his body, was nerve-wracking, to say the least.

 

Like the redhead had feared, he would never the able to part ways with the bluenette. Letting Kuroko leave Teikou Academy would be the equivalent to having his heart ripped from his chest. He would most likely fall in the same type of dark despair that he felt throughout the first couple of months preceding his mother’s death, if not even more strongly, for he would know that Kuroko was still alive, roaming around in a place unreachable to him. All of his motivation to bring about a better place and circumstances to all ‘Users’ would be hatched away from his body since he would know that he couldn’t build the most secure and comfortable place to protect and hold into the person he loved. Worst of all, the doors keeping his inner beast sealed off during most of the time would be breached and _he_ would be allowed once again to bring terror and disaster to everyone around him, maybe even consuming his whole consciousness and fully extend his dominance to the body they had been forced to share for years to no end.

 

“Tetsuya…” softly called Akashi while he turned his body around so he could face the bluenette’s hidden location front-wise. He motioned his free arm up and grabbed with his hand to invisible hand that was holding into his sleeve. He felt his skin strongly ripple at the prickling sensation that the touch caused all over his body but he put it on the sidelines of his thinking process and led himself closer to the smaller male, using the invisible arm as a map to find his current location. With a slow movement, he shortened the distance between their faces (or what it seemed to be the said distance) and leaned his forehead on the bluenette’s, his eyes never leaving the spot where he figured the teal ones of the other male would be. “Honestly speaking, the thought of you disappearing on me is completely fri————“

 

As if intending on keeping a veil of silence on those words, the train that would take them to Sumida announced its incoming arrival to the platform by loudly honking, the sound echoing through the entire area and grabbing the attention of all the people anxiously waiting to attend to their own schedules on time.

 

“Eh?” interjected Kuroko, unconsciously dropping down his ‘invisible mode’ and allowing his presence to be visible to everyone around him – even if he would highly like that only one of them would take notice of him being there. His hair and clothes fluttering against the strong wind brought by the arrival of the long set of cars that constituted the train of Keio Line, the bluenette’s eyes remained stuck to the red and golden gaze that didn’t seem to care at all about the arrival of the vehicle. “I couldn’t really hear what you—“

 

_“The doors to the train correspondent to Keio Line will shortly open. The entry to the first car of the train has been restricted to the usage of ‘Users’ only. Please be mindful of the gap between the doors and the platform.”_

 

“Tsk! ‘Users’ again?”

 

“Why can’t they just stay holed up in their own school for the rest of their lives? Those freaks should actually just leave Japan once and for all and let it remain in safety once again.”

 

“I guess it would be safer to announce on Twitter or something that there’s ‘Users’ inside of Keio Line, don’t you think?”

 

“…” Letting his head drop, Kuroko tightly bit into his lower lip and strongly clenched his fists, his knuckles going white with the strength.

 

The announcement of the existence of ‘Users’ over five years ago hadn’t been received by the Japanese population, and subsequently worldwide population, with good eyes. However, ever since the ‘Bloody Night’ one year ago, ‘Users’ were prosecuted with glaring eyes and cold words by the general population. Because of him, all ‘Users’ were bashed and rejected by the world.

 

“Shall we go then, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, a gentle smile of his lips as he gazed to the bluenette with loving eyes. The doors to the first car slid open and way was made to access it, the people around it fearing even the sight of the announced ‘Users’. But the redhead needn’t mind such, for he couldn’t be happier right now. He extended his hand towards the smaller male and widened his smile. “To our weekend date.”

 

“I-It’s just a pastry competition, Akashi-kun,” mumbled Kuroko, pushing the redhead’s hand down and walking towards the door all by himself.

 

“Your stubbornness sure knows no boundaries, does it?” chuckled Akashi, starting to walk towards the first car himself and quickly catching up with the bluenette.

 

“It’s not stubbornness, it’s ‘facing reality’,” countered Kuroko, sideways peering to the redhead with a deadpan expression while stepping inside of the first car. He tried to do his very best to ignore the soft murmuring occurring on the platform at their arrival to the train.

 

“Then you’re doing it wrong because this is obviously a date, no matter how you look at it,” corrected Akashi, a knowing smirk on his face as he also stepped inside of the train. “Even you have come into terms with it being a date before. I don’t really understand why you reverted back to claiming that it isn’t. Feeling shy, now that it’s about to happen for real?”

 

“Please put an end to your delusions and let’s sit down,” mumbled Kuroko, a soft shade of pink dusting his puffed cheeks.

 

“Yes, yes. Just sit wherever you’d like,” acknowledged Akashi after having softly chuckled at the half-denial, half-confirmation given to him.

 

“You’re going to sit in the seat next to me, aren’t you?” deadpanned Kuroko, letting his body drop in the closest seat to both of them.

 

“That’s a given,” mischievously acknowledged Akashi, a smirk on his lips as he sat down on the seat located next to the bluenette. “I will always occupy the seat next to you, wherever we go, whatever we are doing.”

 

_Forever and ever._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "The Other self" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> God, this mini-arc has got me so damn excited! I so want to show you the next chapter! And the one afterwards! And then the next! All of it, actually!! Because things will get so... so... Argh, I can't say any more than this! Hmm... Maybe I can leave you will a small riddle? What do you think? You want to? Oh-ho~ There here it goes~
> 
> [Riddle]  
> 53:2-4  
> Hint: It's not math~ And you can find further clues in previous chapters too *winks*
> 
> [Prize] - CLOSED: it was won by LiYun! Congratulations :3  
> The next fic being done for the (belated) AkaKuro Week will be dedicated to the one who can solve this riddle~ Feel free to try to solve it as many times as you want!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
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	130. The hazy feeling of being out of place in this distorted world, where there’s already no place to escape to anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> Today I had to make a little test to see if I'm selected to a long-term freelancer work... I hope it goes well and I'm one of the selected people *bites nails* But let's forget about that for now because this chapter is so DAMN IMPORTANT for the plot of the story and about Kuroko's and Akashi's past! I wonder what new clues it will bring to you guys~
> 
> Enjoy!

There was something that Kuroko had come to notice throughout the travel by train with destination to Kikukawa, Sumida. Something related to Akashi, his traveling companion, and that would have come completely unnoticed if it wasn’t the nervousness that filled his entire being when that particularity of his showed up.

 

Most of the train ride had been done in complete silence, Kuroko absentmindedly observing the outside world through the window next to his seat and Akashi reading a novel. However, when the time to pass through a tunnel or an underground station arrived, the redhead would always put the book down and entwine their fingers together during the short moments the train was filled with darkness, only the lights in the car providing some soft illumination to their surroundings.

 

And that happened _every single time_ they were in such circumstances.

 

“U-Um, Akashi-kun?” called Kuroko, his cheeks softly dusted with a pinkish shade due to the continuous back and forward of having his hand grabbed and then subsequently released – his heart was on the verge of explosion with such frequent changes of pace, beating wildly when his hand was gently held and sinking down to the pits of his stomach when that warmth disappeared from there.

 

“Yes, Tetsuya?” answered back Akashi, releasing the bluenette’s hold and grabbing once again the open book laid down on his lap.

 

“Y-You do know that we are in an isolated car with only the two of us in a moving train, right?” asked Kuroko, shyly peering over to the taller male. “You don’t need to hold my hand all the time for ‘safety reasons’ and there’s also no chance of me to try to escape, as I’ve told you countless times that I would not run away.”

 

“I know that,” acknowledged Akashi as he resumed with his reading in the spot he had left off when he put down the book on top of his legs so he could seek for the bluenette’s hand.

 

“Then why are you continuously g-grabbing and then releasing my hand?” asked further Kuroko, the soft blush on his features darkening a shade due to how conscious he felt over himself because of the words that his own mouth was spewing. _Do you have any idea of what sort of rollercoaster of emotions that makes me go through?_

 

“…” Akashi continued to silently read his book, not offering any sort of answer to the question being sent his way, even with the teal gaze that was intently peering over at him. Sighing softly, the redhead took a hold of his bookmark and positioned it inside of the open novel before closing it with an inaudible _thump_. “You noticed that I only hold your hand while inside of the train when we are passing by any underground area, didn’t you?”

 

“Eh? Ah… Y-Yes, I did,” acknowledged Kuroko, a part of him feeling slightly nervous. The redhead’s demeanor had suddenly gained a much tenser and serious connotation and it was very unsettling to see him acting in such a way, giving the happy mood he had been displaying since before they left Teikou Academy.

 

Releasing another soft sigh, Akashi shifted his body on his seat and let his head lean against the backseat, his heterochromatic eyes staring away in the distance as he thought about the answer that the bluenette’s question brought forward.

 

“Truth is, I’m scared of underground areas,” confessed Akashi all of a sudden, closing his eyes for a fraction of a second as he tried to keep the resurging memories closed deep down on his brain. He took a quick sideways glances to the smaller male and saw him looking over in his direction with a completely flabbergasted expression on his usually deadpan face. “Tunnels, underground platforms or parking lots, basements, any location that is placed underneath a layer of ground… I’m scared of being in any of those sort of locations.”

 

“…”

 

“Are you surprised to know that Akashi Seijuurou, the Head of the ‘Miracles’, has such a silly weakness on him?” asked Akashi, a pained glint on his red and golden eyes as he once again peered sideways to the bluenette.

 

“Well, yes… No, I mean…” tried to explain Kuroko but the shock of discovering that there was something that the redhead actually feared was preventing his brain from working properly. “I just… didn’t think that you could have a weakness… At least one brought forward due to being afraid of something. You always give the impression that you’re—“

 

“Invincible? Fearless? Unshakable?” interrupted Akashi before the bluenette could finish his sentence. He dropped his gaze down a little bit, even if his eyes never left the smaller male, and then proceeded with his words. “Even if I’m a ‘User’, I’m only human, Tetsuya. Every human has a weakness or something they are afraid of. I’m not above anyone else in that regard just because I’m gifted enough in terms of using my ability to get what I want in the most favorable of ways… or what would be the best to get for those around me.”

 

“…”

 

That was more than true. ‘Users’ were previous all but normal humans. They only became different – _abnormal_ – when the dark spark was suddenly ignited deep inside of them and brought forward an irreversible change to their beings, in a physical and physiological sense. And it was most likely that ignition that represented their current fears or weaknesses.

 

There wasn’t a single ‘User’ that didn’t _awoke_ under terrible or life threatening circumstances, after all.

 

“What made you scared of underground areas?” unconsciously asked Kuroko. When he noticed the surprised expression in the redhead’s face and the way he whipped his head around to look over in his direction, the smaller male readily bit down on his lower lip. He shouldn’t have asked that. He shouldn’t get to know Akashi better or he might risk falling even deeper for him. Kuroko awkwardly turned his face away from the redhead and returned to look outside through the window, his body shifting uncomfortably on his seat. “Um… F-Forget I said that… Please continue reading your bo—“

 

“If you tell me why you are scared of being around other people, then I’ll tell you why I’m scared of underground areas.”

 

“…!” It was now time for Kuroko to whip his head around in the redhead’s direction, a half surprised, half scared expression on his face. He had anticipated seeing a mischievous (or straight out evil) smirk on Akashi’s face but all he found there was a gentle and warm smile.

 

Akashi hadn’t said that to get information out of him or to discover further things about his own weakness that he could use to exploit him – he was wholeheartedly worrying over why he had such an unorthodox fear in him.

 

“I don’t mind going first,” announced Akashi, not seeking any sort of confirmation from the smaller male over if the ‘deal’ had been agreed by the two counterparts. “Underground areas are the closest place to where _he_ is.”

 

“Eh?”

 

“Though it happened over six years ago, I can remember it as well as if it was happening again right now, right in front of my eyes,” started Akashi, putting his hand on top of the book and clasping his fingers together. “Every time my father requested for my mother’s presence after dinner time, I knew he would drag her down to the basement. I knew she would spend the rest of the night there being cruelly punished for things that weren’t even her fault in the first place. Our house was ridiculously big but I still could hear her screaming in pain every time that happened.”

 

“…”

 

“Never once did he drag me there. Well, at least until the day when I _awoke_ as a ‘User’, that is,” continued Akashi, clenching his clasped hands so strongly his fingers fully lost their usual coloring. “Like every ‘User’, I can’t really remember what happened during the 48 hours before my _awakening_ nor the _awakening_ itself, but I can still recall some little bits of it. My mother’s screams echoing in the locked basement… My father yelling at both of us… The intense pain on my left eye… And then those dark, dark doors opening out of nowhere.”

 

“Dark doors?” repeated Kuroko, his throat feeling extremely dry and rusty when he spoke. Even though he had been surrounded by ‘Users’ since he entered Teikou Academy’s middle school section, he had never heard the tale of any of their _awakenings_. It was surprising him greatly that the first he got to hear turned out to be Akashi’s.

 

“In literature and myths, it’s said that people have to cross a certain closed door in order to reach the deepest level of Hell,” explained Akashi, rage fluttering through his heterochromatic eyes for brief seconds. “The first time I activated my ability was to send my father’s dead body down through those doors and let him get a taste of Hell in person for the rest of eternity.”

 

“…!”

 

“He’s still there as we speak. So, every time I’m in an underground area or even just bellow a thin layer of ground…” continued Akashi, slowly unfolding his clasped hands and leading one of them up to his left golden eyes, which he tightly clutched into. “I feel like that’s the place where I’m closest to my father and I can’t help but feel like I’ve reverted back to the little kid who couldn’t do anything to help his mother when she needs the most. I can’t help but feel completely useless.”

 

_And I can’t help but be reminded of how similar the two of us are…_

 

“Your mother didn’t die during your _awakening_ , right?” said Kuroko all of a sudden, a small smile on his lips as he looked in the redhead’s direction. When Akashi looked over at him too, he pushed the corners of his lip up just a bit further. “You weren’t useless, Akashi-kun. And you still aren’t. If you call being scared of underground areas a weakness, then it’s a good weakness to have. It’s far better than my own weaknesses.”

 

“Is that an indication that you are going to tell me why you are scared of being around other— No, why you are scared of being in the outside world?” asked Akashi, shifting his sitting position around so he could face the bluenette in a more upfront way.

 

“…” Kuroko readily averted the redhead’s gaze when that sentence was finished. He grabbed into the hem of his shirt and tried to control the trembling that had taken a hold of his hands by tightly clutching at the fabric. “I think the reason is self-explanatory, having listened to your own reason of being scared of underground areas. To put it in simple terms, humans are scary.”

 

“…”

 

“Humans don’t need a reason to be cruel to one another. They don’t need a reason to steal, to kill, to make war against each other. They don’t even need a reason to betray one another, play twisted games of manipulation and deceit,” started Kuroko, his face twisted in pain. “If they can do all of that without having a reason to do it, then what can they not accomplish when they have a reason that leads them to do all of those things? And how much worse would a monster be able to accomplish? …Even after all these years, it can still surprise me how cruel even little children can be to one another if they can get something they wish out of it. How disgusting those kind words now feel since the veil of deceit has been lifted.”

 

“…”

 

“Better than anyone, you should know how dangerous words can be, don’t you, Akashi-kun?” asked Kuroko, lifting his eyes from the floor of the train and switching in gaze in the redhead’s direction. “Humans can easily get seduced by words, especially if they came in the form of a so-called ‘wish’. What they don’t realize before making that wish is that there’s no turning back once it has been said out loud. Nothing can erase it or undo it. And the consequences they bring forward are, hence, completely irreversible. Not even making another wish can change the former one.”

 

“But what do wishes have anything to do with why you are scared of being exposed to the world?” asked further Akashi, starting to get slightly lost on the explanation that the bluenette was uncomfortably offering him.

 

“…Because wishes are the reason that lead me to be scared of humans and the outside world,” confessed Kuroko, his face once again twisting due to the scarring memories he had of that time. “I once wished for everything to disappear. I selfishly tried to escape my problems by turning a blind eye to that wish, ignoring the signs shoved right in front of my face that told me of the truth and of how I have wronged the world without even knowing it. And how do you think that ended up?”

 

“…”

 

“I turned my best friend into a monster, only to have him killed right in front of my eyes by you and the other ‘Miracles’,” confessed Kuroko, tears gathering in the corner of his teal eyes. “I ruined completely the life of thousands of people. During the ‘Bloody Night’, I filled street after street with blood and dead bodies. I cursed every ‘User’ in Japan with the everlasting sentence of being hated by the general population, including their own flesh and bones. And I didn’t even have a reason for the happening of half of those things… Taking all of that into consideration, how do you expect me to not get scared of humans or the outside world?”

 

“…!”

 

 _Tetsuya isn’t scared of other people or of going outside of his comfort zone in Teikou Academy… he’s scared of himself and of what he could do to other people,_ inwardly realized Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes open in surprise as he continued to look to the bluenette.

 

The bluenette had been wronged by others in the past – terrible so, from what Akashi knew. And all that in its sum led Kuroko into straying from the path he had settled for himself and forced him to make cruel decisions, even about his own being. He probably had to deceive others just as much as he was deceived by them. He most likely had to throw away so many things that were dear to him so that he could remain safe… No, so that others could continue to remain safe. Like, for example, his own family… or Aomine and Momoi…

 

_Just how kind can you be, even after having suffered so much by the hands of others?_

 

“Tetsuy—“ started calling Akashi but his voice was suddenly interrupted by the strong jerk that the train suddenly gave, followed by the flickering of every single light inside of the car.

 

_“We are currently going through one of the several areas of Tokyo that have been slightly affected by the ‘Bloody Night’. We advise all passengers to take a seat in any available location or to take a hold of any of the straps or handles available throughout the cars. The disturbance is only momentary and will cease to happen shortly after we leave this area. We appreciate your comprehension and apologize for any distress or discomfort it may cause to the passengers.”_

 

Hearing the announcement running through the speakers spread in that car of the train, Kuroko shifted his body uncomfortably on his seat, squeezing it closer so he could diminish in size and try to become less visible to others, even if he knew that only Akashi was there at the moment. He took a quick glance to outside of the window and almost felt his heart came to a stop at what he saw.

 

Though it was far away in the distance, a dark and black mist covered a large area made of half destroyed buildings. It was even visible with the tall wall that had been erected around the territory renamed as ‘accident spot’ after the events of the ‘Bloody Night’ to prevent anyone to get close to that area… or _anything_ to get out of it. Some believed that ‘The Phantom’ now inhabited that cursed land, after all.

 

But it wasn’t Kuroko that resided in there. It was something that he considered far scarier than the monster that he was. Something that could easily give new life to the tragedy known worldwide as the ‘Bloody Night’ and put an end to what was left undone that night one year ago.

 

“Tetsuya,” called Akashi, motioning his hands over in the bluenette’s direction and taking a hold of his head, which he softly turned around so he could face him. In the smaller male’s expression was written pure dread. “Tetsuya, everything is okay. You don’t need to worry about any of this because no one is being hurt by it. Directly or indirectly. Actually, probably only you are being hurt by it.”

 

“A-Akashi-kun… If… If something happens… you’ll stop me, right?” asked Kuroko, his hands trembling as he motioned them up and grabbed into the sleeves of the redhead’s clothes. “No matter what you would have to do… you will stop me. Won’t you?”

 

“You know just as well as me that I know how to stop you when you start going out of control, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, softly caressing the smaller male’s features with his thumbs. “And I told you time and time again that _nothing_ will go wrong during this whole weekend, didn’t I? And all the days after this weekend will be the exact same. You said that you want to believe in me when I said that I will protect you. Do you still believe in those words?”

 

“I… I do…” hesitantly acknowledged Kuroko, his hasty breathing starting to settle down a little bit.

 

“Then there’s nothing for you to fear because my words are absolute. Before, now and in the future.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ANSWER" by Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Kenshou (our two lovebirds <3).
> 
> Well, who would have guessed that Akashi really is scared of something? I bet Kise would love to know about it~ But most important than that... THE WAY AKASHI SOUGHT COMFORT FROM KUROKO BY GRABBING HIS HAND WHEN IN UNDERGROUND AREAS IS SO FREAKING ADORABLE >///< God, I feel like I'm floating in a cloud and traveling through the sky with fields of pretty flowers underneath~ And to think that the official weekend out in Sumida hasn't even started! *.*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi


	131. What guides reality is a heart that doesn’t doubt its judgment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> Finally... *sniff* Finally did I find an apartment to live in!!! *throws fireworks* Though it's completely empty and I will have to buy all the necessary furniture and electric appliances if I want it to be "livable" -.-' But now I can say that I have a nest of my own :3
> 
> Anyways~ Akashi and Kuroko also need a nest of their own for the next couple of days, don't they? Hehehe... I wonder how that will play out~  
> Enjoy!

The moment Kuroko had knowledge that it had been Akashi the one making all of the arrangements to their weekend-long trip to Sumida to attend the pastry competition, he should have known. Even if he hadn’t, he should have put some suspicion of it. Because…

 

Akashi Seijuurou _never_ did anything without calculating every single situation that one of his choices could lead to or calculating what would play better in his favor.

 

Kuroko was starting to feel that already known particularity about the redhead in person at the moment, as he stared to one more of the large rooms that constituted their living quarters for the next couple of days. To be more precise, he was blankly staring to the master bedroom which featured _one_ large bed.

 

“Well, would you look at that… There’s only one bed,” said Akashi with the most monotone voice that the bluenette had ever heard in another human being.

 

“You… You planned this, didn’t you?” grudgingly asked Kuroko, sideways glaring to the taller male.

 

“Tetsuya, you wound me. I would never dream of purposely choose a room which I clearly knew that would only have a bed and would force us to share it, seeing as all the other rooms of the whole hotel have been booked in advance by other guests,” defended himself Akashi, putting a fake scandalized expression on his face as he looked over to the bluenette.

 

Kuroko immediately rolled his eyes at hearing those words and turned around on his heels, transporting the bag with his clothes back to the living room. “I’ll be sleeping on the sof—“

 

As he was about to complete his sentence, the large crystal lamp hanging in the ceiling right above the mentioned sofa fell all of a sudden, crushing the long cushioned seat under its weight.

 

“…” Once again, the same blank expression from before popped up in Kuroko’s features as he observed the dust caused by the smithereens of the sofa settling down on the carpet placed underneath the now-useless piece of furniture. In the midst of his stupefaction, he let the strap of his bag slip from his shoulder and the heavy bag hit the floor with a soft _thud_.

 

“My, oh my… It seems that this hotel’s rooms aren’t as sturdy as they seem in the pictures,” said Akashi, shaking his head in disapproval over what he had just witnessed with his own two eyes. He couldn’t keep it hidden anymore and a mischievous smirk twisted the corners of his lips. “I sure got quite a few complaints to the owner already. But I’m going to be a merciful soul and forget all about it after a good night of rest. Isn’t that right, Tetsuya?”

 

“Y-Yes…” ended up conceding Kuroko, feeling as cornered as a mouse playing hide and seek in a closed room full of cats.

 

“Then let us put our things in _our_ room and then have some lunch in the restaurant area,” instructed Akashi, positioning himself in front of the bluenette and turning his body around so he remained facing the bedroom’s door once again. “We haven’t eaten anything since breakfast and it’s already noon. It’s more than time we replenish our bodies with food and strengthen ourselves for what’s about to come throughout the weekend.”

 

“A-Akashi-kun, you remember that I t-told you that I wouldn’t let you have your w-way during the pastry competition outing, right?” shyly mumbled Kuroko as he let his body be pushed back to inside of the gigantic master bedroom.

 

“Hm? I don’t know what you are talking about, Tetsuya,” said Akashi with a playful voice, the smirk on his lips stretching even further on his features. “I think that you knocking me out with the book has made my memories of last evening sort of messy and confused.”

 

 _You remember it just perfectly but still use my actions conveniently in your favor,_ sulked Kuroko in the back of his mind as he put the strap of his bag back on his shoulder and then crossed his arms over his chest. The upcoming weekend would probably end up being just as much Hell as it would be Heaven.

 

“But you did give me your consent into going along with my ‘evil schemes’ this morning, didn’t you?” suddenly pointed out Akashi, both him and the bluenette coming into a halt in front of the bed.

 

“I-I did, but I was giving my consent about—“ started saying Kuroko as he turned his body around to peer over to the taller male but it seemed that such a movement came as a mistake, as the hands grabbing into his shoulders and pushing his body down in the extremely soft mattress of the bed came to prove. “A-A-Akas—!?”

 

“You’ll have to share the same room, the same bed, as me for four nights in a row. During those nights’ correspondent days, we will have to always be together too, since I don’t have authorization from the government or the Prime-Minister to let you out of my sight at any moment,” announced Akashi, putting one of his knees on the mattress and pushing his body up by using his knee as a lever, straight out pinning the smaller male underneath his body. “What sort of ‘evil schemes’ do you think I have in my head, Tetsuya, taking all of that into consideration?”

 

“…!” When he saw the redhead’s face quickly growing closer to his own, Kuroko tightly closed his eyes, his body immediately tensing up at the sensation of the smallest of the taller male’s movements. But he never felt any of his breath-taking kisses and the weight on top of him disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. With suspicion molding his train of thought, Kuroko opened his teal eyes just a small gap and looked to in front of him, where he found Akashi picking up his bag and taking it over to the walk-in closet that the large bedroom featured.

 

“Though I’ve said that, I remember more than clearly to have told you that I wouldn’t force you to do anything that you don’t want,” started Akashi, disappearing in the insides of the closet. “So, if you really don’t want to share the same bed as me, I guess we can request to have an extra bed being brought to this room for me to sleep in during our stay in the hotel.”

 

Kuroko used his elbows to propel his body to a sitting position on the bed, his eyes unmoving from the walk-in closet where the redhead had entered and disappeared in.

 

Though Akashi’s words and sentences were from time to time flooded with double meanings and several degrees of innuendos, the bluenette knew that 90% of them were being used as a mean to tease him and bring out the expressions that the redhead took so much amusement in observing.

 

The way Akashi had surrendered his own sleeping space to allow Kuroko to have the necessary personal space for him to feel comfortable came as more than proof enough that the ‘evil schemes’ he was talking about were nothing more than a way of speaking and that he held no dubious intentions towards their stay in the hotel. Actually, the redhead might have arranged this room as much teasing towards him as it was to satisfy his constant desire to sleep in the same bed as the bluenette – like the never ending beckoning that came his way every night since the first time they had shared a bed back when Kuroko was still under house-arrest on his building came to prove.

 

In the end, Kuroko knew that Akashi had the unorthodox habit of being or extremely blunt or extremely gentlemanly when he was trying to convince someone of a choice he had made.

 

-.-

 

**Three years ago**

 

Book lying open on top of his stomach, Kuroko leisurely napped while sitting in a large and thick tree trunk, all the leaves and small branches sheltering him from the sun shining brightly in the sky.

 

“A-Akashi-san, I l-like you!” suddenly screamed a female voice, waking up the bluenette and almost making him fall from of top of the tree trunk. Heart thundering in his chest due to the scare, he slowly shifted his body around and looked down in the ground’s direction, where he saw a female student bowing her head slightly as she motioned forward a letter with her hands in the direction of a red haired male. “P-Please go out with me!”

 

 _‘Akashi-san’? If memory serves me right… he’s one of the ‘Miracles’ and the founder of Teikou Academy,_ thought Kuroko in the back of his head as he switched his invisible mode on and silently stood in the shadows of the tree while observing the conversation happening right underneath him.

 

“I don’t want to go out with you,” answered Akashi almost instantly, a never changing bored demeanor on his face. He crossed his arms over his chest as he intently looked in the girl’s direction with his heterochromatic eyes. “I don’t know you from anywhere, except for the fact that you are a ‘User’ and a student from this school. I don’t even know your name. Why would I go out with you?”

 

“T-Then… w-we could start as friends only first?” suggested the girl, motioning the letter in her hands closer to the redhead. “That way, we could get to kno—“

 

“I have no interest in being your friend either,” interrupted Akashi, dropping his arms to the sides of his body and then starting to walk away, not sparing another glance to the female student. “You are being nothing more than an annoyance right now. Consider other people’s busy schedules before you request their presence somewhere, especially if it’s for such a silly reason.”

 

 _And he’s total scum,_ added Kuroko in the back of his mind as he observed the redhead walk away and the girl silently crying all alone. _I bet he won’t get any more confessions in the near future, the way he hurt this girl…_

 

However, the bluenette would find out how wrong he was about it only a couple of days after this first confession, in the exact same place.

 

“Akashi-san, I’m in love with you. Would you please consider dating me?” asked a female voice. An eyebrow perking up slightly as he looked down from the open book in his hands to the ground right below the place that he called his ‘nest’, due to its location on the trunk of a tree, Kuroko saw the redhead once again, only this time accompanied by a different girl.

 

“I have no interest in dating you,” shortly answered Akashi, looking straight to the girl in front of him.

 

“Could you give me your reasons for such?” asked once again the girl, taking a step closer to the redhead as she clutched tightly to her white shirt. “If I know what you dislike about me, then I can change in order to suit your tastes!”

 

“I don’t like anything in particular about you so I guess you would have to become another person entirely to create even the smallest of chances of having me consider dating you,” announced Akashi, looking over to the girl with a serious demeanor. “Is it worth changing your whole being for a crush on a man that you never talked with or know anything about? Are you as stupid as to do something like that?”

 

“…!” The girl took a couple of quick steps forward and strongly slapped one of Akashi’s cheeks, tears raining down from her eyes. “You’re scum, after all! Just like everyone outside of Teikou says!”

 

“…” Kuroko silently observed the girl run off, using one of her hands to rub off the tears interfering with her visibility and then switched his teal eyes back to the redhead, who still remained frozen underneath the tree.

 

“…logize…” imperceptibly mumbled Akashi, before starting to walk away through the same path that the girl had used to run off.

 

 _‘Scum’, righ…?_ , inwardly asked Kuroko as he closed the book and kept observing the redhead walk further away from the tree.

 

“…Maybe I should start considering finding another place to read during lunch break…”

 

-.-

 

Eyes still refusing to leave the open door of the walk-in closet, Kuroko pushed his knees up against his chest and leaned the side of his face on them, his cheeks lightly dusted in pink. “It’s not… like I don’t want to sleep in the same bed as you…”

 

“Hm?” hummed Akashi, popping his head in the bedroom from inside of the closet.

 

Seeing the almost adorable action that the redhead took, Kuroko hurriedly turned his head away from him, his previous soft blush darkened by a tenfold. “N-Never mind…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Bring it on now!!" by Ono Kenshou (our lovely bluenette) and Suzuki Tatsuhisa (our raiven haired trickster).
> 
> Kuroko, seriously, I have no idea how you didn't realize right away that Akashi would take this card out of his sleeve -.-' And it's not like you really have any option now, since the sofas has been "accidentally" destroyed and your own body is itching to share the same bed as Akashi :3  
> Also... small flashbacks like the one in this chapter may start to occasionally happen~ *winks*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi


	132. Because I won’t hesitate at all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here... late as usual.  
> In my defense, this time it was my computer's fault!! The computer decided to not work the whole day yesterday and today I had to start the reparations in my apartment... Only now did I have time to update it -.-'
> 
> Okay, so I have a couple of things to say.
> 
> Hiejima Mutsumi's Patreon is up and running~ You can find the link in my Twitter ^.^
> 
> Also, I'm going to put forward another "challenge", though a different kind, I guess. Only people living in England are eligible because... I desperately need help with rehabilitating my apartment TTvTT I need to move in there the quickest I can, so that I can start both working and doing the volunteering program but I obviously can only move there when it's livable. So I need to get the bedroom done, at the very least, by the end of this upcoming week, most of most! Is there anyone living around the area of London/Buckinghamshire who would be interested in giving me hand, any day of the week that they would be available?  
> The rewards would be the following:  
> \- ONE whole fanfiction dedicated to them PER DAY they spend helping me (they can take a sneak peek at my notebook of wonders and choose one personally)  
> \- a homemade lunch made by me ;D  
> Contact: In case you are available/interested, please send me an email (mafymod13@gmail.com)
> 
> Huff... I feel like I made a lot of announcements today... Care for one more?
> 
> Warning: FOOD PORN (this is the only way I remembered to describe this chapter :3)
> 
> Enjoy~ Hehehe~

Crossing a long corridor towards the lift, Akashi and Kuroko walked side by side, the redhead once again featuring a contempt smile in his lips and the bluenette observing him with a nagging reticence still present in his brain.

 

Akashi had claimed that they wouldn’t be able to make any changes to the reservation on their room because the hotel had been fully booked. However, since the moment they arrived to the lobby to announce their arrival and subsequent occupancy of the large suite room to this very moment where they were going towards the ground floor to have lunch in the restaurant… they had passed by seven people so far, counting the reception lady and the lobby boy that took them to their temporary living quarters.

 

Hence, the nagging occurring in his brain was actually more towards the suspicion over the fact that if the hotel was fully booked, it had been due to being one more particularity of the redhead’s ‘evil scheme’ and not a real, unplanned and coincidental occurrence.

 

“Have you decided what you would like to have for lunch, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, turning his face towards the bluenette and softly smiling at him. “You were reading the menu while we were tidying up our things, weren’t you?”

 

“N-No, I haven’t decided yet,” awkwardly answered Kuroko, averting the heterochromatic gaze for a fraction of a second before returning to look straight at him. There was no way he would say that he simply started reading the menu placed in their room in order to calm down his racing heart and that out of all the entries he had supposedly read, he had only memorized a specific Japanese dish featuring tofu due to have been the first dish he had cooked with the redhead – which didn’t help him calm himself down at all.

 

“I don’t mind making some suggestions, if you are open to such,” added Akashi, stopping in front of the lift and pressing the button to call it over to that floor. It seemed that the lift had been in a close-by floor, since the bell rang almost right away and the metallic doors slid open to show its empty insides.

 

“You don’t really need to do any suggestion, I can simply eat the same that you will,” answered Kuroko, stepping inside of the lift before the redhead, who made way for him to go first. When he turned around to face the door side of the small space, a kiss was stolen from his lips all of a sudden. “…!?”

 

“I’ll make it a worthy lunch, then,” announced Akashi, a mischievous smirk on his features that told the bluenette that maybe he took another step towards the imminent explosion of his heart due to the quickness of its pumping.

 

As they rode down, Kuroko every now and then took a peek in the redhead’s direction, who perpetually remained with a satisfied expression, one that seemed completely different from the one he put on when things went along with his manipulative plans and schemes when it came to matters regarding Teikou Academy and ‘Users’.

 

 _Well… If I get to see Akashi-kun wholeheartedly happy about something… then I guess I don’t really mind dying from a heart attack,_ inwardly mumbled the bluenette as he sideways glanced to the taller male.

 

And his heartbeat did indeed start to steadily race faster and faster when his hand ‘unconsciously’ started to slowly move towards Akashi’s, hoping to get his body to relish in the now familiar prickling sensation and warmness.

 

“We’re here,” announced Akashi when another _ping_ sounded inside of the lift and the doors started to open. When he looked over to the smaller male, he had to shift his eyes down, seeing as Kuroko remained crouched down on the carpeted floor of the small room, his hands covering his face. “Tetsuya?”

 

“L-L-Let’s just have lunch,” stutteringly requested Kuroko, motioning his body to a standing position as quickly as an arrow and walking out of the lift with the quickest stride he could do at the moment without running the risk of tripping on his own two feet and ungracefully fall face down on the floor, the way his face was burning with a red blush and his heart trying to slow down in its frenzy.

 

“As you wish,” acknowledged Akashi in between soft chuckles. The thought that he would get to have the adorable bluenette all to himself for the next upcoming days made a contempt smile once again twist the corners of his lips upwards. “The table that corresponds to our room is table number 4. I think it’s one of those near the windows.”

 

“Uhh…” softly groaned Kuroko as soon as he looked over in the direction where the redhead was pointing and saw a table set for two people, a window from ceiling to the floor right behind it. The reason he had groaned had been due to the countless number of people that were walking in the street right behind the transparent glass wall.

 

“Just think of it as the 2nd phase of your training,” said Akashi, walking past the smaller male and tugging at his sleeve to bring him along with him to the table. “You’ll have to get used to have people around you if you want to attend the pastry competition, where there’ll be hundreds of guests attending throughout the several events and challenges set for the pastry chefs. What’s better to get used to it other than have a lot of unknown people around you while having an invisible wall separating you from them?”

 

“I-I guess it would be technically safer than when we had lunch in the cafeteria… But…” mumbled Kuroko as he was pulled along to the table by the redhead, a small panic etching itself in his brain.

 

“If it’s even safer than in Teikou, where no one would even dream of trying to approach us in any way, then what’s bothering you so much?” asked Akashi, gently ruffling the smaller male’s blue locks of hair. “Either way, I told you that I would protect you, didn’t I? If there’s any problem coming from your side, I told you that I would stop you, didn’t I? So relax and let’s enjoy our lunch.”

 

“…Yes…” shyly acknowledged Kuroko with a small nod of his head. When his sleeve was released, he walked closer to the nearest seat of their correspondent table and pulled the chair, sitting on it with extremely tense movements while his eyes remained stuck to the big window. “U-Um… Have you decided on w-what we will eat?”

 

“Taking into consideration your tiny appetite, I guess one main course and dessert would be more than enough,” said Akashi as he picked up the menu on top of the table and started reading its content. “Why don’t we go for the chef’s choice of the day for our lunch and then decide on which dessert would be the best to go along with it?”

 

“W-What is the chef’s choice of the day?” asked Kuroko, taking a tentative glance over to the taller male but quickly returning his teal gaze to the outside.

 

“If you can keep looking over in my direction for a full minute, I’ll tell you,” teasingly suggested Akashi as he closed the menu and quickly took the menu in front of the bluenette from near his reach.

 

“Ugh, you’re evil…” grumbled Kuroko, sideways glancing to the redhead while pouting slightly. He was starting to regret the fact that he wasn’t reading the menu back in the room due to real hunger or interest in the matter, but as a little diversion from Akashi as he arranged a couple of things in the suite.

 

“I’m simply trying to help you to the best of my abilities,” defended himself Akashi, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders. He motioned his right hand towards the smaller male and gently grabbed his chin, pulling his face so that he would have to look straight in his direction. “The minute starts… now.”

 

“Uhh…” groaned Kuroko once again, trying his utmost to maintain his eyes looking directly to the heterochromatic ones that intently stared at him. Every couple of seconds that passed, his eyes threatened to fail him and averting the intensity of Akashi’s gaze but it seemed that he was doing a good work at not backing down, seeing as the redhead wasn’t saying anything regarding that… for now.

 

“Are my eyes really that scary?” unexpectedly inquired Akashi, softening even further his gentle hold to the smaller male’s chin.

 

“…Eh?”

 

“I’ve never meet anyone that could look straight into my eyes for a long period of time,” started Akashi, the previous confident and mischievous glint in his red and golden eyes softening to less noticeable degrees. “Everybody averts my gaze after a couple of seconds or they don’t even look to my eyes directly on the whole. I know that my eyes are one of the things that can make my ability run even deeper but… Does the fact that my eyes are of mismatched colors scare other people or weird them out, I wonder?”

 

“…No,” interrupted Kuroko, his own teal eyes gaining a sudden boost of confidence and decisively looking right into the mismatched colored eyes that were unexpectedly brought to the conversation. “I think your personality has to do with that, not your eyes. Because they are beautiful.”

 

“…” Taken aback by such a bold remark from the usual passive bluenette, Akashi let the hand holding into his chin fall back to the table, his eyes slightly open in surprise as he continued to stare to the smaller male. “Tets—“

 

“Are you ready to place your order, sir?” asked a waiter as he stopped in front of the table, a notepad and a pen on his hands so he could register the meal as soon as it started to be said.

 

“Entries number 11 and 15 from the dessert menu,” readily answered Akashi, nudging the two menus in his hand towards the waiter as he continuously looked to the bluenette.

 

“Eh?” interjected both Kuroko and the waiter, the two of them not understanding why the redhead was jumping directly to the dessert section of the menu without requesting any entrance or main course at all. Kuroko felt the incomprehension even more than the working male due to the conversation they were having just a minute ago about getting to know what the chef’s choice of the day that they were supposed to eat was.

 

“I said, the entries number 11 and 15 from the dessert menu,” repeated Akashi once again, motioning the menus even closer to the waiter as he took a sideways glance at him.

 

“Ah, yes! Right away,” complied the waiter, quickly writing the order on the notepad and then collecting the menus from the redhead’s hand, quickly walking away from the table to take the request to the kitchen and have it readily prepared.

 

“Um… Weren’t we supposed to eat the chef’s choice of the day and then dessert, Akashi-kun?” asked Kuroko as he observed the waiter disappear inside of a door, which supposedly lead to the kitchen, and then turned his gaze towards the taller male.

 

“I’ve changed my mind,” shortly answered Akashi as he placed his elbow on top of the table and rested his chin on his hand, his eyes now directed to the bustling street behind the large window. There was a soft shade of pink covering his cheekbones, though most of the unusual coloring was hidden by the position that his head had taken to look outside.

 

“…?” Tilting his head slightly to the left, Kuroko continued to look to the redhead with a certain curiosity. “That sure if unusual, to see Akashi Seijuurou suddenly changing his mind about something.”

 

“It was the first time you complimented me in a straightforward way, without it being directly connected to my work and functions as a ‘Miracle’ and in Teikou Academy,” explained Akashi, taking a sideways glance to the bluenette while still partially hiding his features.

 

“Pffft!” started laughing Kuroko, lunging his hands upwards to clutch his mouth shut and prevent himself from outright laughing at the redhead’s words. “Are you feeling sick, Akashi-kun? You almost sounded like a—“

 

“Like a love-struck maiden?” interrupted Akashi, dropping his hand back to the table and turning his head once again in the smaller male’s direction. Though his expression remained dead serious, there was a soft smile curving his lips upwards. “That’s what I wind up becoming when you are concerned.”

 

“Thank you for the wait,” said the same waiter than had came before to take their order, a round tray in his hands substituting the previous notepad and pen. “Here is number 11, custard tart with fresh berries, and number 15, peanut butter chocolate cake.”

 

The waiter put the two plates on top of the table, unsure about which dessert corresponded to the two occupants sitting there, gave a quick bow with his head and once again went about to serve any other guest that was placed in his assigned area in the restaurant.

 

“…” His face flushed right until the tips of his ears and the back of his neck, Kuroko continued to stare down to his own lap, his fingers nervously playing with the hems of his sleeves. He heard some clicking sounds happening around on top of the table, plates being moved around and cutlery hitting softly the dish, but he felt he was at the verge of passing out and managed to control his own curiosity over how the delicious-sounding desserts really looked like.

 

“Tetsuya.”

 

Hearing his name being called in such a gentle way, his control crumbled in an instant and the bluenette raised his eyes to look in Akashi’s direction. What he found right in front of his face was a dessert fork holding a piece made of milky custard cream, sweet cookie cup and two raspberries being supported in the air by the redhead’s hand.

 

“T-Thank you,” shyly said Kuroko, lifting his hand from his lap to take a hold of the fork. When his fingers were about to touch the silver cutlery, the redhead’s hand was quickly withdraw back to his body.

 

“Say ‘ahhh~’,” requested Akashi, once again motioning the fork towards the bluenette’s mouth, a half satisfied, half mischievous smile on his lips.

 

“A-A-Akashi-kun!?” stutteringly yelped Kuroko, his whole face once again housing a bright red blush as he tried to make head and tails of what exactly was running around inside of the redhead’s brain. “What do you mean by—“

 

“’Ahhh~’,” insisted Akashi, shortening the distance between the fork with the dessert and the smaller male’s face.

 

“…” Inwardly cursing and grumbling at the redhead, Kuroko skirted his eyes through their surroundings to see if there was anyone around or if anyone was looking over at the weird show they were putting on display to the world. Then he shyly looked in between the fork and the redhead, who still looked in his direction with amusement and, even worse to his heart, adoration written all over his gaze.

 

Momentarily biting his lower lip, the bluenette slowly parted his lips and grew closer to the fork, quickly chomping on the piece of cake being given to him and then withdrawing to a straight position on the chair.

 

“Is it good?” asked Akashi, smiling brightly to the bluenette. He saw him awkwardly nod his head in confirmation, an adorable blush covering his whole cheeks as he munched on the sweet. “Try the peanut butter cake next.”

 

“Um—!” Kuroko was about to try to stop the taller male from repeating the same as with the last piece but he was a second too late and Akashi was already motioning the fork once again in his direction, this time a piece of three layers of chocolate sponge cake with intervals of creamy peanut butter in between. “Ugh…”

 

A little bit more confidently than the first time, Kuroko motioned his body forward once again and quickly put the chunk of cake in his mouth, deliciously savoring the sweetness of the chocolate and the peanut butter while returning to the same sitting position as before.

 

“Is it good too?” asked Akashi once again, his smile stretching even further when he saw the bluenette nodding his head at him.

 

“W-Why do you enjoy teasing me so much, Akashi-kun?” mumbled Kuroko after having swallowed the dessert in his mouth.

 

“I’m not teasing you,” defended himself Akashi, turning the fork around on his hand and motioning the handle closer to the bluenette. “It’s your turn now. Feed me a piece of the dessert that you liked the most.”

 

“How exactly is that not you teasing me?” deadpanned Kuroko. However, expression soon returned to his features in the form of a soft shade of pink in his cheeks and a hesitate gaze thrown in the redhead’s direction. “Besides, the two desserts were equally good in different ways. Probably… any dessert that you would feed me would taste delicious.”

 

The fork that Akashi was passing to the bluenette suddenly slipped out of his grasp, falling on the table but bouncing out of its surface to fall down on the floor.

 

“…? Are you sure you are really feeling okay, Akashi-kun?” questioned Kuroko, lowering his body in the floor’s direction so he could pick up the fallen fork. But when his fingertips were about to touch the cutlery, his wrist was pulled down towards the floor and his whole body followed in tandem with the unexpected pull, making him grab at the towel with one of his hands in hopes to prevent his own imminent fall. “…!”

 

Even though he was already expecting to hear the noisy clatter of dishes shattering on the floor due to the half pulled towel, there was only silence around him and when he looked to in front of him from his sitting position on the floor, Kuroko found Akashi also there, all the things that were supposed to have broken at the impact softly placed on the floor around them without a single crack on them.

 

“What are you doin—“ started admonishing Kuroko but he was swiftly silenced when the redhead’s face quickly grew closer to him, stopping an inch away from his own.

 

“I think you are the one teasing me here, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, motioning his body forward while the bluenette crawled slightly backwards. “Back in the lift, you tried to grab my hand. You suddenly say that my eyes are beautiful. And now you claim that any dessert that I feed you would taste delicious. Who’s the one doing the seduction game now?”

 

“I didn’t mean any of it in that way!” tried to defend himself Kuroko, a dark crimson blush appearing in his features. “I-I can’t deny that I didn’t do any of those things… But I was just trying… to be honest… Takao-kun said that being a ‘User’ doesn’t mean that we lose the right to be honest with ourselves. And you, Akashi-kun… You told me to not give up on something without first trying to get a hold of it, didn’t you?”

 

“Damn it, we are definitely not in the right place for doing this but…” softly mumbled Akashi before he lunged his body forward and sealed the bluenette’s lips with his own in a tender kiss. “How can you claim you didn’t mean it like that when you admitted just now that you did?”

 

“Eh…? Mmhn…!” Once again, Kuroko’s lips were stolen by a passionate kiss performed by the redhead, his body falling slightly backwards with the momentum of their joining. To prevent his body from fully hitting the floor, he dropped his left hand on the floor while keeping his body steady by holding into the window right beside them. “Haa… Mmhm…”

 

“Haa… Tetsuya, I want to taste the desserts that left your mouth this sweet too,” softly purred Akashi against the moist lips of the bluenette. He motioned his right hand sideways and pulled the custard tart’s plate closer to their bodies. The redhead broke a small piece with his fingers and put it in one go inside of his mouth, before lunging his head forward so that Kuroko could savor the dessert just as much as him by hungrily kissing him.

 

“Ngh… haa… mhmm…” whimpered Kuroko, his mouth filled with the sweet taste of the vanilla custard and the cookie cup from the tart and the sensually hot and wet tongue of the redhead as it danced around together with his own. “Akas— Haa… Ah…!”

 

Giving a last suckle to the bluenette’s tongue, Akashi separated their lips enough to squeeze inside of his mouth another piece of the dessert, this time a small chunk of strawberry that adorned the top of the round tart. He immediately resumed with his passionate kiss, playing around with the piece of fruit in Kuroko’s mouth, squeezing out all of its sweet juice as it mingled with their entwined saliva.

 

“Haa… Mnm…” The kiss prolonged and prolonged, the bluenette’s arms slowly growing more and more unsteady with the overwhelmingly pleasurable sensations of kissing Akashi in such a fashion. In order to try to stabilize himself, even if it would make the whole exchange even more erotic, Kuroko took his hand out of the window and grabbed into the back of the taller male’s head, joining their lips even more strongly. “Akashi…kun… Haa…”

 

“It’s enjoyable… haa… to kiss you like this but I prefer… when there’s no flavor involved…” purred Akashi between wet and deep kisses. “I like it much better when I get to… taste you raw.”

 

“Ah… Idiot…” half heartedly admonished Kuroko as their never ending exchange of kisses continued.

 

“But, as I thought… We can’t do this here,” said Akashi, softly breaking their joined lips apart, even though a thin thread of saliva still connected their moist and reddish lips. “And I think… haa… it would be extremely bad right now if we went back to our room.”

 

“Haa… haa…” Panting hard to try to restore his oxygen levels, Kuroko let his hand fall from the taller male’s head, his fingers gently caressing his red locks of hair as it motioned back down to the floor.

 

“As such… would you like to go to a bookstore?” suggested Akashi, bumping their foreheads together as he slowly wiped the small trickle of saliva running down the corner of the bluenette’s lips with his thumb. “Like it was promised to happen some time ago.”

 

_No, I would like you to take me to our room._

 

“…Yes… haa… let’s go to a bookstore,” agreed Kuroko, contrary to his heart’s and body’s wishes. He gulped down hard and tried to soothe down the fire burning deep inside of him the most he could. “Like it was promised to happen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ZERO" by Ono Kenshou (our most-likely extremely frustrated bluenette, hehehe~)
> 
> Well... Maybe Kuroko should stay quiet and not speak and his virginity will remain intact for longer than he actually wants it to remain~ Damn it, you dummy >_< You should have said those thoughts out loud, for god sake! Baka Kuroko! Baka baka baka baka!!!!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi


	133. That much I know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with a new chapter ^.^
> 
> For once... I managed to keep my schedule! Yay! *throws fireworks* Probably because I finally managed to start living in my new flat (though still not sleeping in a bed since my bedroom is very far away from being completed -.-'), I can now organize my writing time better and have things really finished on time (if my computer cooperates with me, of course *pointed look to my computer*)
> 
> Anyways, this chapter is a little bit smaller but I think that will be fully compensated with the upcoming chapters *evil smirk* Please enjoy nevertheless~

The metallic rattling of a bell announced the entrance of two more customers to the bookstore, a two-storied building with several divisions which were covered from top to bottom with shelves and shelves filled with the most diverse of literary topics, expanding from fiction novels to cookbooks and DIY instruction books. When one of the female attendants came to bid welcome to the newcomers, she quickly withdrew her body to the place where she had came from, a deep red blush covering her face.

 

“Tetsuya, we have arrived to the bookstore,” said Akashi with a certain amusement on his voice. “There’s no one around so you can let go now and walk like a normal teenager, not like a little child grabbing into his mother’s leg.”

 

“P-Please leave m-me alone, A-Akashi-kun,” mumbled Kuroko, his body teetering around as he tightly hugged the taller male, most of himself hidden beneath the redhead’s jacket. When he unburied his face from its hiding place against Akashi’s neck, he scavenged his whole surroundings, relaxing exponentially when he noticed that they truly were in a place with far less people than the packed street, albeit not completely empty as he would have liked it to be.

 

“It’s really adorable and cute to see you hugging me like this but you can’t continue to hide yourself in such ways,” started Akashi, a soft smile on his lips as he pulled his jacket from on top of the bluenette’s body and unwillingly took a step backwards to unglue the smaller male from their hugging position. “Most of the people who were staring at us did it because of the extremely weird sight of two males hugging in the middle of the street.”

 

“Ugh…” groaned Kuroko, looking down at his shoes due to sheer embarrassment towards his own unconscious actions. Yes, he felt safer when Akashi was around, even more so if it was an extremely close-contact type of proximity, but it was inexcusable to behave in such a way in a public space. The redhead was totally right when he said that Kuroko hugging him while surrounded by countless strangers would rouse their curiosity and make them keep staring at the unusual display of extreme skinship. “I-I’m so—“

 

“Try saying ‘I’ll walk normally once we get outside of the bookstore’ instead of apologizing,” interrupted Akashi, his hand motioning upwards to softly ruffled the bluenette’s hair.

 

“Uhh… I-I’ll walk n-normally once we get o-outside of the b-bookstore,” stutteringly repeated Kuroko, taking a peek in the redhead’s direction. When he saw him nodding his head in acknowledgment, his soft smile widening even further, the bluenette thought that maybe, just maybe, he could give it a try and successfully reach the hotel without recurring to grab into the taller male like his life depended on it.

 

“From what I understood, you haven’t been in a bookstore for quite a while, right?” asked Akashi as he started to walk deeper inside of the shelves-covered division, a jerk of his chin urging the bluenette to follow after him. “Taking the books that I have in my room and in my private building into consideration, is there anything that you would like to read that you can’t find there?”

 

“Um… I wanted to give a try to the historical series called Eagle, by Simon Scarrow,” hesitantly answered Kuroko, taking quick glances to his surroundings as a certain excitement started to course through his bloodstream due to being surrounded by so many different books.

 

“Ah yes, I certainly do not have any of his books,” acknowledged Akashi as he skirted through the database of titles of books that he had memorized in his brain so that he wouldn’t end up buying two volumes of the same novel – not that such a mistake would ever happen. “Let’s go to the historical fiction section then.”

 

With a soft nod of his head, Kuroko eagerly followed after Akashi, his excitement getting more noteworthy on his body as he fidgeted his head around, taking in all the titles and authors that he had yet to hear of.

 

And finding out that the historical fiction section had the up-until-then translated-into-Japanese volumes of the searched for series, Kuroko couldn’t control his binge reader side anymore and readily lunged his hand forward to pile the available volumes on a carrier bag that the redhead was kind enough to provide, despise his apparent amusement over the smaller male’s reactions. It was going to be a slow process seeing as Kuroko made question to first read the synopsis in the back cover and then spend a good few minutes skirting his eyes through the contents of the book – he could care less right now about getting spoiled in some future events of the series, for he was inside of a bookstore, with access to any book currently located inside, for the first time in more than a year.

 

“Ah… Now that I think about it…” started Akashi all of a sudden, his eyes also glued to the inside of one of Simon Scarrow’s historical novels, though this one centered around Napoleon Bonaparte. “You said, and also demonstrated, in a way, that you can’t be close to any electronic instruments for long periods of time, right?”

 

“Nn…” acknowledged Kuroko with a hum, too preoccupied with the volume in his hands to fully pay attention to what the redhead was saying.

 

“Then how do you get to know about new books and new authors, if you can’t research for them in the Internet, and if you have been isolating yourself from everyone, making it impossible for you to get suggestions or even discuss anything with anybody?” asked Akashi, giving a quick peek in the bluenette’s direction.

 

“I had my sources,” shortly answered Kuroko, closing the volume with a soft thud and motioning it down to the carrier bag, neatly putting it together with the others already located there.

 

“This is not the first time that the thought has crossed my mind but… The way you stayed hidden from everybody’s knowledge while in Teikou Academy during all three years of middle school and went around digging some information about us Miracles and, possibly, other students,” said Akashi, returning his red and golden eyes back to the open book. “It’s just like a thing that a spy would be able to pull off.”

 

“Reading that book about Napoleon is putting funny ideas in your head, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, lunging his hand towards the bookshelf to take out the last volume available in Japanese.

 

“Is it now?” chuckled Akashi, pretending not to have noticed the slight trembling that had suddenly appeared in the smaller male’s hands. “I should be more careful about what I read, from now on, then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "The Other self" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Well... Akashi has his own suspicions about Kuroko... Kuroko doesn't really make it any better for himself by only giving half answers... But what is the TRUTH indeed? Fufufu~
> 
> Mafy has a feeling that this question in particular is very close to be answered, if only to you readers *evil smirk*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi


	134. What do you call right? What do you call a mistake?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> I've safely found a job! *throws fireworks* I'm still taking small shifts every day since I'm in my learning period but I guess I can already expect to grow slightly busy from here on. Hence, I decided to make some slight changes to my release schedule~ "A Demon's Fate", my first Haikyuu!! fanfiction will take "Shattered Miracles" slot and vice-versa, while "Break My Silence" and "Code M - Level XS" will remain the same. And what do you mean by exchanging slots, you ask? I've been releasing new chapters for "A Demon's Fate" every day, twice or thrice (depending on my schedule). You will now relish in multiple releases per week XD Happy to hear that?
> 
> Oh, but I remember that I promised to make up with you for the previous chapter's shortness, didn't I? Hence~
> 
> Warning: NOSEBLEED ALERT!!
> 
> Enjoy, fufufu~

The sound of fast breathing. The _thump_ of a door closing. And the clatter of heavy plastic bags being dropped to the floor.

 

“N-Never again… will I g-go out… during t-this time of the d-day…” stutteringly mumbled Kuroko as he let the bags he was carrying slip out of his hands, his body sliding down against the suite room’s door where he would get to stay with the redhead for the next couple of nights.

 

“But you did a wonderful job while walking back to the hotel,” congratulated Akashi, picking up the bags left in the floor by the bluenette and carrying them inside of the living room that the suite room had. “You didn’t grab unto me, fortunately and unfortunately, I must say, since we got outside of the bookstore until we reached our room.”

 

“I had my h-hands preoccupied w-with the bags…” pointed out Kuroko, still trying to control his hasty breathing rhythm. “T-That sort of helped me to n-not fall in the t-temptation of grabbing into you.”

 

“So I’ve finally reached the point where I’m seen as a temptation in your eyes?” mischievously teased Akashi, turning his head to look at the bluenette as he took his jacket off and settled it in one of the individual sofas (seeing as the big one had been _accidentally_ crushed by the chandelier).

 

“That’s not what I meant,” interrupted Kuroko almost instantly, his face completely void of expression. He picked himself up and walked deeper inside of the room, also taking off his jacket. When he passed by the redhead, his stomach decided to loudly growl right at the best of moments. “Uhh…”

 

“That much of a temptation, huh…” teasingly pointed out Akashi in between soft chuckles. He motioned his hands forward towards the trying-to-escape bluenette and grabbed him by the hips, pulling him closer towards his chest and fully closing his arms around his waist, his clasped hands neatly adjusted against the small of Kuroko’s back. “Care to dig in, then?”

 

“A-Ah…” Kuroko’s face was immediately painted with a myriad of shades of red, his brain recalling the events that had happened earlier in the day while they were eating lunch and how much he would have liked to say the words that had been closed inside of his mind instead of the answer that his vocal cords had spewed. “P-Please stop teasing me… Akashi-kun.”

 

“I’m not, though. I was whole-heartedly making a suggestion. Or is it that you don’t want to eat any dinner, even with your stomach grumbling this loudly?” asked Akashi, his head slightly tilted to the left as he stared to the smaller male with innocent red and golden eyes.

 

“…!” Kuroko had thought to be impossible to blush more than he was already currently doing, but he did it – he managed to defy the laws of nature and all the blood in his whole body rushed to his cheeks.

 

“What? Were you thinking that I was proposing another type of ‘meal’?” asked Akashi once again, this time far more mischievously than before. He inched his face closer to the bluenette’s, amusingly observing his current shyness and the deep crimson blush on his features. “I would be more than welcome to comply with that, Tetsuya. Any time of the day.”

 

The redhead couldn’t help but chuckle when he pretty much saw a cloud of steam coming out of the smaller male’s head, his mouth babbling around without releasing any actual sound.

 

“So which one do you want? Dinner? A bath? Me?” asked Akashi with a sly smirk, putting forward one of the cliché lines that he had heard of so many times. He pulled the bluenette’s waist and body closer to his own, shortening the distance between their faces even more. “All three of them?”

 

“Uh… A b-bath… and dinner…” shyly mumbled Kuroko, his eyes bashfully looking straight to the intense, but quite amused, heterochromatic gaze being sent his way. “O-Only…”

 

“Is that so? Such a pity…” said Akashi, a little bit of disappointment showing in his face. He fully motioned his head forward and gave a gentle quick peck to the bluenette’s lips. He then smiled softly to the other male as he unclasped his hands and took his arms from around his waist, allowing him to once again run away, if such was his wishes. “We have a lot of time so that’s not a problem, though.”

 

“Um…”

 

“So, first of all, a bath, right?” asked Akashi, taking a step backwards to allow the bluenette some breathing space. “Do you want me to help you draw the bath or can you do it by yourself?”

 

“Ah… I can do it by myself,” answered Kuroko, not understanding why part of him, inwardly, was beginning to panic in such an unusual and unfamiliar way. “But…”

 

“Then while you are having your bath, I’ll make the arrangements for our dinner,” added Akashi, giving a quick soft smile to the bluenette before he turned around and walked towards the menu that had been left in the room. “Is there anything in particular that you want to ea—“

 

“Akashi-kun!” suddenly interrupted Kuroko, gradually starting to feel angry towards the redhead. No, not angry – he was getting frustrated at the way he was currently acting. When Akashi turned around to look in his direction with a surprised look on his face, the bluenette unconsciously clenched his fists and took a step backwards. “P-Please stop holding yourself back. It’s uncharacteristic of you to act in such an obedient and controlled way, not to mention really unsettling and disturbing, to say the least.”

 

“Tetsuya?”

 

“Ah! Um… I-I’m going to take my bath now,” excused himself Kuroko, quickly turning around on his heels and running towards the bedroom, where he swiftly took refuge in by closing the door behind himself so that he could reach the bathroom in total privacy.

 

Sighing deeply, Akashi ran his fingers through his red locks of hair and then let it drop once again to the side of his body. “I really can’t win against that well-honed perception and people observing skills of yours, can I…?”

 

-.-

 

After having relaxed and calmed himself down for half an hour while inside of hot water-filled spacious bathtub, Kuroko quickly dressed himself up and shortly towel-dried his hair to compensate for the long time he had spent closed inside of the bathroom. Akashi was most likely impatiently waiting for him so that they could go eat dinner at the restaurant and the way he had run off to inside of the bathroom hadn’t been done in the best of circumstances either so, albeit with a lot of hesitation, the bluenette opened the bathroom’s door just a gap and peeked to inside of the bedroom, which he found completely empty and dark, due to the late hour that they had already returned to the room after having spent the entire afternoon and early evening inside of the bookstore.

 

He fully came out of the bathroom and tiptoed until the bedroom’s door, which he also softly and slowly opened, once again peeking to inside of the living room.

 

Kuroko wind up discovering Akashi leisurely enjoying one of the novels that he had bought, sat down in one of the individual sofas. In the short table in front of him were displayed several plates with bite-sized dishes and two sets of cutlery and empty plates.

 

“You said that I should stop holding back,” unexpectedly said Akashi, softly closing the book in his hands and settling it in the sofa’s armrest, looking towards the semi open bedroom’s door and the bluenette half hidden behind it afterwards. “Does that mean that I can be selfish and just get what I want at once?”

 

“As long as you don’t take it too far, you are free to do whatever you want, Akashi-kun,” answered Kuroko, fully opening the door and stepping inside of the living room. He walked towards the individual sofa placed opposite to the one being occupied by the redhead and was about to sit down when his name was called.

 

“Tetsuya, your hair is still dripping water,” said Akashi, motioning his hand upwards and calling the bluenette over with it. When he saw the smaller male grab a lock of wet blue hair, a few droplets falling on the carpet with the movement, the redhead chuckled and took from the backrest of the sofa a towel, showing it over to Kuroko while calling him over once again. “I’ll help you finish drying your hair. Think of it as a repayment from when you helped me drying my own.”

 

 _You were the one who asked me to help you dry your hair back then, though,_ inwardly pointed out Kuroko as he walked towards the redhead and tried to mask the slight roll of his eyes. The redhead adjusted both his position in the sofa and his hold to the towel when he stopped in front of him, though Kuroko was forced to just stand there due to not knowing how exactly they were going to go about it.

 

“Why do you just keep standing there, Tetsuya? Have a sit,” said Akashi, patting the empty space of the sofa between in legs with his hand to indicate the sitting location reserved to the bluenette.

 

“…” Briefly cursing his earlier words in the back of his head, Kuroko almost mechanically turned around and sat down on the edge of the sofa, his heart thundering around while inside of his ribcage and doing a good job in threatening the bluenette with a heart attack for the millionth time. However, his waist was almost instantly pulled towards the taller male’s body and his back neatly fitted against Akashi’s chest. “A-Akashi-ku— Huff…!”

 

“You were going to fall at some point if you stayed like that,” said Akashi, dropping the towel on top of the bluenette’s head and cutting off his words with it. He motioned his two hands forward and started to softly tousle the smaller male’s baby blue locks of hair, a satisfied smile painted in his lips. “It’s also easier for me like this.”

 

“I-Is it now…” shyly mumbled Kuroko, trying to get himself distracted over their close proximity by looking around the room for the hundredth time. He ended up finding himself staring at the low table filled with the bite-sized dishes. “Weren’t we going to the restaurant to eat dinner, Akashi-kun?”

 

“Would you prefer to run the risk of having me ‘attack’ you in here, where there’s only the two of us, or downstairs in the restaurant, surrounded by countless strangers?” asked back Akashi, his head slightly tilted so that he could look over the bluenette’s shoulder and into his face.

 

“I would prefer to not get ‘attacked’ at all,” deadpanned Kuroko almost immediately, once again rolling his eyes around at the redhead’s words. It seemed that his earlier admonished had made Akashi revert to his devil emperor-like personality and the bluenette was yet to discover if that was a good sign… or his possible doom.

 

“I think that’s something that depends more on you than on me,” pointed out Akashi, resuming with the towel-drying of the smaller male’s hair. “If you tempt me, I’m not strong enough to not take a bite at you. Like what happened in the restaurant at lunch time comes to prove.”

 

“I think you are still under the misunderstanding that my words were meant to seduce you, Akashi-kun,” sighed Kuroko, unconsciously inching his back closer to the redhead’s chest. He would have never guessed that having Akashi tousling his hair around with a towel would feel this relaxing and calming, even taking his furious heartbeat into consideration. To be more precise, compared to the last time where such had happened, when Kuroko was still a prisoner inside of the redhead’s building… now it felt like he could just melt at the gentle touch.

 

“How could they not be meant to seduce me, Tetsuya?” questioned Akashi, changing the position of the towel in the bluenette’s head so that he could dry the back of his hair next. “It made me extremely happy to hear you compliment my eyes, even though they are so… abnormal. Knowing that you tried to touch me by your own volition when you straight out avoid contact with every human being made me feel like I was the luckiest person in the world and, once again, I was overcome with extreme happiness. And it’s a given that hearing a person with a sweet tooth as big as you say that any dessert that they would eat would taste delicious if being given by me made… I think it’s called ‘my heart flutter’ by most people.”

 

“So, me seducing you is equivalent to making you happy?” asked Kuroko, his eyes closing as he leaned his back closer to the redhead. “I don’t really get you.”

 

“Likewise. I don’t get you or your actions most of the time either,” confessed Akashi, taking the towel from the bluenette’s head and putting it back down in the armrest of the sofa. He motioned his arms forward and wrapped them around Kuroko’s torso, which was pretty much sprawled on top of his chest. “Maybe instead of a baby panda, it would be more correct to describe you as cat. Only you purring at me touching you is what’s missing right now.”

 

“Uhh… It’s your fault this time, Akashi-kun,” mumbled Kuroko, settling the back of his head against the redhead’s shoulder.

 

“How come?” inquired Akashi, his head once again tilting so that he could take a peek at the bluenette’s face.

 

“It feels really comfortable to be like this,” confessed Kuroko, nestling himself against the redhead’s chest and the arms surrounding his upper body.

 

“Yes, definitely like a cat,” chuckled Akashi, a satisfied soft smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He gave a quick glance to one of the plates on top of the low table and his eyes flickered for a fraction of a second – the plate readily started floating in the air and slowly came towards their direction, landing smoothly in the armrest of the individual sofa. The redhead grabbed one of the miniature spring rolls and motioned it towards the smaller male’s mouth. “Here. Have a bite.”

 

“Your ability sure can be put to such silly uses,” sighed Kuroko, a soft shade of pink dusting his cheeks. He turned his head around a little bit and took a peek at the redhead hugging him from behind with his free arm. “Aren’t you going to say ‘ahh~’ this time around?”

 

“Do you want me to?” asked back Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched as he peered right back to the bluenette with a mischievous smirk.

 

“I was just joking,” mumbled Kuroko, straightening his head once again and puffing his cheeks out in a small sulking motion. He gave a quick jerk with his head and put his lips around the spring roll, biting half of it and then settling his back once again against the taller male’s chest, leisurely munching on the crispy wrapper filled with different vegetables, harusame and ground pork.

 

“Good?” asked Akashi, a soft smile in his features as he took another peek to the bluenette’s expression. When he saw him nodding his head while giving a low hum in acknowledgment, the redhead’s smile grew exponentially and he led the rest of the spring roll to his own mouth, munching on it much more satisfactorily than Kuroko had. “It is indeed good. Do you want more of these or do you want to try something else?”

 

“W-We can finish eating these first before moving to the next batch,” shyly mumbled Kuroko, his cheeks slightly more pinkish than before after he saw the redhead eat the other half of the spring roll and, consequently, sharing an indirect kiss with him – he was a man, for god sake, why was he having such girly thoughts at the moment?

 

“Will you be able to taste every single one of them that way, though?” pointed out Akashi, taking a hold of another miniature spring roll and moving it closer to the bluenette’s mouth. “I know that you have a very reduced appetite, excluding when it comes to sweets and desserts.”

 

“I don’t think that’s a problem. After the ginormous amount of food that I ate in Kagami-kun’s apartment, my stomach has somewhat stretched a litt—“ started saying Kuroko but when he felt the hand resting on top of his stomach curl around his clothes, he came to a halt on his own words and a deep and heavy silence crept into the previously leisure ambience.

 

“I’ve been meaning to ask you this for a while now,” started Akashi, breaking the silence that had stretched for long minutes. He carefully lowered the hand holding into the spring roll and put it on top of the bluenette’s leg, always certifying himself that he wouldn’t dirty any of their clothes by doing so. “What exactly happened inside of Kagami Taiga’s apartment when you went there to have dinner?”

 

“…”

 

“What were you, Daiki and Kagami Taiga talking about before I got there?” inquired further Akashi, his hand unconsciously clenching around the bluenette’s clothes.

 

“I… I don’t want to t-talk about it…” softly whispered Kuroko, his head dropping down so that he could hide his face from the taller male’s perceptive eyes.

 

“Did they force y—“

 

“They didn’t do anything wrong to me,” readily interrupted Kuroko, before any more misunderstandings towards the taller redhead and the tanned male could be formulated inside of the possessive brain of the heterochromatic redhead.

 

“Then what exactly happened?” continued to press forward Akashi, trying to take a glimpse of the bluenette’s currently hidden features. “When I got there, you had an expression in your face that I had never seen before. Why would you make that sort of face when in the presence of Kagami Taiga but not when with me?”

 

“…”

 

“Tetsuya,” tentatively called Akashi, putting the spring roll back in its plate and motioning his hand over to the bluenette afterwards. He softly cupped his warm cheek and gently pulled his face up and towards his direction so that they could talk while looking at one another’s eyes. “Tetsuya, look... …at me…”

 

“That was your fault, Akashi-kun,” almost purred Kuroko, his cheeks flushed bright crimson and teal eyes sweetly looking directly to the mismatched red and golden eyes of the taller male.

 

“…And then you claim you’re not…” almost imperceptibly mumbled Akashi before he lunged his head forward and hungrily kissed the bluenette, the hand cupping his blushing features keeping Kuroko’s head stable as he deliciously explored the insides of his mouth with his tongue.

 

There it was again – the exact same expression that Kuroko had had while inside of the taller redhead’s apartment. Only this time Kagami was miles away from their location.

 

“Mmhm! Haa… Mmhn—“ whimpered Kuroko against the redhead’s mouth, his tongue being pleasurably rubbed against Akashi’s. Feeling the oxygen inside of his lungs grow more and more scarce, the bluenette tentatively grabbed into the taller male’s upper leg and awkwardly squeezed it as a mean of warning him. Their lips swiftly came apart after long and wet kisses. “Haa… Haa… Akas—“

 

“Tetsuya, I’m sorry but let me touch you for a little bit,” suddenly announced Akashi, tugging at the bluenette’s upper clothes and inserting his hands inside of them, his fingers softly caressing his pale torso.

 

“…!” Kuroko gave a quick glance down, observing with eyes wide open as the redhead’s hands climbed further up on his stomach and chest area, and then turned his head around to wordlessly complain at him. Yes, wordlessly since Akashi didn’t spare him a single second to say even one word.

 

“If I don’t, I have no idea what I might do later on,” continued Akashi, his red and golden eyes blazing with all the want he felt towards the smaller male. “That’s why… Please let me touch you.”

 

“Ngh…” Body shivering more due to the incredulous words that he was hearing the redhead say than to the hands roaming around directly on his skin, Kuroko’s brain started to tempest around while he considered what he should do.

 

If he denied Akashi right now, the chances were that he would obediently comply with it. However, it also meant that he would be forcing Akashi to hold back once again and act uncharacteristically to his pretty much authoritative personality. Kuroko would, as such, go against his own admonishment towards him.

 

Then again, if he accepted and allowed Akashi to do as he pleased to him, even if just a little bit…

 

There would be no going back. The tiny little bit of self-restraint that kept his own desire and feelings for the redhead all bottled up and neatly stored inside of him would break permanently. He would never again be able to refuse, if he did even once, any of Akashi’s advances and he would be forced to acknowledge his deep rooted existence in his life in a physical and emotional sense at the same time.

 

The full-to-the-brim glass inside of Kuroko would or overflow and drown everybody around him with its contents, including himself and Akashi, or it would shatter due to the immeasurable quantity of liquid that it held inside.

 

Kuroko could only fear for the results that any of the two would possibly – _certainly_ – bring forward.

 

“A-Akashi-kun…” stutteringly called Kuroko, his trembling right hand slowly motion up in the air and landing on top of the redhead’s limb that remained on his slightly exposed skin. He softly grabbed into the back of his hand and did nothing else.

 

That was his decision and he could only pray that it wouldn’t come back to haunt him in the future, like all of his other past decisions did.

 

Their mouths once again meet in an even more desperate kiss, wet sounds filling the entire room as Kuroko responded to the redhead’s actions with the same intensity. Lips and tongues locked, Akashi continued to lead his hands upwards in the bluenette’s chest and took a hold of the two rosy buds, which he gently pinched and rolled with his thumbs and index finger.

 

“Mmnhm!! Ahh—“ loudly moaned Kuroko, his head falling backwards against the taller male’s shoulder with the spark of pleasure that coursed through his body as Akashi played with his nipples. “Ngh… Ahh!”

 

“The way you moan and gasp when I tease your nipples is almost maddening,” softly purred Akashi against the bluenette’s ear, giving a soft nibble and lick to his earlobe. “If you feel this good with me only touching you here… then how would you feel if I touched you even more in other places?”

 

“Ngh… Ah! Haa…” whimpered Kuroko, pressing the back of his head harder against the redhead’s shoulder as one of his hands remained on his bud, twirling and twisting, pulling and rubbing, and the other teasingly caressed his feverish skin as it motioned down and down. When he felt Akashi insert his hand inside of his pants and underwear, immediately grabbing his half hardened member, his body jerked forward, eyes opening in shock and hands readily motioning forward to grab into Akashi’s arm and prevent any movements from his side. “Akashi-k… You said… haa… only a little…!”

 

“This _is_ a little, compared to the mess that I would love to make out of you,” confessed Akashi, giving a stronger bite to the bluenette’s jelly earlobe and making him loudly moan with the mixture of the bite and the movements of his hand as he started to slowly pump his member into a harder state.

 

“Ahh… Akashi-kun…!” sweetly mewled Kuroko in pleasure, his body trembling at the sensations coursing through it. He dropped his head to the side, putting it even closer to the redhead’s face and lightly rubbed his features against the front of his neck. “Haa… Akashi-kun… Ngh! Ahh— Akashi-kun…”

 

“Call my name, Tetsuya,” requested Akashi before lunging his head slightly down and feasting on the smaller male’s lips with his own.

 

“Mmhn…” softly whimpered Kuroko, his body’s trembling escalating further as the motions of Akashi’s hand became easier and slicker with the precum dribbling out of his cock. “Haa… haa… Seijuurou… Ahh—!”

 

Akashi quickened the movements of his hands further, one of them delightfully teasing one of the bluenette’s nipples while the other hand continued to pump his sloppy wet hard member – all of this was driving Kuroko into a corner in terms both pleasure and restrain. With each motion, touch, caress, his desire doubled with the rapture they caused in him and, in the exact same proportion, his restrain towards the redhead was slowly slipping away from his grasp, as if a cloud getting farther away by the means of the wind and the rotation of the planet. Even if the cloud would return to the same place as before, it would never yield the same shape and, as such, Kuroko was doomed to never again hold the same type (if any at all) of restrain over his own desires and feelings towards Akashi.

 

He would surely grow greedy. He would surely want to have more of the redhead. He would surely become an even more despicable human being, rivaling with the ones that caused his fall to disgrace in the first place.

 

But, with whether a soft or hungry kiss, a light caress or a strong pinch, just like that, Akashi made Kuroko forget momentarily about his concerns. He made him put his thoughts and doubts regarding the future on the sideline and simply focus in the present that they both shared together.

 

Even though the redhead would most likely end up being his death, one way or another, Akashi made Kuroko want to try to be something, not just the broken monster that should be thrown away after used.

 

 _In a way, Akashi-kun was right,_ inwardly mumbled Kuroko as he once again dropped his head against the redhead’s neck, moans and gasps escaping his throat. _Happiness can really be compared to an arousing factor._

 

“Ngh… Seijuurou… Ahh—“ whimpered Kuroko against the taller male’s neck, his body starting to near his own limit in containment. “Haa… Sei…juurou… Seijuurou…!”

 

“Hearing you desperately chanting my name with a needy voice like that…” softly purred Akashi against the bluenette’s ear, his hot breath tickling his skin and making his body tremble even more. “I love it.”

 

“Ahh! Cumin— Seijuurou! Ahhh—!” Feeling his body tingling from head to toes, Kuroko threw his head backwards against Akashi’s shoulder and spilled his creamy release against the redhead’s hand. He readily allowed himself to sink down against the taller male’s body, his chest inflating and deflating with a quick pace as he panted his tiredness away and simply relished in the afterglow of his climax with half-lidded eyes. “Haa… haa…”

 

Akashi gave a soft peck to the bluenette’s sweaty temple and withdrew his sticky hand from inside of his underwear and pants, leaving his other hand on top of the smaller male’s half naked chest. He slightly raised his covered-in-cum hand and fixedly stared at it, slowly leading it in his direction.

 

“Don’t… haa… Don’t you dare…!” immediately admonished Kuroko when the redhead was opening his mouth to stick his tongue out and lick the white cream covering his skin. In an unconscious reflex, the bluenette gathered the little strength he still had in his body and quite painfully elbowed Akashi in the gut.

 

“Ugh!”

 

Akashi could have sworn that, just for a fraction of a second, he got to see the doors to Hell once again – this time not being him the one guilty of such.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ANSWER" by Kamiya Hiroshi - Akashi - and Ono Kenshou - Kuroko.
> 
> Well, I guess if you take off the lid called "restraint" out of Akashi, you can only expect to be attacked right away, Kuroko -.-' But it's okay, don't worry. It just means that you will be swallowed whole by an hungry and frustrated lion that wants to take care of you for the rest of your life XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi


	135. If you are with me, I feel as if I can achieve anything, even reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with the second chapter of the day ^.^
> 
> If the gods are on your side, then you will get a deliciously hot third one, nfufufu :3 Let's blow things out of proportion after this small break filled with fluff, shall we? *evil smirk*
> 
> Enjoy!

“Tetsuya,” sighed Akashi, his body leaned over the bedroom’s door frame as he looked to inside of the living room with his arms crossed over his chest. “For the millionth time, just come to bed to sleep.”

 

“N.O.” readily answered Kuroko with a monotone voice, not even sparing a single glance to the redhead as he simply continued to leisurely read the novel in his hands. Even though he was enjoying the story quite a bit, a frown was currently creasing his brows and one of his fingers impatiently tapped on the paperback cover.

 

“How long do you plan to continue to sulk?” sighed Akashi once again, his eyes unmoving from the bluenette, just like his body remained completely still – Kuroko had finally put good word on his 2 meters ban from near him and now the closest he could get to him from his current seating position was from the bedroom’s doorway.

 

“I’m not sulking, I’m merely angry at you,” corrected Kuroko with a matter of fact tone in his voice, trying to imitate the same way that the redhead spoke as when doing the same. His eyes dropped down to his lap and a soft shade of pink appeared in his cheeks as he mumbled to himself, “How could you try to do something like that…?”

 

“I was simply curious as to how you taste like exactly,” innocently answered Akashi, having managed to hear the words that the smaller male had spoken with a low voice.

 

“Well, don’t be curious about something like that!” almost yelped Kuroko, the pinkish shade reddening by a tenfold as he angrily closed the book in his hand and turned his body around to look over to the taller male. “Something like _that_ wasn’t made to be licked or eaten or anything along those lines.”

 

“It’s not like I would get pregnant if I did,” pointed out Akashi with a shrug of his shoulders. “As a man, the worst it could happen would be an upset stomach and I highly doubt that I would fall victim of such, taking into consideration that I’m a ‘User’ – a ‘Miracle’, at that – and, hence, my healing speed and general physical condition is far above the average.”

 

“That’s not the point,” sighed Kuroko, starting to feel more exasperated than angry as he continued to listen to the redhead’s arguments. _Taking into consideration what I am, an upset stomach would be the least of your concerns. It could possibly get you killed… or do something even worse than that…_

 

“Would you come to bed if I apologized?” asked Akashi after the brief silence that had suddenly taken a hold of the whole suite room. “Or should I go phone the reception to ask for a guest bed?”

 

At hearing those two questions, Kuroko quickly put the book back down on the short table that had previously held countless dishes with bite-sized foods (they went eventually cold, but both of them still ended up eating them – though in silence and with the bluenette continuously glaring in the redhead’s direction) and got up from the sofa in a single motion. He walked towards the bedroom with decisive steps and passed by the redhead, who continuously observed his movements.

 

“I’m going to sleep now,” announced Kuroko, taking a sideways glance to the taller as he remained standing in front of the end of the large bed. “Since I’m quite tired, I guess in a couple of minutes I’ll be sleeping deep enough to not notice as you sneak on the bed once again, won’t I?”

 

“I suppose that is so,” chuckled Akashi, a soft smile in his features as he looked over to the bluenette. He turned around on his heels and stepped outside of the bedroom, closing the door behind himself.

 

Releasing a sigh, Kuroko fully motioned over to the bed and sat down on it, his head falling on top of his hands. He was going to die. He was going to die due to pure embarrassment.

 

 _Maybe if I gut-punch him in the right place or maybe hit his head with something, Akashi-kun will lose consciousness once again and I can use that chance to just tie him around with something,_ started to mentally scheme Kuroko, his eyes peering sideways to the closed door from behind his hands. _Having a second bed would also be an option but I can’t take it when Akashi-kun looks at me with puppy eyes or pouts. It would also probably end up being a double edged sword since I know very well that, in the end, he would still crawl to the bed I was sleeping on at some point during the night._

 

“Ugh… Let’s just fall asleep the quickest possible…” groaned Kuroko, fully putting his whole body on top of the bed and pulling the sheets down so that he could get underneath them, his whole body readily curling up on its own as soon as the sheets were stuffily covering his entire frame.

 

Even though the bluenette had said such, it was more than obvious that his furious heartbeat wouldn’t let him fall asleep that easily. And if that was going to be the case, then he might as well…

 

“Tetsuya?” called Akashi after having knocked softly on the door as soon as a good couple of minutes had gone by. He opened the door without making any sound and took a peek inside of the master bedroom of the suite, a small ball all curled up underneath the sheets of the spacious bed.

 

The redhead couldn’t really help the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips as he silently walked closer to the bed and then crawled inside of it, snuggling on the side of the mattress that the bluenette had reserved for him.

 

Almost as soon as Akashi stilled his body and closed his eyes, two hands grabbed into his shirt and a warm body softly crashed against his own, surprising him slightly how quickly the expected event was happening.

 

“Was he really that tired, to have fallen asleep this quickly?” whispered Akashi, adjusting his body slightly so that the bluenette could more easily nestle against him in the middle of his sleeping movements. He was about to run his fingers through the silky blue locks of hair placed on top of his chest when an unexpected voice interrupted his movements.

 

“I’m still very well awake, thank you very much,” mumbled Kuroko as he buried his blushing features even more strongly against the taller male’s chest.

 

“…!” Still feeling relatively taken aback by the bold actions of the smaller male, Akashi resumed with the movements of his hand and softly landed it on top of the bluenette’s head, his fingers readily entwining around his hair. “So it seems. I wasn’t really expecting to ever see you acting this upfront, Tetsuya.”

 

“L-Let’s just sleep, A-Akashi-kun…” shyly mumbled Kuroko once again as he leisurely adjusted his laid down position against the redhead until he found just the perfect and most comfortable one.

 

“Okay, let’s just sleep,” acknowledged Akashi, pulling the bluenette closer to his body as he wrapped his arms around his small frame and leaned the side of his face against the crown of his head. “We have to wake up at 8am tomorrow to be in Sumida Triphony Hall in time for the inauguration of the pastry competition, so don’t be surprised by hearing the alarm clock of my cell phone ringing in the morning.”

 

“Nn,” softly hummed Kuroko in acknowledgment, his eyelids slowly closing. For as weird as it may sound… his heart felt much calmer now that he was grabbing into the redhead than when he was laying all one on the bed.

 

“Good night, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, delivering a quick kiss to the bluenette’s head and then returning the side of his face back to the same place as before.

 

“Good night, Akashi-kun,” also said Kuroko, allowing his mind and body to slip under the tiredness that he truly felt with all the emotions he had to go through in one single day.

 

However, for as much emotional turbulence had happened during the day time, Kuroko got to enjoy the most tranquil night of his whole life. No dreams… No fears… No nothing.

 

Just him and Akashi Seijuurou, the person he should hate the most in the world – not love the most.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, these two, I swear... I can't take it >.< They are so freaking precious and I love them so very much. And they also love each other so very much XD Just get married already and be together for the rest of your lives!!!!!!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi


	136. Maybe we’ve gotten a little closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here again!
> 
> YES! I DID! Third chapter of the day~ *dances around the room*
> 
> Like I said in the previous chapter, let's blow things out of proportions~ (pun totally intended, in case you are wondering after reading it :3)  
> As such...
> 
> Warning: NOSEBLEED ALERT!! (get a box of tissues before proceeding - it's for your own safety!)
> 
> Enjoy ^.^

Feeling a bright spot of light creeping into the darkness, though not directly on him, Kuroko softly rubbed his face against the redhead’s chest, motioning one of his hands out of their refuge, wrapped around Akashi’s clothes, and sluggishly covering his eyes with the back of his hand.

 

He blinked several times, taking him a couple of seconds for his teal eyes to focus properly on what was in front of him and see a small gap in the curtains of the master bedroom that was allowing the sun of the early morning to infiltrate in the still very dark room. The bluenette left his hand fall back to on top of the chest that lightly inflated and deflated beneath half of his body and leisurely gave a long stretch to his back and legs, even though never once did he depart himself from the taller male.

 

Adjusting his position while on top of the redhead, Kuroko put his folded arm on top of Akashi’s chest and then leaned his chin on it, softly breathing in the sight of the sleeping male in front of his eyes. A soft pinkish blush popped up in his cheeks as he observed how serene and almost angelical Akashi looked like while sleeping, one of his arms wrapped around his waist – even though he was a devil emperor when awake. A perverted one, at that.

 

A soft smile broke into his lips as he kept the redhead under his loving gaze but it didn’t stop there. Kuroko was soon forced to hide his face back on the taller male’s chest when a sudden laugh attack started bubbling on his stomach, his shoulders trembling just the slightest as some occasional giggles actually managed to escape his clutched-shut mouth.

 

“Really… I have to wonder what exactly about my sleeping face makes you laugh like a madman,” said Akashi, his red and golden eyes open as he remained wide awake, his head slightly lifted from the pillow so that he could look over to the smaller male. “Especially taking into consideration that you don’t smile or laugh at all.”

 

“Y-You were awake…?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, lifting his face from the redhead’s chest and shyly peeking at him while still hiding half of his features.

 

“That’s a given,” shortly answered Akashi, a mischievous smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. “With you moving around so much against my body, of course I would wake up. I’m a light sleeper, after all. Opposite to a certain someone who doesn’t wake up at all once asleep, even if a misbehaving lion sneaks into his bed.”

 

“Please don’t blame me for your stalker-ish bad habits, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, a slightly pout puffing his cheeks. “Sleeping was supposed to be the only time of the day where I didn’t have to deal with your overbearing childishness and possessive streak, but I see that it was a mistake on my behalf to think of it as such.”

 

“Oh, such progress that I have made,” teasingly announced Akashi, the arm around the bluenette’s waist tightening around it so that he could roll their bodies around in the bed and reverse their positions, slyly smirking at the smaller male as he pushed him down against the soft mattress of the bed. “You’ve finally realized that you will _never_ get to sleep alone again. I’m going to put my right as the ‘Emperor Eye’ forward right this instant and declare to the world that Kuroko Tetsuya’s bed is my, Akashi Seijuurou’s, bed from here onwards. It comes without saying that my own bed is yours to use. I’ve conquered that spot and I’ll put it to good use every single day of my life, starting this past night.”

 

“See? Overbearing childishness and possessive streak,” sighed Kuroko, a soft blush on his features as he turned his head around and averted looking in the redhead’s direction.

 

“You were the one who gave me permission to do as I pleased, Tetsuya,” pointed out Akashi, letting his body fall slightly against the bluenette’s and supporting his weight with the help of the forearms pressed against the mattress, each one on one side of the smaller male’s head.

 

“Yes, as long as it doesn’t inconvenience anyone. Which means, as long as it doesn’t inconvenience me,” countered Kuroko, peeking sideways at the redhead, who was slowly but steadily growing closer to him.

 

“I don’t think it’s an inconvenience to you, though. You always sleep like a baby while grabbing into me, after all,” countered back Akashi, chuckling softly. When he heard a low groan coming from the bluenette, he knew that he had won that round. “It was checkmate on my side so now I will claim my reward. I want my good morning kiss, Tetsuya.”

 

“I-I’m not going to k-kiss you…” mumbled Kuroko, his blush darkening as his rigid expression softened a little bit, as if melting with the heat on his cheeks.

 

“That’s more than okay. Until you get used to the idea of having to kiss me, I’ll get you plenty of used to having me kissing you,” purred Akashi against the bluenette’s lips, which he readily started devouring with a playful tongue.

 

“Mmhn… Haa…” softly whimpered Kuroko, his voice being swallowed by the redhead just as smoothly and wetly as his mouth was.

 

After a long kiss, their hungry mouths departed from one another and teal met with red and golden in a silent but comfortable exchange of loving stares. Akashi gave a few more sweet and quick butterfly kisses to the deliciously wet and reddish lips, diving then once more to relish in the sweet flavor that was always present in Kuroko’s mouth, even without any dessert or pastry involved in it. He could claim with 100% of certainty that there was no delicacy in this world that could rival with that sweetness and the knowledge that he was the only one allowed to get a taste of it gave him a monumental sense of superiority that even his title as the most powerful ‘User’ in Japan seemed to not hold any merit in comparison.

 

“Tetsuya…” softly purred Akashi, giving a long lick to the bluenette’s lips and feeling his body shiver underneath his own. He wanted to physically feel that smooth pale skin rippling more at his touches and caresses. He wanted to testify and imprint on the deepest part of his brain and heart Kuroko’s expressions as he did so. “Tetsuya…”

 

“Ahh! Ngh…” His body fervently trembling when the redhead gave a long and slow lick from the base of his neck until near his earlobe, which he teasingly started gnawing on with his front teeth, Kuroko motioned his hands forward and grabbed into the taller male’s clothes, his body squirming just the slightest as Akashi continued with his ministrations on his neck area. “Haa… Akashi-kun… Please stop… ngh… Don’t leave any marks on me…”

 

“I’m always leaving marks on you. Why put a stop on it now?” pointed out Akashi, giving another long lick to the bluenette’s neck and feeling the hands grabbing into his clothes pulling at them more strongly. He was about to sink down his teeth on his palish skin and leisurely suck on it when a single sentence made him come to a halt.

 

“But… haa… in the pastry competition, other people will see them… ngh… and I don’t want that,” answered Kuroko, putting his neck even more on display to the taller male even with it being against his own instinct and words.

 

“Then… is it okay if I put my marks in places that won’t be seen by anyone except me?” inquired Akashi, straightening his back and arms so he could directly look at the teal eyes of the smaller male, his own heterochromatic eyes burning with the arousal that those words had ignited in him.

 

He didn’t know if those words had been brought out due to concern over the fact that his presence in the pastry competition was to prove that ‘The Phantom’ was not a treat to Japan anymore and Kuroko wanted to give the most pristine image of himself to the public as possible, or if it was an unconscious display of possessiveness, claiming those marks only to himself and not showing them around to anyone else as if a precious treasure that would disappear forever if another set of eyes befell on them – either one of these two made Akashi’s body feverish to the point of combustion.

 

“…Eh? Ah… Um…” indecisively started babbling Kuroko, a question mark hovering around in his brain as he tried to make head or tails of what the redhead had meant by ‘places that won’t be seen by anyone but him’. With the pleasurable waves of the previous kisses still molding his judgment, the bluenette gave a soft nod with his head in agreement with what the taller male was proposing – anything was better than parading around in the middle of hundreds of people with his neck painted in bright red hickeys and bite marks.

 

Akashi didn’t even try to hide the mischievous smirk and glint in his eyes as he propelled his body up and then slowly crawled backwards while on top of the bluenette’s body, one of his hands softly rustling through his shirt and stopping on top of the pajamas pants that he always used to sleep. Teal eyes curiously looking in his direction with incomprehension all over the face framing them, the redhead wrapped his fingers around the elastic band of the pants and pulled them down with one single and swift jerk of his arm.

 

“Eh!? Wai— What are you—!?” yelped Kuroko in a furious panicky state, his face fully flushed in a crimson shade of red as he tried to cover his exposed underwear with his hands. His wrists were, however, softly grabbed and his hands let out of its protective position to return to the mattress of the bed.

 

“You gave me your consent, Tetsuya. You can’t just decide on your own to turn tail and run away now,” teasingly announced Akashi, releasing the wrists of the bluenette and then putting his hands on top of his thighs, which he almost leisurely parted while his fingers slipped inside of the underwear with light caresses to the smaller male’s pale inner thighs.

 

“I-I’m not turning tail and running away,” defended himself Kuroko, a slight glare on his eyes as the redhead’s words hit him hard in terms of pride. “I-I’m not but… w-what exactly a-are you going to d-do…?”

 

“I told you already, Tetsuya,” purred Akashi, his face steadily growing closer to one of the bluenette’s parted thighs and his hand softly pulling his underwear higher on it, exposing even more his white as snow skin. “I’m going to mark you in a place where only I will ever get to see the marks on.”

 

“…Wha— Ahhh!” started questioning Kuroko but when the taller male’s teeth were sunk in his inner thigh, in a deliciously painful way, a loud moan escaped his throat and his head was thrown back against the pillow. “Ngh… Ahhh! Akashi-kun!”

 

Lapping his tongue the slowest possible through the area where he had left a reddish bite mark on, Akashi continued to bite and suck on Kuroko’s inner thigh, his ears fully focused in the bluenette’s loud mewls of pleasure. Every time his mouth met with the smaller male’s skin, a new red mark was left behind, as if every single place that he had touched had been fully dyed in the color present in his name.

 

 _Ah, Tetsuya now has my name engraved all over his body,_ inwardly declared Akashi, his mouth departing from the bluenette’s thigh, still connected by a thin string of saliva, and leaving behind a dark red hickey there. He hungrily licked his lips and motioned his hand further up, pushing even more Kuroko’s underwear up and exposing skin that had yet to be explored and that he was dying to taste. _All that is left is to get inside of him and also engrave my name on his heart._

 

“Ahh— Seijuurou…!” moaned Kuroko, the back of his head tightly pressed against the pillow and eyes closed shut. He could feel the redhead’s heterochromatic eyes stuck on him but he couldn’t afford to look at them right now, fearing that it would be the last drop to his inner glass. He motioned his two arms up and covered his face with his forearms, desperately fighting the temptation to sneak a peek at the taller male.

 

He couldn’t look. He couldn’t look. He couldn’t…

 

“Tetsuya…” softly called Akashi after leaving another bite mark on the superior part of the smaller male’s inner thigh. He took one of his hands from on top of his upper legs and tugged at his underwear, freeing Kuroko’s hard cock, droplets of precum running down his length. Licking his lips once again, the redhead opened his mouth and hungrily swallowed the bluenette’s twitching member, savoring in the bitter and salty liquid being released by the tip that could only be compared to the sweetest honey on Earth.

 

“Ahhh—! Wai— Sei…!” moaned Kuroko at the extremely wet and hot sensation that involved his hard member, his body trembling in rapture at it. He motioned his hands forward and closed them around the taller male’s red locks of his hair, giving soft tugs at them to gain the other male’s attention as he licked and sucked at his cock. “Don’t… Ngh! Ahh! It’s—“

 

“Haa… If I hear the word ‘dirty’ coming from your mouth, I swear to god that I won’t stop until I wring you completely dry,” warned Akashi, taking his lips from around the bluenette’s length and looking over his direction fully from in between the arms grabbing into his head. Hearing the soft whimper that Kuroko released at his words, he once again wolfed down his cock and feasted on it with a need that he had never experienced before his life.

 

Though he had joked the previous day about wanting to taste Kuroko’s cum as a means to tease the bluenette, the redhead truly wanted to make him climax the soonest possible now – not to discover the actual flavor but because he desperately needed to hear more of Kuroko’s insanely erotic moans and mewls. He hadn’t touched himself in any way or form, but he could feel his cock throbbing in the midst of its hardness and the smallest of shows of weakness or instigation from the smaller male’s behalf would immediately make him pop right there and then and just turn Kuroko into more of a mess than he currently already was.

 

“Ngh… Ahhh!” moaned Kuroko, his body trembling like it never had. Kissing Akashi felt deliciously good. Having Akashi’s mouth on his skin, biting, nibbling, licking at him felt heavenly good. But having Akashi’s mouth around his cock, licking and sucking at it as if with an unquenchable thirst for it… couldn’t be described with words. “Sei…juurou… Can’t… I… Ahh— Let… go…!”

 

Even with the foreshadowing pleads of the bluenette, Akashi bobbed his head further and swallowed Kuroko’s member even more, his teeth teasingly scrapping on the sensitive length and finally squeezing a climax out of him.

 

“Ahhhh—!” loudly moaned Kuroko, his back arching over the bed and hands desperately grabbing at the redhead’s hair as his release burst free inside of the taller male’s mouth. His body limply fell back on top of the mattress, his chest desperately inflating and deflating in search for air and to cool down his smoldering body. Akashi might not have wrung him dry of his seed but he most certainly did milk all the strength out of his body.

 

Akashi straightened his back and sat down on the bed, cleaning the little trickle of cum running down his chin with his thumb while swallowing the bluenette’s release, lapping his tongue through his finger afterwards to not let even one single drop out of his system. It had the same curious flavor from when he got to lightly taste it back when they were in the bluenette’s apartment but, given the difference between that time and the present, it possessed a distinct flavor that he would never forget again in his whole life.

 

“Tetsuya,” softly called Akashi, his body motioning forward while crawling on top of the smaller male and his lips once again joining with the tired male’s, their tongues instantly locking with each other as if two magnets of opposite poles.

 

“Mmhn… Haa… How… could you… haa… swallow something like that…?” shyly mumbled Kuroko while still gulping down air, a slight disgusted expression on his features at the taste of his own cum that had been transferred to his mouth by the means of the kiss.

 

“It’s yours, Tetsuya, so I don’t mind it in the least,” softly said Akashi against the bluenette’s lips, already ready to proceed with more breath-taking kisses. Which we was about to succumb to when a loud ringing started echoing through the whole bedroom, coming from the electronic device placed on top of the nightstand on his side of the bed. “Tsk!”

 

The redhead continued staring to his cell phone for a couple more of seconds as it noisily rang non-stop and then returned his gaze to the bluenette, who was also tiredly looking over to the nightstand.

 

He could just turn off the alarm and proceed with what he was currently doing with Kuroko… but that meant that, one way or another, the bluenette would get even more tired than he already was and, most likely, would not be able to attend the pastry competition in a good physical condition. Putting their attendance to the event at risk was the last thing that Akashi wanted to do, even if that meant ignoring his own desires and sexual needs.

 

And, just taking the worst case scenario into account, he needed to have the smaller male fully operational and in a good and strong condition, or something could go terribly wrong if anything unplanned was to occur during the pastry competition.

 

“Shit…” softly cursed Akashi in the form of a mumble, straightening his body and sitting back on the bed beside the bluenette. He lunged his hand towards and grabbed his cell phone, quickly turning off the alarm clock and filling the whole bedroom with silence and the soft panting of the smaller male.

 

“Akashi-kun…” called Kuroko with a low voice, his hand slowly motioning towards the redhead and grabbing at his pants with the tips of his fingers. “We…”

 

“I know, Tetsuya,” acknowledged Akashi, his hand running through his red locks of hair as he pushed it backwards. He sighed and dropped his head to near the bluenette, his forehead resting against the other male’s. “I’m painfully aware that we have to stop our lovey-dovey time now and return to the mission that has brought us to Sumida in the first place.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Tomorrow Never Lies" by Ono Kenshou - Kuroko - and Ono Yuuki - Kagami.
> 
> *gurgle* *gurgle* *gurgle* <\- me as I drown in a pool of my own blood
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi


	137. Youth like that equals to game over pretty quickly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with a new chapter ^.^
> 
> I have the rest of the whole day free, plus pretty much the whole day free tomorrow... so I think you know what that means, don't you? Multiple releases for Shattered Miracles for +/- 48 hours!!! Yay XD
> 
> Anyways~ We are in real need to get the show rolling! The pastry competition has to start! Kuroko has been begging me with cute, adorable puppy eyes to eat more delicious desserts and I can't deny him on that :3
> 
> Enjoy!

“…uya… tsuya… _Tetsuya!_ ”

 

“Eh?” Suddenly turning his head around at the voice apparently calling his name, Kuroko found Akashi staring at him with an eyebrow slightly perked up. He looked around his surroundings and noticed that the black car they had been riding on, one that was supposed to make the connecting travel between their hotel and Sumida Triphony Hall, had come to a stop.

 

“We have arrived to the location where the pastry competition is going to happen,” announced Akashi, still looking over to the bluenette with a certain suspicion. He motioned one of his hands forward and put it on the smaller male’s forehead, carefully measuring his body temperature. “Are you feeling okay? Do you feel sick anywhere or is it just nerves?”

 

“I-I’m fine, Akashi-kun. Thank you for worrying,” shyly answered Kuroko, grabbing the redhead’s wrist and moving his hand away from his forehead. He didn’t release the taller male’s limb, however, and continued grabbing into him much more tightly than before. “A-Actually, I should be the one asking you that. Are you feeling… normal? The same as usual?”

 

“Why would I not be feeling ‘normal’?” asked back Akashi, the perked up eyebrow getting even more arched on his forehead as he tilted his head just the slightest while peering over to the smaller male with intense curiosity on this sudden unfounded worry.

 

“N-No reason,” said Kuroko, readily releasing the redhead’s hand and averting looking at him directly. Maybe he was really overestimating his own monstrosity and unnecessarily worrying over things that would never happen _again_ , for as long as it would be his choice to make.

 

“…Well, if you are okay, then that’s what matters the most,” acknowledged Akashi, still suspiciously looking at the bluenette. He motioned his hand sideways and opened the car’s door from his side of the backseat. “Let’s go then.”

 

“Right,” also acknowledged Kuroko, mimicking the same motions that the taller male had done and opening the door from his side of the car. If he had been grabbing at anything at that moment… it would have been spread all over the floor, with the shock that the sight right in front of him had caused in him. “W-What is… the meaning of this…?”

 

A countless number of young children and teens were spread all around the grounds of Sumida Triphony Hall, the traffic in that road had been cut off from normal circulation to allow the numerous groups of attendees to the event to gather in the area without running the risk of getting hurt. There were some occasional grownups in between the crowd, some clearly looking after the youngsters, others simply chatting with each other about the competition that they were about to attend.

 

“What? Did I forget to tell you that this pastry competition is an event aimed to gather funds to several charity organizations supporting children, from orphans to mental disabilities and rare diseases, and that most of its attendees are the children involved with those organizations?” asked Akashi, stopping beside the bluenette and looking to the same sight that the smaller male was almost completely flabbergasted staring at. “The only adults that you will have around you are the other judges from the competition itself, the representatives of the charity organizations and the caretakers of the children.”

 

“Y-You brought ‘The P-Phantom’ to an events where there’s mainly only c-children!?” admonished Kuroko, his teal eyes wide open as he whipped his head around to look at the redhead. “Have you gone completely insane, Akashi-kun? How could you put the lives of hundreds of children at risk just so you could show my good behavior around? I-I’m not going. I definitely won’t—“

 

“Tetsuya, calm down!” immediately interrupted Akashi, his hands closing down against the smaller male’s cheeks as he grabbed into his face and pulled it upwards so he could look directly to his eyes. “What was it that we talked about already? You said that you would do your best to not cause any trouble and I promised to you that I wouldn’t let you cause any trouble either. I told you that I would protect you from any and everything. So just take a deep breath and stop panicking. Children aren’t like adults so they are more weak and frail, yes, but they are also pure, compared to the scheming grownups. They will judge you for your heart and not for your title as a ‘User’. Besides, it has only been announced that I and another ‘User’ would be attending the pastry competition. No one except the Japanese Prime Minister knows that ‘The Phantom’ is the other ‘User’ attending it. So relax. Getting yourself stressed over this sort of thing will only make your ability instable.”

 

“…” His eyes fixedly looking at the soft heterochromatic gaze of the taller male, Kuroko took a shaky deep breath and straightened his back and head as the redhead released his face. “I’m sorry, Akashi-kun. I think I really started panicking all of a sudden when I saw so many children and people of my age around me. I… I don’t have a good experience dealing with adults, but my experience with children isn’t also very…”

 

“Yes, I’m aware that all humans are a big ‘no’ for you but it’s something that will always be present in your life,” said Akashi, one of his fingers wrapping around one of the pale ones of the smaller one with masked movements, so that no one around them would notice it. “No man is an island. The faster you acknowledge and get used to that basic fact, the better and easier will life become for you. Also… you will have me right by your side at all moments. I won’t leave you alone for even one second.”

 

“That’s reassuring and creepy at the same time,” deadpanned Kuroko, a completely expressionless demeanor on his face as he blankly looked at the redhead.

 

“Ahahaha! Is it now?” amusingly laughed Akashi, releasing the bluenette’s finger and starting to motion forward towards the big crowd made of children, teenagers and the sporadic adult. Kuroko followed right behind him, doing the cute motions of continuously looking around his surroundings like it was habit of him to do when exposed to the outside world. Truly the most adorable creature in the world that could became an erotic mess at the smallest of his touches.

 

Which was something that Akashi would love to do if time, place and occasion was on his side – it clearly wasn’t, as the loud laughs of young children and the incessant conversations between high school-level teenagers came to prove.

 

 _It sure is harder than I ever thought it would be,_ inwardly sighed Akashi, his hand shadowing over the bluenette’s one. _I definitely have to congratulate Shintarou, Atsushi and Ryouta for having deeply loved another person for years. I’ve meet Tetsuya a little over a month ago and I feel like I’m going crazy. Well, I’m actually not sure anymore if it was really only a month ago or not…_

 

He still hadn’t fully figured out that small flashback he had had nor his inner beast’s words at that moment or after viewing the video featuring one of Kuroko’s countless torture sessions. His other self was someone who only cared about himself and fully viewed others as tools for his manipulations, not giving them any credit or minding them in the least if they didn’t fall inside of that group. However, the inner beast had claimed to hold a type of love that was much deeper for him than the one that Akashi felt towards the bluenette.

 

Being ‘The Phantom’ wasn’t reason strong enough to make his other self so clearly addicted to Kuroko. Another factor, one that Akashi was completely unaware of as of this moment, was at stake. Something – a word, a single sighting, the knowledge of some deep secret, a chance encounter – had made the inner beast fall in love with Kuroko and the redhead could only curse over it.

 

Kuroko wasn’t meant to be shared with anyone else, not even with another part of his consciousness. Knowing that he held two portions of endless love in one single body had a really nice ring to it but the big number on it highly angered him, making him feel that, as long as the inner beast dwelled within his being, he would never be able to make Kuroko truly his – he would forever share him with the inner beast, whether the bluenette wanted to or not.

 

Akashi wasn’t even aware of what were the thoughts that the smaller male featured towards his other self. The second time they had shared a bed had been after the sudden appearance of the inner beast and Kuroko had tightly hugged him at that time, but he had absolutely no clue as to what he truly felt about it.

 

_Like usual, when it comes down to it, I don’t know anything about Tetsuya…_

 

“Um… Akashi-kun?” called Kuroko, giving a quick tug to the redhead’s sleeve as they crossed the open main doors of Sumida Triphony Hall. “Do you mind if I quickly go to the bathroom before the opening ceremony starts?”

 

“That nervous?” asked back Akashi, a mischievous smirk on his features as he sideways glanced to the bluenette. When he heard him softly groan at his words, he couldn’t help but chuckle at it. “I’ll go with you. I just said that I wouldn’t leave you alone for a single second, after all.”

 

“You can be such a creepy stalker at time, Akashi-kun,” admonished Kuroko, releasing a soft sigh as he looked around to find the signs that could give him the indication of where the toilets were located. “Please let me at least go to the bathroom by myself. I don’t actually need a babysitter that much, seeing as I’m more than capable of taking care of my physiological needs by myself without having anyone else around.”

 

“That’s not what happened this morning, tho— Ugh!” started to teasingly say Akashi but all the air was robbed from his lungs when a fist connected with his stomach in the form of a painful and well situated gut-punch. “Tetsuya… No more bruises in my stomach area, please…”

 

“Then please learn to remain quiet about certain events that will _never_ happen again!” angrily admonished Kuroko, a soft blush mixing with a glare on his features. He turned around on his heels and started walking towards the toilet, following after the sign that was near the ceiling in one of the walls. “I will meet with you in a couple of minutes here, after going to be bathroom _all by myself_.”

 

Sighing deeply while lightly rubbing his stomach, Akashi simply observed the bluenette walk further away with a soft smile on his lips. “I really got to love that Everest-size manly pride of yours, Tetsuya.”

 

-.-

 

“Idiot Akashi-kun… Why isn’t he aware of the things that his mouth says…?” grumbled Kuroko with a hushed voice as he dried his hands after having washed them. He threw away the paper towel to the nearest trash bin and then started walking back to the meeting place with the redhead, using the same path that he had came from.

 

However, as soon as he opened the door and took a step outside, his body immediately came crashing against another one, the clatter of cutlery being spread all over the floor echoing through the desert corridor.

 

“I-I’m so sorry, Sir!” readily apologized the black haired waiter, bowing his head furiously at the smaller male. “I-I was distracted while walking and didn’t notice you coming out of the bathroom.”

 

“I-It’s okay. I wasn’t paying attention either,” also apologized Kuroko, giving a soft bow towards the black haired male too. When he noticed the waiter lowering his body to start collecting the countless forks and knifes spread through the floor, the bluenette did the same, helping the other male with putting all the cutlery back on the large wooden tray.

 

“Oh, y-you don’t need to bother! You’re one of the guests so please, continue with enjoying the pastry competition,” readily said the black haired male, panicking just the slightest when he saw the bluenette starting to pick up the cutlery and putting it on the tray.

 

“I don’t mind. I’m actually thankful, since it’s a good excuse to take more time and calm down even more,” said Kuroko, giving a quick pull to the corner of his lips as he heard the strain in the black haired male’s voice.

 

“I-I see… T-Then please do. Thank you very much,” acknowledged the black haired male, resuming with his mission of gathering the forks and knifes from the floor. “T-This is actually my first job and I’m not very used to things… As you probably have noticed, I guess. That’s why I’m so nervous rig—“

 

“Ouch!” softly yelped Kuroko, withdrawing his hand from the floor when one of the knives that the waiter picked up grazed his skin and opened a thin red cut in it.

 

“Oh my god! I-I-I’m so very sorry!!!” furiously apologized the black haired male, his eyes open in panic as he saw a small drop of blood flowing down from the thin cut on the bluenette’s hand. “I… I can’t believe I just wounded one of the guests…! I-I’m going to get fired!”

 

“I-It’s okay, it’s just a small cut,” reassured Kuroko, tightly covering the scratch with his hand as he felt his wound staring to be nullified by the means of his ability. “Please excuse me, but I’m going to take a look at it in the toilet.”

 

“Y-Yes, of course! If you need anything at all, please do let me know!!” readily acknowledged the black haired male, continuing to bow his head down in apology to the smaller male. He observed the bluenette disappear inside of the bathroom and softly put the tray down on the floor, picking up his body and intently keeping his eyes on the closed door. “Hehehe… ‘The Phantom’ is as clueless about his surroundings as a sheltered little child. I can’t really expect anything of it now but I at least hope that this little game gets more amusing than this. Please don’t disappoint me, Kuroko Tetsuya.”

 

The black haired male turned around on his heels, leaving the tray and scattered cutlery completely forgotten on the floor. A mischievous smirk on his lips as he played around with the knife that had cut the bluenette, he threw it high in the air and then grabbed it with studied movements, swiftly putting it inside of the inner pocket of his waiter vest. He clicked his fingers and another waiter appeared out of nowhere, readily collecting the mess that he had done.

 

“Let the playtime begin~ All to get a new toy in my collection to turn into nothing but trash~”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "MAD BREAKER" by Fukuyama Jun (Hanamiya).
> 
> Well, knowing me... You MUST have expected something like this, right? I wouldn't be the sadistic writer that you love so much if I didn't put a little bit of trouble in what is supposed to be the "honeymoon period" for our lovely bluenette and devilish angel~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
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	138. I will discard myself, it’s the decision that we made

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^.^
> 
> Unfortunately, life isn't a sea of roses... The angst train had to return at some point... *sniff*
> 
> Enjoy!

“Tetsuya! It was about time!” said Akashi the moment his eyes finally spotted the bluenette, readily walking over in his direction the quickest he could while skirting around the final attendees of the pastry competition. “What took you so long in the bathroom? Is everything alright?”

 

“I’m fine. I just had to do something else after having gone to the toilet,” answered Kuroko as soon as the redhead stopped in front of him, the worried expression on his features making him tilt his head just the slightest. “I didn’t actually expect you to wait for me. I thought that at some point, you would just go after me and barge inside of the bathroom.”

 

“If you didn’t show up in the next three seconds, I really would,” said Akashi, releasing a deep breath. “I was already starting formulating rescue plans in my head, all sort of counter measures in case someone dared to kidnap you or anything along those lines.”

 

“Given the fact that no one knows that I’m the ‘The Phantom’, why would anyone want to kidnap me?” pointed out Kuroko, rolling his eyes around just the slightest as the both of them started to motion once again to the location destined for the special guests of the pastry competition.

 

“Being ‘The Phantom’ could have nothing to do with it. Your cuteness is irresistible and, in a pastry competition filled with children and teenagers, who knows what sort of people are going and coming around the building,” immediately said Akashi, actually taking a quick glance around their surroundings as his own words aroused a suspicious feeling in the pits of his stomach.

 

“Your weirdness is showing again, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, his face really void of expression this time around.

 

“I apologize, my turtle dove,” teasingly apologized Akashi, suddenly remembering the non-official deal that they had made regarding being called ‘weird’ or any synonymous of that word by the bluenette. “I’ll try to keep my weirdness only to myself or for when it’s just the two of us.”

 

“Ugh…” softly groaned Kuroko, a pink shade dusting his cheekbones as he lowered his head just the slightest to averting having the redhead see his current facial expression. His heart was beating madly in his ribcage as he almost whispered, “You’re so unfair…”

 

They continued to cross the semi-desert corridor that gave access to the special guests area, which enable those attendees to taste all of the pastries and desserts that were going to be show cased  in the event, in silence, the bluenette every now and then sneaking peeks at the redhead.

 

“What is it that you want to ask, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, part of him amused at the unusual display of deep interest that he was being victim to by the smaller male while the other part deeply curious over what had made him act as such.

 

“Um… W-What was the true reason why you decided to bring me, and not someone else, to this pastry competition?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, sideways glancing at the taller male. “What you said in Fuyu about it, when you first made that suggestion to me… I don’t think that was the whole story behind it, was it?”

 

“You are quite sharp, aren’t you, Tetsuya?” sighed Akashi, also peering sideways to the smaller male. “I don’t want you to think badly of me for having done it, though. Nor think that I’m using you for my own ends, because I’m not. I truly wanted to come together with you to the pastry competition and enjoy a weekend away from Teikou Academy just the two of us. However, I’m also using this opportunity to solve some pending issues.”

 

“Such as?” questioned further Kuroko, his head fully turning around towards the redhead as he tilted it just the slightest.

 

“Such as where people’s loyalty truly lies on,” said Akashi, his eyes narrowing just a little bit as he continued to stare to in front of him. “I’ve been aware for a while now that there’s a ‘mole’ in Teikou. Someone is giving away information of the things happening around in the school grounds and erasing the data that proves those leaks. Satsuki is also aware of it, as well as, obviously, Shuuzou and Shintarou. That’s why everyone that knows of your actual presence in Teikou has been told that you were going to secretly attend this pastry competition with me, while all the other students have been informed that I would be attending this pastry competition with another student from the high school section.”

 

“You’re testing those that are closest to you, in terms of the internal ranking and structure of Teikou Academy?” inquired Kuroko, actually surprised over hearing that sort of reasoning coming out of the taller male’s mouth when he had tried to maintain his personal ploys the farthest away from their shared time the most that it was possible.

 

“I am,” readily acknowledged Akashi without a second lost in hesitation. “This is not something that I enjoy pondering about, but due to our pasts, ‘Users’ are very easily manipulated with words and false promises. Maybe because we unconsciously think that if we listen to what normal humans tell us, we will grow closer to become the same as them once again and can put what happened to us behind our backs. It can happen to the strongest of us just as much to the weakest. The existence of the ‘mole’ wasn’t all that bothersome in the past but now things are different. I can’t afford to let any information or data about you to be leaked to only god knows where and that’s why I decided to use this opportunity to set a trap for them. To catch them red handed as they supplied information to someone regarding your actual appearance in the pastry competition.”

 

“So… If nothing happens, then the ‘mole’ is a student that doesn’t actually participate in the inner circles of decision making within Teikou,” started processing Kuroko the information that the redhead was offering to him – for the first time, he had come to notice, since they never actually discussed anything regarding Akashi’s work as the Student Council President or Teikou Academy in general. “But if something does in fact happen, the ‘mole’ is someone close to you?”

 

“They don’t necessarily need to be close to me,” added Akashi, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders. “They simply need to have access to the same information that I and everyone in the Student Council, as well as the departments affiliated with ‘Users’, have.”

 

“…”

 

“I can’t allow anything bad to happen to you, Tetsuya,” suddenly said Akashi, halting his movements and then positioning himself in front of the bluenette, his hand softly caressing his features. “I need to eliminate every threat that may exist in its early stages or I fear for what may occur in the nearby and far away future. Losing you… That’s something that would destroy me and, subsequently, destroy Teikou. I can’t _not_ have you around me at all time or out of my hand’s reach. Just that small possibility makes me even more scared than being in an underground area.”

 

“Akashi-kun…” softly called Kuroko, one of his hands slowly motioning up in the air and then wrapping around the redhead’s wrist, a hand still present in his pale skin as it cupped his cheek. “I…”

 

_I don’t want to lose you either. I don’t want to let you go._

 

“I… don’t think that is possible,” said Kuroko, removing the redhead’s hand from his face and motioning it down back to the sides of his body. “I do believe that catching the ‘mole’ is something that should be viewed with extreme priority, for the sake of every ‘User’ in Teikou. But… that won’t make me stay when the time for me to leave comes. I won’t stay in Teikou Academy after I’ve done what I need to do and I won’t return either after leaving.”

 

“…” Clenching his hands to form two fists, Akashi bitterly swallowed the words that he would have loved to tell the bluenette. “…Is that so? But, like you said, I do need to discover who the ‘mole’ is… whether you stay… or not.”

 

“That’s right. You need to do what you need to do. And I will do what I need to do too,” acknowledged Kuroko, his own words together with the redhead’s painfully crushing his heart. He swallowed down hard and resumed with his path towards their seats in the special guest area. “That’s what we were supposed to do from the very beginning, isn’t it?”

 

 _Why, Tetsuya?_ , inwardly asked Akashi, observing from the same position as before as the bluenette grew gradually farther away from his reach. _Why do you keep insisting that you won’t stay even when your face tells me that you want to? Why do you keep on building wall after wall when you want to break them down the most out of everyone in your life?_

_Why do you keep on denying yourself so much?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter comes from the lyrics of "DOUBLE CORE" by Kamiya Hiroshi (our brokenhearted devilish angel TTvTT).
> 
> I ask you the same question, Kuroko... WHY DO YOU KEEP ON DENYING YOURSELF OF WHAT YOU REALLY WANT!? Just... Just be happy already beside the person you love and loves you!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
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	139. To the past that’s lingering on your left arm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter ^^
> 
> Ah... I feel like I'm in heaven right now~ Work as a sushi man apprentice is going great and you may hear some very good news from me about something else in the very near future ;D That's why I feel like my will to write as doubled! When you are happy, you just feel the need to share it with everyone, right? And I know that my updates always make you happy! (maybe with the exception of "Our Love Story's Countdown", which will make us all cry rivers ToT)
> 
> Enjoy!

“We would like to welcome all the participants, judges and guests of the 3rd edition of the ‘Chibi Patissier Fundraising Competition’,” announced a man dressed in a black suit in the middle of the main stage of Sumida Triphony Hall, a bright smile on his face. “We will shortly begin the competition so, before such, I would like to make a quick reminder to all of you about this competition. The chefs will make their dishes according to the rules of each challenge. And yes! You will be able to taste them yourselves in the afternoon of the last day of the competition, making me sad to inform all of you that only some of the special guests and all of the judges will be able to taste them before that time. And, speaking of special guests, there are two ‘Users’ attending the pastry competition on its entirety so I advise caution and that the older guests keep an eye on the younger ones.”

 

“Disgusting,” spat Akashi, a deep frown on his face as he looked down to the main stage from their seats, a two-person isolated area on the balcony of the large hall. “Even though the announcer should be more than aware that I’m one of the people giving a hand on this event, they still address to us like we are some wanted criminals that have infiltrated the premises and that everyone should be aware and careful about.”

 

“Well, technically speaking, I am a wanted criminal,” pointed out Kuroko, his facial expression completely void of emotion or any sort of reaction towards the degrading words of the man on the stage.

 

“That’s not what I meant, Tetsuya,” sighed Akashi, taking a sideways glance to the bluenette sitting next to him, thinking better on it and fully turning his head in his direction shortly after. “And you’re not a ‘wanted criminal’ anymore. Though you obviously still detain the title of ‘criminal’ and ‘national threat’, that’s something that I intend on fixing the soonest possible.”

 

“Why bother with it?” asked Kuroko, his head slightly tilted as he also looked back to the redhead. “They are just addressing to me as what I really am. Or are you going to deny that I haven’t been on the run from the Japanese government since the ‘Bloody Night’ or that you kept me closed inside of a room for pretty much a month once you caught me before I stepped outside of your building to pack all of my things and move in to a new house where I’m surveyed 24 hours by not only the five ‘Miracles’ but also the perpetual barrier around it?”

 

“Are you trying to make me feel guilty over what happened before?” asked back Akashi, an eyebrow slightly perked up as he intently studied the smaller male’s current demeanor. “I’ve told you before, Tetsuya. I’m not going to apologize about anything that has happened in the past, just as much as I don’t want you to apologize for any of it. I’ve realized along the way that keeping you closed inside of a room or forcing you to answer my questions wasn’t the most correct of methods to interact with you—“

 

“Much less the most human...” interrupted Kuroko while rolling his eyes just a tiny little bit.

 

“Yes, also not the most human of methods,” conceded Akashi, releasing a soft sigh. “But, if I were to be honest with you, I don’t regret having taken that initial step, even if it was the wrong one. It made me aware of what you disliked and of what you felt comfortable with. It made me have a second impression of ‘The Phantom’ that I thought completely impossible to have, taking the events of the ‘Bloody Night’ into consideration. And I can tell you with 100% of sure that this second impression has changed my whole world.”

 

“...” Feeling a blush starting to creep up on his cheeks, Kuroko slowly averted the redhead’s gaze, his fingers timidly playing with the hems of the sleeves of his upper clothes. “I can sort of relate with that... My first impression of you was definitely different from the one I have right now.”

 

“Oh? And when exactly did that first impression happen, if I could know?” teasingly asked Akashi, already aware that the bluenette was going to admonish him about his ‘stalker’ methods and how he trapped him inside of the teacher’s lodge on the second day of their first year of high school.

 

“June of our first year of middle school,” confessed Kuroko, his teal eyes returning to the main stage downstairs in the hall as a loud round of applauses echoed through the building. It seemed that the first challenge was about to start, seeing as the first seven participants were already on stage, as well as all the necessary equipment to bake sweets and desserts.

 

“Wait, what?” interjected Akashi, his mouth left hanging slightly as he stared to the bluenette with utter shock written all over his face. “First year of middle school? When exactly? I don’t remember having seen you throughout all those years, much less talked or even heard your name.”

 

“That’s because you, or any other person, didn’t saw me there,” simply answered Kuroko, his eyes still looking in the stage’s direction as the challenge was being explained to both the participants and the audience, as well as the announcer introducing the three judges that were going to latter on announced the winner. “I’ve been in Teikou since my freshmen year of middle school. It’s more than obvious that I would bump into one of you five during school hours from time to time. So... I accidentally overheard 44 love confessions from female students to you and how you cruelly rejected every single one of them, making 13 of them cry and being slapped 18 times out of the 44 that I witnessed.”

 

“...” Akashi was now the one who felt a sudden and extremely accentuated urge to slap himself and he made question of mentally curse his past actions towards all the students that had confessed to him and who he had simply dismissed the quickest possible. “That was—“

 

“For their own good,” interrupted Kuroko, a soft small smile on his lips as he observed two of the chefs almost bumping into one another in the midst of running around to gather the ingredients for their dishes. “Every time you mercilessly rejected them and after they went away, you would apologize to them in secret. You were simply ripping the bandage the quickest possible to lessen any future pain, since you pretty much said every single time that you didn’t know any of them. You wouldn’t be able to correspond to their feelings like that and giving them false hopes by telling them ‘let’s first start as friends’ would probably be much crueller than straight out reject them when their feelings were still very little.”

 

“Yes... That’s right...” acknowledged Akashi, keeping the bluenette under his gaze for a couple more of seconds and then turning around so he could watch the pastry competition going around in the main stage, a satisfied smile on his lips.

 

 _Hands down to you, Tetsuya, for your observational skills,_ inwardly thanked Akashi, feeling that he had somewhat lost to the smaller male yet again. If any other person had witnessed those love confessions and subsequent rejections, they would have judged Akashi to be a cold hearted person, someone who took enjoyment in tormenting other people based on their romantic feelings towards him. Kuroko most likely had thought like that, on the first time he overheard one of these events. However, throughout the countless times that such witnessing happened, the bluenette had uncovered the truth behind that cruelty – Akashi simply wanted to detach their feelings for him the quickest possible, since he was very well aware that it was impossible for him to come to love any of them, whether female or male, older or younger.

 

In reality, Akashi had come to believe that love was something impossible for him to feel towards anyone else. The moment he _awoke_ as a ‘User’ came to prove it fully and with his mother’s death such a fate was craved deep in his being. Most likely that was the reason why he hadn’t realized that he was in love with Kuroko until Mibuchi pointed it out straight on his face.

 

If at the time during middle school he knew how painful it is to not have his feeling acknowledged by the person he loves and how difficult it is to have to keep his confession permanently bottled up in his heart due to fear of breaking the bluenette even more with it, then Akashi wouldn’t have rejected all of those confessions so harshly. He was smart enough to think up a better way of telling those girls that he couldn’t date them and neither could he come to love them.

 

Love was indeed a wonderful thing. How easily could the redhead admit his past mistakes now and how happy realizing such actually made him... Kuroko was the existence in his life that made him human, that gave him a sane stability and a solemn sense of self, even though there was two of him. Kuroko made him smile every time they were together, sometimes even laugh. Kuroko made his heart race without failing a single day, an indescribable sensation of warmth spreading through his body that turned into a deep coldness when he wasn’t near him. Time ticked at the speed of light with everything that they did together, even simply reading in silence in the same division.

 

_I can’t let him go. Even if he chooses to leave in the end, I can’t afford to lose these things that I have because he returned or gave to me. I’m called the ‘sun’, the ‘quoin’ of the Teikou... but I have one of those myself to keep me going forward and steady, no risks of breaking down and accidentally destroying the whole area. And that strength is none other than the most hated ‘User’ in the world, the wanted criminal that is told to be sentenced to death as soon as the Japanese government puts their hands on them – ‘The Phantom’, Kuroko Tetsuya._

 

“Tetsuya.”

 

“Hm?” softly hummed Kuroko, taking a sideways glance to the redhead.

 

“I know that you don’t feel really comfortable with me doing such but let me hand feed you all the sweets and desserts that are going to be sent here,” requested Akashi, a soft smile on his lips as he continued observing the advancement of this initial challenge, one third of the time already gone by to finish the dish in question. “I want to make them taste even sweeter and special. As a celebration for your first outing of Teikou Academy’s grounds in a long time.”

 

“...” Kuroko returned his teal eyes to the main stage, yet another pinkish blush on his cheekbones. This blush, however, hadn’t popped up on his features all alone, as the soft masked smile on his lips would show if someone actually took a closer look from a forward position. “Okay.”

 

Indulging himself for two days couldn’t be that bad, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Catal Rhythm" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> I hope that Akashi behaves this time, because I don't think it would be a good idea for him to jump Kuroko's bones while in the pastry competition. It's just a friendly warning, Akashi, so don't take it personally. (Because god knows how much I want to see you two going at it like bunnies XD)
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	140. It is impossible for me to lose, it must not happen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> I don't have much to say today... So tired from lack of sleep and having worked a 10 hours shift that I'm about to fall down the chair, hit my head on the floor and pass out for 48 hours... Ugh... I need to sleep...
> 
> Having said that, I can't guarantee that tomorrow there will be any update since I'm too exhausted to finish it -.-'
> 
> Meanwhile, enjoy this chapter!

When half of the used tables and electric appliances had been cleared from the main stage of the large hall to be substituted with the necessary furniture and instruments for the second challenge, a soft knock was heard from behind the door that provided access to the small balcony when Akashi and Kuroko were sitting at.

 

“Yes?” answered Akashi, turning his head around in the door’s direction, and fully turning his body around when it opened and he saw one of the employees of the pastry competition carrying a round tray on his hands with two of each of the seven desserts that had been elaborated not even twenty minutes ago. “Thank you. We don’t need anything else so you can take your leave.”

 

The employee quickly put the tray on top of the round table between the two guests’ seats and offered them a rushed bow, leaving the premises as fast as his legs allowed him too.

 

“So obnoxious...” cussed Akashi, his previous gaze turned into a glare as he saw the door softly closing once again. He clicked his tongue and turned around on his chair, his arms crossed over his chest as he quickly scanned his eyes through the balconies opposite to their position – he could see that most of the other special guests had already eaten half of the desserts. “They probably got here this late because they were busy arguing between themselves over who would be the sacrifice to come deliver the sweets to the deadly ‘Users’.”

 

“It’s not really worth it to get upset over something like this, Akashi-kun,” tried to soothe down Kuroko, a soft look on his eyes as he peered at the furious redhead. “Just put it behind your back and continue acting the same way as always, trying to show how superior compared to everyone you are.”

 

“I’m going to think of that remark as a compliment and not a masked complaint from your behalf,” teasingly announced Akashi, a small smirk on his lips. However, it soon disappeared from his features, to be replaced with yet another serious expression. “But I don’t understand why none of this seems to bother you. Don’t you feel offended and put on the side when normal humans treat you like a foreign thing that could contaminate or kill them if they even breathe the same air as us?”

 

“Maybe I would feel like that if I had known better than always being treated like a disposable object or a toy to be played around with for others’ amusement or personal schemes,” confessed Kuroko, his hands tightening around the armrests of his chair. “After years of worse than this cold treatment or nauseating words of endangerment for the audience, I don’t think any of this sort of things would really bother me all that much. I simply ignore it, since I’m very well aware that I’m the last person on Earth that can say something to change it. After all, I’m the cause why every ‘User’ is treated this lowly by the general population in the first place.”

 

“...That may be so but...” started Akashi, for the first time in his whole life at a loss of what he should tell the bluenette. It may be just a small thing, heavily masked behind the current topic of conversation, but Kuroko was disclosing things about himself and his mysterious past – Akashi wasn’t someone that would miss his boat on this opportunity and ruin the conversation by saying something wrong that may make it impossible to continue or even progress. Then again, he wasn’t known for being a delicate person when it came into getting to the point. “Tetsuya, I hope you don’t mind if I ask any further but...What exactly happened that made you so detached from others, whether ‘Users’ or regular humans?”

 

“...That’s...” weakly mumbled Kuroko, his eyes slowly opening further and further as his gaze dropped down to his feet, his heart noisily thumping in his eardrums and stomach giving a sickening turn on its own. “I-I... don’t want to t-talk about that...”

 

 _I don’t want to think or remember any of it,_ inwardly added Kuroko, his body trembling just the slightest as he strongly clenched his teeth, intending on fully controlling the wave of fright that was being pumped on his bloodstream with his quickened heartbeat.

 

“You’re running away from things once again, Tetsuya,” softly pointed out Akashi, grabbing one of the cookies from the tray, one shaped in a snowman and decorated with coloured icing. When the bluenette immediately turned his head around at his words and opened his mouth to deny his statement, he quickly, but very gently, shoved the cookie in his mouth. “And not facing those things is the same as running away from them. Because that way, you will never be able to move on from the place where you currently are. Even if you are in the other side of the world, you’ll still be stuck in this exact same place since it’s not a physical type of location, but a state of mind.”

 

Kuroko’s teeth closed on the cookie and a piece broke inside of his mouth, chewing on it as he deeply thought about what the redhead had just said. To be honest, there wasn’t really much to think about – there was no denying that Akashi was absolutely correct on it. For as much distance from Teikou Academy and Japan that he may put himself on, one way or another, he would continue stuck to it. He would live as nothing more than a ghost chained to Earth by his tragic past before ‘passing away’, if not by his ‘death’ itself.

 

“Even if you tell me something like that...” feebly started Kuroko, his eyes once again dropping down to his lap, even though his body was still facing the redhead. “I still don’t want to talk about that. Not here, at least...”

 

Akashi couldn’t be happier with the answer that he got, which clearly showed on his face with the bright smile that tugged at the corner of his lips as he lovingly gazed to the smaller male’s shrunk stance. A postponement of the conversation was better than an outright denial of it any time of the day.

 

“Ahh... If it weren’t for the prospect of seeing your cute and adorable reactions to sweets and desserts, then I would ‘kidnap’ you back to our hotel room this very moment,” sighed Akashi, motioning the same cookie once again towards the bluenette. The theme of that first challenge had been ‘Winter from the perspective of a child’ but he was sure that, if he got to taste any of the entries of the contestants, he would feel nothing but warmth.

 

“I don’t think you would really do that,” pointed out Kuroko, completely ignoring that initial remark from the taller male, motioning his head forward and taking another bite of the cookie, his tongue softly licking the corner of his lips to wipe the crumbs there. “You have a mission to accomplish here, don’t you? You’re dedicated enough to your work to ignore your selfishness and see it done to the very end.”

 

“You are more important than my work or missions, Tetsuya,” said Akashi with a serious demeanour all over his face. “You are my absolute priority regarding anything and everything, even over my own needs.”

 

“Ack!” Hearing the redhead’s smooth and flawless flirting(?), Kuroko immediately choked on the piece of cookie that he was swallowing at that instance, coughing violently to try to free his breathing pipes.

 

“Are you okay, Tetsuya?” worriedly asked Akashi, hurriedly putting the rest of the cookie on his mouth and emptying a little bit of water from the jug on the table into a glass, which he motioned towards the bluenette right away.

 

Kuroko downed the fresh drink as quickly as he could, his eyes slightly watery due to the coughing attack. When he put the glass back on the table, his breathing rhythm a little bit hastened due to the continuous drinking of the water, he tried to not blush even more than he already was as he took a peek to the taller male. “How... haa... How can you say... haa... something like that with a straight face?”

 

“I was just being honest,” pointed out Akashi, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders. A small smirk started crawling up into his lips as he proceeded. “If I ask you to be honest with me, then it’s only fair if I do the same with you. You call me unfair from time to time but, again to be completely honest, that type of situation only happens because you don’t give me any option other than acting selfishly and ‘twist you around my little finger’ in order to break inside of your self-imposed walls.”

 

“That doesn’t make any sense,” sighed Kuroko, finally able to restore his breathing and heart rate to their usual levels. “Wouldn’t that mean that I also have to hand feed you the swee—“

 

When the bluenette saw a mischievous smirk fully appearing in the taller male’s lips, a knowing glint on his heterochromatic eyes accompanying it, Kuroko immediately knew that he had just dug his own grave with a single sentence that he couldn’t even finish.

 

“That’s such a wonderful idea, Tetsuya. After all, we missed the previous opportunity of having you doing that yesterday,” acknowledged Akashi, pushing his chair closer to the bluenette’s as he adjusted the table between them farther to behind of them to make the distance separating them almost inexistent. He motioned his face yet even closer to him and slowly opened his mouth, his eyes pretty much urging the smaller male to follow forward with his previous words.

 

“Ugh... You are evil,” mumbled Kuroko, inwardly cursing how cute – yes, he was calling this devil of a human being actually cute, the way he maintained his mouth open while intently staring into his teal eyes – the redhead was acting.

 

Resigning himself to his fate, Kuroko motioned his hand to the table and grabbed a different pastry – this time it was a white marble-sized ball of white chocolate and coconut shavings (the pastry chef that had baked it claimed it to represent the snowballs used during a snowball fight). Still softly cursing on the back of his head, the bluenette started leading it to the taller male’s open mouth, where he quickly inserted it and then began withdrawing his hand back to himself with even quicker motions. He would have succeeded on his ‘escape’ if Akashi hadn’t foreseen his actions and circled his wrist with his hand, once again bringing it closer to his mouth. The redhead leisurely licked the little pieces of coconut that were sticking to the smaller male’s hand, his eyes still unmoving from Kuroko’s.

 

“Delicious,” purred Akashi, delivering a soft kiss on the back of the bluenette’s index finger while amusingly observing a new red blush blossoming all over Kuroko’s face. He gave a quick nibble to the small knuckle and then gave it another slow lick. “It makes me crave for more once again.”

 

“Aren’t you lucky, then, since you have all of these pastries right behind you and will get to eat countless more throughout the whole weekend?” forcibly deadpanned Kuroko, quickly pulling his hand away from the redhead’s hold on it.

 

“That wasn’t what I was referring to and you know it,” mischievously said Akashi, picking up the same pastry that he had ate from the tray and motioning it towards the bluenette. “Also, being together with you is much more enjoyable than any amount of sweets and desserts that they may ever put in front of me.”

 

“Aren’t you quite the smooth player too?” shyly mumbled Kuroko as he led his face closer to the sweet while opening his mouth, eating it in a single bite and then leisurely munching on it, the sweetness forcing his body to relax.

 

“These are not the words of a player, they are my honest feelings towards this situation,” confessed Akashi, his two hands now motioning forward and taking a hold of the bluenette’s face as he chewed on the pastry. “I want you to drown even more, Tetsuya. I want you to continuously experience happiness, to grow closer to other people and bond with them. Get a taste of what you could have for the rest of your life if you remain in Teikou. And, that way, I want you to become enable to leave.”

 

“Akashi-kun... I already told you that I—“

 

“I know that,” interrupted Akashi, the hands cupping the smaller male’s face tightening their hold just the slightest as he stared deeply into the teal of his eyes with decisive mismatched ones. “But even knowing it doesn’t stop me from continuing to push forward and try to change your mind on it.”

 

_And I know I will._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "DOUBLE CORE" by Kamiya Hiroshi - our devilish angel~
> 
> One more fluffy chapter and time is ticking as the death flag gets nearer and nearer. Actually, if you pay enough attention to this chapter, you might get a clue about what will bring the death flag *evil smirk*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	141. What’s wrong with being part of a great stereotype?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter and some~ BIG~ news~
> 
> I know I'm still on my "break" but I had to bring these news to you as soon as I could because I'm dying from excitement XD A publishing company has sort of picked up my light novels! They are going to publish them, including the original adaptation of Shattered Miracles, if they obtain good reactions on the Facebook post that they have done towards Bad Blood, the light novel that will be my debut work with them :3 So all hails to Otome's Way for putting me even closer to my dream!! (click [here](https://www.facebook.com/otomesway) to check it out and give me a little help by even just clicking that like button *winks*)
> 
> Meanwhile, enjoy another chapter~

“What do you want to eat for lunch?” asked Akashi, walking beside the bluenette as they once again crossed the corridor, this time following the opposite direction from before as they motioned over to the main entrance of Sumida Triphony Hall. There was a one-hour intermission happening right now for all the guests and audience to eat lunch, as well as the pastry chefs and the judges – even though a special lunch was to be provided to the special guests, the redhead had kept that a secret from Kuroko and decided that it would be better for them to enjoy a more private setting for their meal.

 

“You want me to eat even more after all of the sweets and pastries that we already ate throughout the whole morning, and will continue to eat throughout the whole afternoon?” deadpanned Kuroko, his hands unconsciously falling on top of his stomach. “I wouldn’t be able to eat any of the pastries in the afternoon, so could we please skip lunch?”

 

“Living off of sugar only isn’t healthy, Tetsuya,” pointed out Akashi, chuckling softly at the bluenette’s words. “We need other types of nutrients and substances in our bodies if we want to function properly. So, even if it’s just a little bit, you should eat something healthier and more nutritive.”

 

“Uhh... You almost sound like a doctor or a mother,” mumbled Kuroko, sideways glancing to the redhead with a slight pout showing on his face.

 

“Well, good thing that I’m neither. It would be considerable bad if or a doctor or a mother did this, after all,” said Akashi, craning his neck sideways and delivering a quick peck on the smaller male’s lips.

 

“A-Akashi-kun! W-What are you doing, in a place like this!?” yelped Kuroko, pushing the redhead’s body away from him as quickly as he could, a pink shade dusting his cheeks. He cautiously glanced around their surroundings and then returned his teal eyes, twisted in a glare, to the taller male.

 

“There’s no one around, Tetsuya,” reassured Akashi, a mischievous smirk starting to climb into his lips as he slowly shortened the distance between them, which the bluenette was apparently trying to maintain, the way he walked backwards in tandem to each step forward that he gave. Once the smaller male’s back hit the hard surface of the wall, Akashi lunged his hand forward without a shred of hesitation and leaned it on the hard surface, imprisoning Kuroko between the wall and his body. “So even if I did something like this, no one would see.”

 

Akashi motioned his head forward as quickly as it was humanly possible, sealing Kuroko’s mouth, which was ready to send complaints his way, with his own, and deliciously feasted on his lips and tongue without a care in the world that they were currently on an exposed corridor, inside of a building filled with people that could walk by at any given moment.

 

“Mmn...! Aka— Mmmn,” tried to speak Kuroko, but the kiss was fully stealing his breath away, together with the rational words that were still able to make way on his slowly mellowed brain. One of his hands leaned over the wall, nails lightly scratching at its surface, his other hand motioned forward and tentatively tugged at the redhead’s clothes, half messily, half panicky. “Haa... Mmn...”

 

Akashi gave an almost teasing lick to the bluenette’ lower lip, cleansing the saliva overflowing from their mouths, and dived in once again, this time even more deeply and with hungrier motions. The prospect of being seen by someone was more arousing that he would have given it credit for – the way Kuroko wrestled for his attention and closure on the kiss while responding to it in equal terms with him was the most adorable thing ever... and it only made him want to escalate this scenario even further.

 

Locked lips and tongue in one another, Akashi took one of his hands from the wall and teasingly slid his fingertips down the length of Kuroko’s neck, the skin being touched immediately rippling and growing hotter still. When he lightly rubbed the base of his neck, pulling the neck of his upper clothes slightly down so slid his fingers until he meet with his collarbone, the redhead satisfactorily swallowed a half moan, the body leaning against both the wall and his own for some sustenance twitching and jerking just the slightest.

 

“Haa... Ha... Just what... do you think you’re doing... haa... in a place like this?” admonished Kuroko with a gasping voice as soon as their lips parted from one another, a deep red blush covering the entirety of his features and neck, making the glare on his watery teal eyes pretty much unnoticeable.

 

“No one came, right...?” pointed out Akashi, his breathing rhythm also slightly affected by the long and deep kiss that had extended for... well, not even he was aware for how long exactly had they stood in the corridor, hungrily kissing each other like there was no more days to come after that one ended. He took half a step forward and leaned his chest against the bluenette’s, their foreheads bumping with one another. “We could continue or do something even more interesting that absolutely no one would know of— Ouch!”

 

“Like hell we will!” yelped Kuroko, his blush darkening even more as he painfully buried the heel of his foot on the taller male’s one, strongly pressing it down there while twisting it around just the slightest before putting it back on the floor once again.

 

“Tetsuya, you’re falling out of character,” said Akashi, creating some distance between their bodies with a small limp of his stepped on foot, pain being released in spaced waves through his whole limb.

 

“My character is not the problem here, yours is!” continued admonishing Kuroko, furiously glaring to the redhead as he tried to restore his bearings and put his brain working under normal levels. “Just how big of a pervert are you, to do such an indecent thing in a place where little children can walk by at any moment? Where is the Akashi Seijuurou with the perfect self-restraint that is talked about everywhere? The way you have been behaving lately is like you’re constantly—“

 

“Like I’m constantly what?” interrupted Akashi, a smirk popping up in his lips yet again. “In heat? Seeking ways to put you gasping underneath me and make you cum again and again until you’re nothing more than a dribbling mess of moans and mewls of pleasure? Like my head is filled with nothing but thoughts of how I would make you melt with my touch as I pound into you?”

 

“...!” Mouth gaping wide open as it trying to muster any word that wasn’t a babble, his face burning with a temperature ten times of the surface of the sun, Kuroko stared to the redhead with a completely flabbergasted expression.

 

“All of those things are the truth,” confessed Akashi, once again shortening the distance between their bodies until they were almost glued to one another, one of his legs motioned forward to part the bluenette’s legs and press his upper thigh against his crotch. The redhead felt the body leaned against his shiver, the reaction pleasing him more than he would have expected. “You’re making me go insane here and self-restraint is the last thing in my head when you act like this around me.”

 

“L-Like what?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, pressing the back of his head hard against the wall to create the smallest of space between their almost touching lips.

 

“Like you want all of those things just as much as me, but still stubbornly force yourself to deny it,” purred Akashi, a smirk on his lips as he gave a light peck to the smaller male’s lips. “It’s as clear as day that you do, or else you would have pushed me away when I kissed you just now. Or kicked me when I gave you a blowjob this morning.”

 

“Ngh...” Kuroko felt his whole body trembling as the redhead pressed his own even more closely against him, his lips continuously giving butterfly kisses to his lips as he continued talking.

 

“When I was feeding you dinner last night or when we were eating those cakes in the restaurant too,” added Akashi, more light pecks to the bluenette in between his words. “Or when I was teasing you in Teikou’s front gate. During our morning kisses after I had sneaked into your bed or the after dinner ‘punishments’ in my bedroom. Painting your whole body with red hickeys and deep bite marks on the gym or in my building. Pining you down on your apartment and making your moans be heard next door.”

 

“Haa... Nn...” His breathing becoming more ragged once again, Kuroko turned his face away from the redhead’s, his eyes half-lidded and cheeks inflamed in a red colouring due to the quickened rhythm of his cardio-respiratory system.

 

“Rape is not a hobby of mine and I doubt it’s an interest of yours either so all of those things were consensual from both of us,” whispered Akashi against the bluenette’s ear, giving a soft nibble to his jelly earlobe. “You already admitted that you like me touching you more than you like to eat vanilla flavoured sweets and drinks. I’ll let you go and be on my utmost well behaved and fully controlled self until the official closure of the pastry competition if you admit now that you want me to touch you.”

 

“Ngh... Y-You’re being unfair again, Akashi-kun...” softly mumbled Kuroko, his heart almost on the verge of explosion with its maddening beating. This was most likely another mischievous scheme of the taller male – the moment he professed those words, the redhead would indubitably jump him right there, making him throw his rationality away while doing the same with his only to be able to get what he was seeking. He knew that very well.

 

Then why were the words already forming inside of his vocal cords and threatening to roll out of his tongue?

 

“I... want you to touch me... Akashi-kun...” shyly said Kuroko, his eyes hesitantly taking a peek to the redhead as he straightened his head to face him directly. As soon as he realized that he had really actually said what the taller male had told him to – and it was indubitably the truth – Kuroko released a soft groan and his body slid down against the wall, his arms covering his bright red features as he crouched down on the floor.

 

“...” Akashi simply stood there, in front of the embarrassed bluenette, his hands pressed against the wall while his heterochromatic eyes stared away to no place in particular in front of him.

 

_I hate it when Tetsuya doesn’t do what I tell him to... but having him obeying me is unbearably—_

 

“Destructive...” completed Akashi the sentence running around inside of his head, his hands dropping from the wall back to the sides of his body.

 

“...Eh?” softly interjected Kuroko, shifting his arms just a little bit and peeking with one of his teal eyes to the redhead through the opening that had been made with said movements. What he saw made his head immediately jerk up, his eyes going wide open as his jaw slackened just a little bit in utter amazement. “Akashi-kun... you’re...”

 

“...ngh...” Akashi readily averted the bluenette’s intense gaze, trying to cover with his hand the myriad of shades of red currently dyeing his entire face, his heart beating madly on his chest and pumping even more blood to his head. He quickly turned his body around and took a deep breath, intending on fully erasing the colour present on his skin at the moment and return it to its usual one as fast as it was possible.

 

“Akashi-kun... you’re adorable...” ended up blurting Kuroko, apparently the part of his brain that controlled his speaking ability entering into overload and making it impossible for him to filter his words before they exited his vocal cords. “Your blushing expression is absolutely adorable... But why? Eh...? Me? Was it me that made you blush? Eh? I made Akashi Seijuurou... blush? In an adorable way? Eh— Mmn!”

 

“Please stop talking already, Tetsuya,” requested Akashi, separating his lips from the bluenette’s after having interrupted his words by the means of a quick kiss. Though his expression had returned to that of his usual serious demeanour, his cheekbones where still slightly smeared with a pink shade. “Before I break my promise with you in regards of my good behaviour and just make a dribbling mess of incoherent babbles and moans out of you right here, because god knows that’s what I’m burning to do this very moment.”

 

Kuroko only gulped down hard in a masked way and silently nodded his head in agreement – ignoring the fact that he would have cared less that moment if Akashi had actually done what he said that he wanted to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Hengen Jizai no Magical Star" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> God, these two cuties will be the death of me >///< Akashi blushed...! And Kuroko saw it...! Oh god, I'm going to pass out... Sugar levels are too high and I just binge-ate half of a cereal box (the kind that has loads of sugar already~). JUST WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME, YOU TWO!?!? Please stop stalling the inevitable and just fuck like rabbits, for god sake! Your sexual frustration and tension is slowly draining my soul... I need some smut -.-' *sigh* *turns around and starts writing next chapter for Eat Me, Drink Me with a naughty~ smirk~*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	142. To find a word I can say to you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> To tell you the truth... I just had the crappiest 24 hours of my life -.-' Got back home yesterday from work to discover that I had no electricity, then arrived one hour late to work today because of the fucking schedule during weekends of the buses in England, I couldn't focus at all during my 11 hours shift and, just like I expected, when I arrived home from work and finally managed to get my electricity running again, all of the food inside of my fridge was... well, inedible -.-' *sigh* Please give me some love, everyone... I need it to be able to survive these upcoming chapters because god knows it hurts my soul so very badly to write them... Oh shit! I think I just have you some spoilers... Nah, you already were aware that shit is about to hit the fan~
> 
> Enjoy the last bit of fluff, guys... because the beginning of the end is getting nearer and nearer~ Muwahahahahahaha! *sigh* I'm so overdramatic...

_This is torture... The ultimate type of torture...,_ inwardly chanted Kuroko, trying to focus his teal eyes on the afternoon events for the first day of the pastry competition... but miserably failing at it, since his eyes seemed to have their own will and they were automatically jumping to the redhead sitting beside him, seeking to see yet another blushing expression on his face. One that he was very well aware that he wouldn’t see in the near future, Akashi Seijuurou being who he was.

 

A fluke. A once-in-your-life-time event. An occurrence that only happened once every ten billion years. Those thoughts still floated around inside of his head as Kuroko tried to take his mind off of what had happened in the corridor of Sumida Triphony Hall during the lunch break. If his thoughts had stopped there, then everything would be okay. Continuously thinking about a rare facial expression that one had seen in another person wasn’t something unusual or out of the ordinary, and it was also some pretty innocent thoughts.

 

However, Kuroko’s thoughts were _anything_ but innocent. Akashi’s words also constantly floated around on his brain, making his core melt into a puddle of sexual frustration. Abiding to his words, the redhead had indeed stopped right there and, although three hours passed – three long and almost physically painful hours –, Akashi had yet to make a single move towards him, whether some playful teasing or any lingering touches to his body. Nothing of nothing. Zero. Nada.

 

And how much Kuroko wanted to touch the redhead right now. He desperately needed some confirmation that what he had seen, that that absolutely adorable blush had been real, not a fantasy in his head. What better confirmation other than to touch his face, feeling with the tips of his fingers the hotness that had infiltrated his cheeks?

 

 _This is probably another of Akashi-kun’s schemes, anyway,_ grumbled Kuroko in the back of his mind, returning his eyes to the challenge being performed in the main stage on the lower floor as a pink shade appeared on his cheekbones. _I bet he’s having the time of his life, observing me acting all fidgety around him. If he’s thinking that I will crawl on his feet, begging him to touch me or just go back to acting in the same way as he was previous to lunch break... he’s very mistaken!_

 

-.-

 

 _This is torture... I’m not supposed to be a masochist, but this is indubitably some sort of self-imposed torture,_ inwardly mumbled Akashi, his eyes forcibly stuck to the main stage of the large hall below the balcony where he and the bluenette were sitting at. He gave a quick sideways glance to the smaller male and saw him steeling yet another look at his face, an adorable soft blush giving colour to his pale features.

 

Akashi just wanted to jump out of his seat and pin down Kuroko so badly right now. Apparently, restricting himself in such ways only to get to hear the bluenette admit the obvious was a bigger double edged sword than he had initially thought, because his head was now filled with nothing but what he would _not_ be able to do for almost 36 hours, until the closing ceremony of the pastry competition on the following day.

 

Oh and he knew what he would do when the time limit was reached. As soon as the curtains where lowered (in a figurative way, of course), he would put both of them inside of the car that was supposed to make their transit during this weekend while in Sumida, and lead them inside of their hotel room as quickly as lightning (which meant, as quickly as that area’s traffic permitted). Once there, he would ravish Kuroko because his already very pent up sexual frustration added to how cutely the bluenette had been acting recently while around him was making him getting acquainted with torture levels of self-restraint that he didn’t know to have in him.

 

To make it even worse, it seemed that Kuroko, even after everything he said while half pinning him against the wall, still didn’t fully understand just how strong his attraction towards him was, not only in a physical level, but also in a emotional sense.

 

 _However, maybe this will be a good thing for the both of us,_ tried to convince himself Akashi, his eyes shifting back to the main stage once again, the side of his head leaning itself on his closed hand, also supported on the armrest of his seat. _I don’t want Tetsuya to misunderstand that every time I touch him in any way, or the words that I tell him, aren’t purposely done or said in order to seduce and take advantage of our constant presence around each other. I don’t want him to think that I see him as a toy which I can use to release my sexual frustration._

 

Because Kuroko was anything but a toy or an object to him. He was actually the cause why he was so frustrated right now – things never seemed to go well for his side and something _always_ prevented him to achieve his own release and/or full satisfaction when things grew steamier with the bluenette. He had thought that maybe, just maybe, by being far away from their usual location would solve that little problem of theirs but reality came to slap him in the face yet again and there always seems to be some sort of interruption or need to stop at some point.

 

“Ahh... I want this to hurry up and finish...” softly whispered Akashi after having released a masked sigh, taking another sideways peek to the bluenette, who seemed to have returned his full attention to the current challenge since it seemed that one of the contestants was using something with vanilla on his pastry.

 

_I will see my promise to him until the end. But I’ll be half dead and extremely turned on by that time..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> I truly find it funny how both Kuroko and Akashi are struggling over the same thing (aka sexual frustration) but stubbornly refuse to do ANYTHING to solve it... Even though it's mutual! God, you two are frustrating to write about -.-' Just... go at it like bunnies already! Everybody knows you want to, probably even the Pope would approve and make your "marriage" official himself! ARGH!!!!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	143. As a result of suffering through grief, we intersect once again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> Let me just say this... *sniff* Death flag in one... The first death flag, I mean... *sniff* Because... after this one... we have to go through three more death flags... MY SADISTIC WRITER SIDE IS TAKING OVER, EVERYONE! Run while you can!!
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading the chapter ^.^]

“Ugh... I’m too full...” groaned Kuroko as he heavily dropped his body down on one of the individual sofas in the living room area of the hotel room booked by the redhead for both of them. Sliding down just the slightest as he tried to put his almost bursting by the seams stomach in a comfortable position, he simply closed his eyes and tried to take his mind off of the topic of food and that he would experience the exact same the next day, until a hand softly ran through his locks of hair and made him look up towards the male that had stopped behind him.

 

“Do you want me to get you some tea to calm your stomach down?” asked Akashi, his upper body leaned over the backrest of the sofa as he softly caressed the bluenette’s head with the soothing movements of his fingers, peering down at him with a small smile on his lips.

 

“A vanilla milkshake or hot chocolate would probably be better...” shyly said Kuroko, looking over to the redhead from below with beckoning eyes.

 

“I think you already had enough sugar to last you for a week. Tea it is,” announced Akashi, delivering a quick peck to the smaller male’s forehead and then propelling his upper body back up, turning around on his heels to get inside of the bedroom, where he remembered seeing an electric kettle with an assortment of different instant drinks, some of them being tea. “Just stay there and I’ll get it ready for you.”

 

“Yes...” acknowledged Kuroko, a pout on his features as he once again leaned his head on the backrest of the sofa. He released a long sigh and closed his eyes once again, sleep starting to gain some ground inside of his tired body and mind.

 

It had been one hell of a day, to say the least. Nothing out of the ordinary had happened – the redhead’s suspicions towards the ‘mole’ they had talked about never took on dangerous forms, they spent the entire day watching the challenges and small events of the pastry competition while eating the sweets baked for them and had no trouble making the transition back from Sumida Triphony Hall to the hotel. The reason it was so tiring to the bluenette was simply because he wasn’t used to the ordinary.

 

He had spent his days since the ‘Bloody Night’ in almost complete isolation from other human beings and ‘Users’, always keeping his presence hidden from everyone and silently attending some of his middle school classes when he felt like he was able to withstand one more day as nothing more than an invisible ghost.

 

And before the ‘Bloody Night’ happened... he had never tasted the flavour of the word ‘ordinary life’, except for some short moments that he had shared with Aomine, Momoi and, even fewer but definitely memorable until his last day, Ogiwara.

 

Things with Akashi, however, were different. Their shared time seemed to take on a routine-like format, the same calm events always happening in the same time frame and with the occasional mess or troubles that he accidentally caused (though that too, in a way, seemed to be part of their daily life).

 

Kuroko wondered if this type of thing was what other people called an ‘ordinary life’ or if even such a word could be applied to ‘Users’.

 

“Tetsuya, are you sure you are really okay?” asked Akashi once again, his hand softly landing on top of the bluenette’s forehead and carefully measuring his body temperature, which caused his teal eyes to slowly open once again. “People don’t usually get this tired by having a full stomach alone.”

 

“Nn... I’m fine. Just sleepy...” reassured Kuroko, his head unconsciously leaning towards the taller male’s hand and resting there as it slid down to cup his cheek, light caresses by his fingertips stroking his skin. He closed his eyes for a third time and breathed deeply, his body immediately relaxing even further now that the so familiar prickling sensation was coursing through his whole being.

 

“Let’s go to bed then,” acknowledged Akashi, letting the hand cupping the smaller male’s cheek fall to near his waist to get a hold of it, picking the bluenette up from the sofa to take him to their bed. He heard Kuroko release a low grunt at the fact that he was basically being picked up as if a child being taken to bed by their mother, but no other complaint was made whatsoever until he put his body as gently as possible in the bed.

 

“I’m not a child, Akashi-kun,” grudgingly said Kuroko, glaring slightly to the redhead as he sat down on the mattress more comfortably.

 

“I know, Tetsuya,” chuckled Akashi, his analysis about the smaller male’s thoughts turning out to be the correct ones. He gave a couple of steps towards the nightstand and sat down on the bed near it, and from there he picked up a mug filled with a dark coloured liquid, steam rising up in the lightly lit room. “Here.”

 

“Thank yo— Eh? Didn’t you say that you were going to make me some tea?” asked Kuroko, his head slightly tilted to the right as he noticed by the colour and the smell that the beverage inside of the mug wasn’t tea, but the hot chocolate that he had requested initially.

 

“Sugar cuts down our sleep but you seem tired enough as it is so I figured that just a little bit more won’t hurt,” explained Akashi, giving a quick upturn to the corner of his lips. He pushed his body against the mattress of the bed until he found a comfortable position on it and gave a couple of soft pats to the area next to him. “Come here, Tetsuya.”

 

Kuroko eyed closely the redhead for a couple of seconds before he started crawling over in his direction by the means of his legs only, his hands preoccupied with carrying the mug without spilling any of its content on the mattress. Once he had reached the place indicated by Akashi, he sat down once again, his back resting against the headboard of the huge bed, and then turned his gaze back to the taller male.

 

“Would you mind accompanying me through a bedtime story?” requested Akashi, motioning his hand once again to the nightstand and picking up from there the picture book that the bluenette had taken along with him – the one that he had given to him to read in the first place.

 

“Ah... Um...” Not knowing what to do or even say, Kuroko switched his gaze between the taller male and the picture book being held on his hand. Finding that he didn’t have any actual reason to refuse him, he gave a soft nod with his head and almost immediately stuffed the rim of the mug on his mouth, giving a long sip to the extremely hot drink inside.

 

Akashi once again smiled at the bluenette and shortened the distance between their bodies, nestling together with Kuroko as he put the picture book on top of his lap and started reading it, beginning with the title.

 

_‘The Blood-Red Monster and the Mirror of the Truth’_

_In a small town lived a boy. He was just like all the other boys and girls of the town, a youthful look on his face and a strong will to have fun. However, all of the inhabitants of the town pointed at him. They would whisper, “He’s different from us. He doesn’t belong to our group.”_

_The whispers became murmurs. The murmurs became conversations. Soon enough, the inhabitants of the town started to blatantly question the source of such confusion directly._

_“Why does your hair look like that?” “Why are your eyes of different colours?” “Why do you live in that house?”_

_The boy didn’t know how to answer any of those questions. How could he know? Nobody had ever told him why his hair was red. Nobody had ever said the reason behind the mismatched colouring of his eyes. Nobody had ever explained how or why he ended up in that house. He had that appearance and he lived in that house – that was as far as he knew._

_The whispering continued. The murmurs continued. The conversation continued. The questions didn’t have an end._

_And what could the boy do? How to make the inhabitants accept that he was what he was and lived where he lived? Was it wrong of him to be like that? Was he... the wrong one?_

_One day, the boy decided to look in the mirror, the old, large one which had been hidden in the attic the moment he had first stepped through the doors of his house._

_He looked and what did he see?_

_He saw a young boy, his hair fiery red and eyes of two different colours that seemed to deeply contrast with one another. He couldn’t help but sigh in relief at the sight. Slowly, the boy motioned his hand towards the mirror to touch his true appearance, to feel it through the cold surface of the mirror._

_He couldn’t, however._

_When he saw his arm, he couldn’t see anything similar to what appeared in the mirror. All he saw was a thick, furry arm that almost resembled a large trunk in size. His breath shaking, he looked down to his legs, the thinness of the image reflected in the mirror contrasting with how bulky and covered in fur they were when he looked at himself._

_The boy glanced over to the mirror one more time. There it was – a young boy, just like all the other boys and girls from that town._

_Which was the truth?_

_Human or monster?_

_Reality or reflection?_

_Which was the young boy’s true appearance?_

 

“’Which was the young boy’s true self?’” finished reading Akashi, softly closing the book and letting the back cover facing both of them. “The end.”

 

“...” Kuroko couldn’t help but fixedly stare to the name of the author placed on the back cover once again, his brain recalling the strange sensation that he had felt the previous day when he had read it out loud. “Akashi-kun... Was it...?”

 

“Yes, it was my mother who wrote this picture book,” confessed Akashi, a soft smile on his features as he caressed the name of the woman that had given birth to him and taken care of him for so long, until her very last breath. “She wrote this book and dedicated it to every ‘User’, its objective being narrating what we first experience when we _awoke_ – rejection and confusion.”

 

“Why did you give it to me and tell me to read it?” asked Kuroko, lifting his head and intensely looking over to the redhead, who also switched his gaze back to him.

 

“I thought that maybe you would get to finally understand two things,” started explaining Akashi, returning the picture book to on top of the nightstand and shifting his body around so that he could more closely approach the smaller male. “The first one is that you are not alone and that you don’t need to be alone. There are countless ‘Users’, whether in Teikou, whether unregistered ones, and every single one of them feels or has felt in the exact same way that you do. I have felt that way too. Daiki, Ryouta, Shintarou and Atsushi did too. Satsuki and Shuuzou... Probably even Kagami Taiga has. You’re not alone and you never truly were because we are just like you. Normal humans feel the exact same fear and hatred towards us as they feel towards you, even if, yes, you are the ‘User’ responsible for the ‘Bloody Night’.”

 

“...”

 

“The other thing that I wanted you to know was...” continued Akashi, motioning his hands forward and cupping the bluenette’s cheeks, pulling his head back up from its lowered and grieving stance. “Did you notice the little secret hidden in the story?”

 

“S-Secret..?” repeated Kuroko with a certain hesitation, one of his eyebrows getting perked up just the slightest.

 

“You have personally met the two main characters of this picture book,” announced Akashi, giving a quick peck to the bluenette’s nose. “Though I would feel safer if you had only met one of them, to be honest.”

 

“...Y-You’re... the ‘boy’...” incredulously realized Kuroko, connecting all the dots of the story of the book, the writer and what the redhead was telling him. “Your mother wrote a book for ‘Users’ and she based the main character in you...? ...Why? Why would she do something like that?”

 

“Because even though she didn’t _awoke_ as a ‘User’, she had felt just as much as one every single day of her life since she got married to my father,” answered Akashi, softly dropping his hands from the bluenette’s cheeks and circled his waist next, tightly nestling their bodies together against the headboard of the bed. “Rejection, confusion, a target of deep hatred and exclusion by everyone around her... She was a normal human but still, she knew those things very well. As if she was a human ‘User’ even before ‘Users’ appeared.”

 

“...How... did she deal with it...?” inquired Kuroko, his head lowering just the slightest so that he could keep his face hidden from the taller male through the means of the position that they had settled themselves in.

 

“Isn’t that more than obvious? She had me,” leisurely answered Akashi, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders. “Though because of the regulations and treaties of Teikou Academy with the Japanese government and her own weak body, she wasn’t allowed inside of Teikou grounds, but we met very often. She also knew Shintarou and Shuuzou and all four of us spent time together every now and then. If she publicly sided together with ‘Users’ she would be even more targeted by the normal humans, so she secretly provided a lot of help in building Teikou. Maybe I wouldn’t have had the idea of creating Teikou if it hadn’t been for her support in the first place.”

 

“She... sounds like a wonderful person...” weakly said Kuroko, trying to keep a sob stuck inside of his throat. He had no idea why but he was almost on the verge of breaking into a long and emotional crying state, his heart seeming to be squeezed and crushed inside of his ribcage. “You were lucky... to have her as your mother... and as an ally...”

 

“Yes, I most certainly was,” acknowledged Akashi, a small bright smile on his lips. He gave another squeeze to the smaller male’s hips and pulled his body closer to his own, making the back of his head bump against his chest. “I’ve told you about myself. I won’t start quoting you now and I’m sure you don’t want me to do it either. So it’s your turn to tell me a little bit about yourself.”

 

“...” Another pained sob, one that would have sounded more like a panicky shriek, got stuck on his throat and he half-heartedly wrestled to free himself from the redhead’s close embrace of his body – but he felt far too tired and weak at the moment to even slacken the hold half an inch. “Akashi-kun, please... I don’t...”

 

“I told you this today, Tetsuya. It’s not by ignoring it and keeping it inside that you will get any benefits from it, nor even closure. You’re just making yourself a prisoner, a slave to your past,” said Akashi, one of his hands softly caressing his body through his clothes with soothing motions. “It might not solve anything because everybody knows that what has happened in the past is something that no one will ever be able to change, but by talking about it with someone else, you might start finding peace with yourself about those events. The past is in the past. Let it remain there, close the door softly but never locking it, and move to the next room – the present – while opening the next door – the future. Believe me, it will be much better for you if you do that.”

 

“I... can’t—“

 

“You said it yourself that you wouldn’t talk about it while in the pastry competition, indirectly saying that it wasn’t the right place,” interrupted Akashi, lifting one of his hands from the bluenette’s hips and bringing with it the smaller male’s face up in his direction so that he could look directly into his eyes, a serious demeanour all over his face. “Now is the perfect time, don’t you agree?”

 

“I agree on the fact that you are rushing too much, once again...” tried to deadpan Kuroko, but a small tinge of distress still showed on his blank facial expression. “I... have my reasons as to why I don’t want to talk about it, not only with you but with everyone. And... I wouldn’t actually know where to begin...”

 

“Well, the beginning of everything is always a good start,” acknowledged Akashi, sliding their bodies slightly against the headboard while removing the half full mug from the bluenette’s hands and putting it back on the nightstand so they could get in a more comfortable and relaxing position on the bed. “You can’t exactly understand a story if it’s being told by the middle or the near end, correct?”

 

A deep silence followed after the redhead’s words, one that stretched for long minutes as Akashi figured that Kuroko was having yet another inner battle with himself and deciding what exactly would be possible for him to reveal to the taller male. The way he felt his body fidgeting around, the redhead knew that there was a lot to decide on and very little that he could actually disclose with guarantees of safety on his behalf.

 

“I... told you today that I’m not very good at dealing with other people in general, including children... didn’t I?” suddenly asked Kuroko, his body settling in a slightly crouched down position over himself in order to make himself smaller, less visible to those around him – even if it was only him and Akashi there right now. “Within their innocence and lack of knowledge about the world, children can be surprisingly cruel to one another. I... was being bullied by a group of children during elementary school... The type of bullying where they threw me with cold water and then locked me in the shed while soaked wet during a whole winter night... Or the type of bullying where they took away my lunch and stepped on it... The type of bullying where I was beaten by them when I refused to steal for them or didn’t follow after their orders... The type of bullying that got me a broken bone in several instances...”

 

“...” Akashi pushed his head up and softly leaned his chin on top of the bluenette’s head, still giving soothing caressed to his body as he silently listened to him.

 

“I didn’t understand why they kept on picking on me. I never did anything wrong to them and it wasn’t like I was the richest of students in that school, from who they could extort money,” continued Kuroko, his body shuddering with the anticipation of the words that were about to come out of his mouth. “Then, on that night, everything came to light. The only ally that I had during those hard times... Ah, putting Ogiwara-kun on the side, of course. The only ally that I had turned out to be the reason why all of that was happening in the first place. He was the one who was inducing the group of children to bully me. He was the one filling their heads with ideas and methods to torment me. He was the one giving them money to do it. All because he wanted to have the status of ‘the teacher that helped a poor, defenceless excluded student, whose parents spent more time working to pay off their debts than looking after their own child, from a group of misbehaving classmates’.”

 

“Your _teacher_ paid a group of children to bully you?” incredulously repeated Akashi, using his own words to describe the events making his eyes going wide open in shock. No wonder the bluenette had gotten such a deep distrust towards other people in general – he had never known any better than being abused whether by older people or those of his own age, even as a small child. “Why would he do such a horrible thing to you?”

 

“Ridiculous, right?” dryly scoffed Kuroko, feeling like laughing himself at how silly it actually sounded. “He just used the most convenient student around him to get himself some more credit than he already had. And who was more convenient other than weak, little Kuroko Tetsuya, who nobody would notice if he arrived home covered in bruises, cuts and clothes ripped to pitiful states, or if he spent the entire night missing? The perfect sacrificial lamb.”

 

“...” Hearing the bluenette speaking of himself and of his own past in such a degrading and detached way filled Akashi with deep anger. Not towards Kuroko, but towards the mentioned teacher, who gave the initial push to lead the smaller male into viewing himself as nothing more than a useful tool to be played around by others.

 

“It eventually reached a point where it was simply unbearable to keep going to school,” continued Kuroko, his gaze down on his hands. “But if I missed school, then the teacher would come and give me a motivational speech that lead me around by the nose and made me keep going to school every day. And I knew very well that if I escaped their bullying for even one day, then the following one would be ten times worse as a punishment. There was just... no escape whatsoever. But, like I said, everything was revealed that night. And everything came to an end that night.”

 

“What happened when you discovered the truth behind the bullying?” asked Akashi, not managing to resist the temptation of hearing the smaller male tell him about things that he most likely had never told anyone else.

 

“I... don’t really know,” hesitantly confessed Kuroko, a strained expression on his face as he tried to keep it from twisting around in pain. “My memories of that night are really little. Of the whole day, to be honest. I barely remember the conversation that I accidentally walked on into when I went to my elementary school during the night for some reason. I just remember... running and running as I was hunted down by them... I know I was holding something in my hand like my life depended on it but I can’t remember what it was... Then those hands wrapped around my neck, squeezing and squeezing... My body floating suspense in the air with the ground metres and metres away from my feet... I... I just...!”

 

“Tetsuya, it’s okay. You’re safe,” tried to sooth down Akashi, taking the bluenette’s hands away from his neck as he tried to wrestle himself free from a pair of invisible hands, his breathing rhythm getting more strained and heavy as his body shuddered like bamboo sticks against a storm. “That’s gone now. It happened and it won’t happen again. I _won’t_ let it happen again. Never.”

 

“...” Taking a shaky deep breath, Kuroko tried to control his breathing back to normal levels, the strain of hyperventilating starting to cause pain on his lungs. Once he got his respiratory system back in order, it was now his lacrimal gland that threatened to burst out of control.

 

“Could you tell me what happened after that?” softly asked further Akashi, tightly hugging into the bluenette from behind to provide as much support and warmth as he could to his cold-from-fright body. “What happened to you, the teacher and the bullies that night?”

 

“I... I don’t know...” answered Kuroko, his voice cracking just the slightest as another wave of shudders hit his body, earthquakes that shook his whole being one after another. “When I noticed... I was on the floor, a pool of blood all around me... Then everything went dark. Terribly dark... Next time I woke up again, I had my clothes soaked in blood and I was somewhere I had never been before. By the time I managed to return to my house... I-I was told that my school had been attacked by a terrorist group and that the students and teacher that had been inside at that time had been k-killed... That I went missing for close to two w-weeks... That I should have also d-died on the school so that my parents could have gotten the same compensation money that the families of the deceased s-students and teacher had gotten due to the attack...”

 

“Tetsuya...” softly called Akashi, his arms tightly wrapping around the bluenette’s shaking torso in search to soothe down the sobbing male with every little once of warmth that he possessed on his being.

 

“I... ngh... I realised afterwards... that I had _awoken_... that I had become a ‘User’ that night...” cried Kuroko, a river of crystal clear tears running down his features from his teal eyes. “I realised... that _I_ was the ‘terrorist group’ that had destroyed the school and killed my classmates and my teacher... Ugh... And what did I feel at that time? Nothing but relief! I was happy that they were dead! I was happy that I killed them...! I... I was happy, deep down, with all the other people that I unconsciously ended up killing afterwards... Monster... I’m nothing but a monster meant to slaughter and defile... I’ve done it my whole life and I will continue doing it until I die... I will... I will defile you too, Akashi-kun! I—“

 

“There’s no way that is true, Tetsuya!” suddenly yelled Akashi, making the smaller male startle in surprise. “You never defiled me! If anything, you have only managed to bring out my human side and made me experience all sorts of nice and unknown emotions that I didn’t know possible to feel myself!”

 

“Y-You say that... because you don’t know everything...” stutteringly said Kuroko, his hands closing into fists, so tightly that his fingers went even paler than usual. “You still... don’t understand what kind of monster I am!”

 

“You don’t tell me anything, so of course I don’t know or even understand!” pointed out Akashi, feeling as frustrated about this topic as the bluenette probably did. “If you don’t tell me, I will never know about—“

 

“But I don’t want you to know!” interrupted Kuroko this time around, even more tears running down his eyes. “I don’t want you... to know... Damn it, I don’t want you to see how much of a nasty, evil and disgusting broken monster I am, Akashi-kun!”

 

“Like hell you are!” yelled Akashi once again, pushing the bluenette down against the mattress of the bed, his hands tightly gripping at his trembling shoulders. “There’s no way you are anything resembling what you just said. Because, if you are a nasty, evil and disgusting broken monster, then what does that make me? I killed my own father, destroyed my whole house and sank them both to the deepest part of Hell, only me and my mother coming out of it alive! To take Atsushi out of the lab where he was being experimented on, I killed 204 humans in two short hours! And I was 11 years old when I did it, a smile on my face as I ripped heads, legs and arms out of their bodies! You have no idea how many people I had to deceive or bribe to get Teikou Academy up and running, to create a safe haven for all ‘Users’! Am I also a monster...?”

 

“It’s different, Akashi-kun...” sobbed Kuroko, tears now soaking the bed sheets underneath his head. “You did it for the sake of everyone around you... I did it because I was someone else’s puppet, not strong enough to take a stance for myself...”

 

“You’re wrong, Tetsuya... So very wrong,” said Akashi, almost in the form of a whisper, as he softly stared deep into the smaller male’s crying teal orbs. “You are strong. Probably the strongest person I have ever met in my whole life. Even though you are so scarred inside, you keep on living, keep on fighting to preserve your own life. I don’t think other people, even the strong ones, would be able to have to courage and strength to do that. You could have given up when the bullies and the teacher were chasing after you, but you didn’t. You kept on fighting against them and never submitted to them. You could have surrendered yourself to the Japanese government after the ‘Bloody Night’, or even to the Student Council in Teikou, but you didn’t. You kept on creating strategies to survive.”

 

 _You could have chosen to kill others instead of being tortured again and again by that man, but you still chose to sacrifice yourself to keep other people safe,_ inwardly added Akashi, another bolt of deep anger striking on his brain.

 

“You never gave up so how can you call yourself weak? How can you call yourself a broken monster when you are crying this sorrowfully over everything that you did in the past?” asked Akashi, feeling his own heart break into two with the sight of the crying features of the smaller male. “You are no monster, Tetsuya. Those who made you do all those things that you did in the past are the monsters here. Not you.”

 

“...Really...?” weakly asked Kuroko, his hands desperately grabbing into the redhead’s clothes as he intently stared directly to his heterochromatic eyes with teal ones crying rivers. “Am I... ugh... really not a monster, Akashi-kun...?”

 

“You are definitely not a monster, Tetsuya,” reassured Akashi, delivering a soft kiss to the bluenette’s right eye and cleaning his tears with his lips. “You are just like me. If you were a monster, then so would I. And if you become a monster in the future, then so will I. I’ve claimed my place on your bed and I told you that I intend on keeping it forever, no matter what happens in the future or what has happened in the past.”

 

“What if I want someone else to sleep in my bed, not you?” asked Kuroko, a small smirk on his lips as the taller male cleaned the rest of his tears away.

 

“Too bad for that other person, then, because what is mine is mine and it will remain as mine forever,” teasingly answered Akashi, giving a quick peck to the smaller male’s lips and mischievously smirking at him afterwards. “Well, they could always try to challenge me to see who would be the one worthy to claim such a place beside you. But I’ll let you know that I have never lost in anything in my whole life and it definitely wouldn’t be in such an important thing that I would for the first time.”

 

“Your self confidence never ceases to amaze me,” softly chuckled Kuroko, before a long yawn forced him to open his mouth wide.

 

“You should really sleep now, Tetsuya, or tomorrow you’ll sleep in,” warned Akashi, dropping his body in the mattress beside the bluenette and softly nestling himself against him. He could care less right now that they were both still in their outdoor clothes – rest was in dire need for the both of them, especially since they still had one more day filled with sweets and pastries and the unknown of imminent danger to go through.

 

“I doubt that you would let me sleep in, Akashi-kun,” pointed out Kuroko, readily turning his body around and burying his features against the redhead’s chest, his hands wrapping around his clothes and legs getting slightly tangled in each other’s.

 

“You look adorable when sleeping all curled up against me, so I believe that yes, I would end up letting you sleep in,” teasingly announced Akashi, one of his arms wrapping around the bluenette’s waist. “Now good night, Tetsuya. Tomorrow, let’s eat sweets and pastries until both of our stomachs burst.”

 

“Yes. Good night, Akashi-kun,” acknowledged Kuroko, doing a good job, if he could say so himself, in keeping a new sob from escaping his throat.

 

Though he was well aware that Akashi would notice the tears soaking his upper clothes at some point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ANSWER" by Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Kenshou (our two lovebirds that are growing closer and closer to each other).
> 
> Well, there you have it... You know have more reasons to murder me in my sleep... How could I do this to my lovely bluenette!? How could I!?!?!?!?! *bangs head against the wall* But I'll give you more reasons... Oh yes, I will.
> 
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	144. We’re both standing on the side seeking revenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> Death flag no. 2, here we go... *sniff* After this one, we just need to survive 2 more but... I think you will definitely murder me for one of the two remaining ones TToTT
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for the proofreading ^.^]

Softly... With a touch even lighter than a feather tickling a newborn into sleep... And so very gently that no more damage could be caused to the shattered musical instrument.

 

“...” Eyebrows creased with a frown brought out of deep concentration, Kasamatsu carefully held in his hand the neck of a completely destroyed acoustic guitar, the other one with a small tweezers that was carefully leading a piece of wood-like material to its correct place and fully healing the crack that had been previously in that space.

 

He just needed to be extra cautious as he did so, for the smallest of imperfections or deviation from the wooden piece as he reconstructed the guitar would alter its sound forever, no other way of fixing or adjusting later on the game.

 

Softly... Gently...

 

“Senpai, I’m home~!!” loudly announced Kise, slamming the black haired male’s apartment’s door wide open and furiously running through the main entrance as he left his shoes scattered around with the rush he had to see his lover.

 

“FUCK YOU!” roared Kasamatsu, angrily throwing one of the heavy metal tools placed next to him on the sofa, hitting the blonde’s face with a precision that could have gotten him unconscious if it had hit him in the right place – the older male sort of regretted that it hadn’t.

 

“OUCH!!” yelped Kise, his body thrown to the floor due to the impact of the metal tool on his face, the ground trembling just the slightest at the tumble. Rubbing his extremely red nose and his golden eyes watery from the pain, the blonde whipped his head up and stared at the smaller male with a completely flabbergasted expression. “W-What did I do this time, to deserve this type of greeting!?”

 

“Because of your overdramatic entrance, I almost messed this up!” admonished Kasamatsu, carefully placing the broken neck of the guitar on the small table near the sofa, turning his body around to face the blonde upfront as he pointed to the broken guitar.

 

Seeing the shattered musical instruments on top of the table, Kise’s golden eyes immediately went wide open in surprise, his features growing extremely pale. “Oh god, i-is it okay? Did it got even more broken or did anything go wrong with its repairs!?”

 

“It’s fine. I said ‘almost’, not that it had become worse,” reassured Kasamatsu when the blonde quickly crawled like a dog over to near the sofa he was sitting on and worriedly analyzed the fragments on top of the table.

 

“Oh, I’m so glad...” sighed Kise in deep relief, his eyes fondly looking at the broken guitar. “I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I had broken it even further.”

 

“Y-You weren’t the one who broke it in the first place,” pointed out Kasamatsu, feeling a little bit embarrassed at the loving gaze in the blonde’s eyes – especially compared to how cold and angry they had looked like at the time the  guitar got in its current state. He picked up the neck of the guitar a second time and leaned his back in the backrest of the sofa, deeming that it was now safe to resume with his work.

 

“...” Kise silently turned his body around, his hands grabbing into the edge of the sofa, head falling on top of their backs, as he remained on his knees on the floor. His eyes never left the focused black haired male as he worked on the reconstruction of his guitar, a serious demeanour on his features. “Senpai...”

 

“Hmm?” asked Kasamatsu in the form of a hum, closely observing the neck of the guitar by turning it around to see if the repair had been successfully placed in the correct place, not even a single millimetre of error on it, or if he would have to remove it once again to give it another try.

 

“I love you,” confessed Kise, a bright and satisfied grin on his face as he looked to the older male from his lowered position.

 

“I-Idiot! N-Now is not the time for that!” yelped Kasamatsu, his face going beat red with the adoring words that the blonde had spewed all of a sudden. “Let me focus on this or I’ll kick you out! Wait, how the fuck did you get inside in the first place?”

 

“Tehehe~ I made a copy of your key~” cheerfully announced Kise with a sing song voice and a mischievous smirk on his lips as he took a key from his pants’ pocket and dangled it in the air to put it on display for the older male. “And I’m not returning it for anything in the world! Even if you kick and punch me, it’s mine now!”

 

“It’s okay, keep it,” half heartedly acknowledged Kasamatsu, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders before he returned his eyes back to the musical instrument. “It saves me the trouble of having to get up in the middle of the night to open the door for you. And you won’t noisily ring on the bell at ungodly hours either, disturbing the whole dorm.”

 

“Y-You’re letting me keep it?” hesitantly asked Kise, a surprised expression on his face as his eyes looked completely flabbergasted to the smaller male. “I thought you would immediately punch me and try to take it away from me.”

 

“I’m already very well acquainted with your stalker methods and perverted deviations,” grumbled Kasamatsu, a small blush on his cheekbones. “So... I’ve been thinking about it for a while now... Giving you a copy of the key to my apartment...”

 

“...”

 

“T-Though it’s only because it’s a pain in the ass to open the door for you every single day! I-I also told you that you didn’t need to hold back so it would be sort of unfair of me to take it away from you now...” explained Kasamatsu in a frantic babble, his blush darkening even more as he continued to speak. “A-And I sure hope that you don’t start formulating weird thoughts and theories in your head about this! Because I’m only allowing this since it’s usually a pain in the ass! Only that! No other reason! If you fucking dare to crawl into my bed in the middle of the night and do some shit like the other day, I’ll fucking kick you black and blue and put you in a hospital be—“

 

“Senpai, I love you~!!” yelled Kise, jumping from the floor all of a sudden and throwing himself to the black haired male, hugging him tightly as their bodies fell on the sofa and almost crunching the neck of the broken guitar. He continuously showered the older male’s face with soft kisses and light pecks, an imaginary tail wagging around with the happiness he felt. “I love you~ I love you so much~”

 

“I-I get it...! Now get off of me! You’re heavy as hell!” barked Kasamatsu, though it didn’t have any bite on it, a smile on his face as he tried to wrestle his way around the blonde’s hold on him. However, the younger male completely ignored his words and continued kissing his whole face, sometimes teasingly giving short licks. “W-Wait... That tickles! Kise, enough already...!”

 

“Senpai, I really love you,” said Kise, his expression growing serious all of a sudden as he bumped their foreheads together, his hands softly cupping his cheeks. “I love you so very much that I can’t help but act like a stalker and a deviant.”

 

“Pfft... I know that already, you idiot,” shortly laughed Kasamatsu, motioning his head off of the sofa a little bit to lean his forehead even closer to the blonde’s. _I know, Kise._

 

“Nn...” softly acknowledged Kise, dropping his head half an inch and slowly kissing the black haired male, this time on his lips. He did it softly, gently, as if kissing a diamante that would break if touched. When their lips came apart once again, a happy smile remained on both of their faces, their bodies still tightly pressed on the sofa.

 

“I have to go back to the guitar now,” said Kasamatsu, his eyes shifting momentarily to the low table and then returning to the blonde, when a blush started creeping into his cheeks one more time. “B-But... I guess we can stay like this... for a couple more of seconds...”

 

“Of course, Senpai~” cheerfully acknowledged Kise, going down again on the black haired male to hug him even more tightly than before, the older male’s face softly pressed against his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around the blonde’s back. “For as long as you want~”

 

Silence filled the whole room after Kise spoke, his eyes closed as he kept his most beloved person in this world on his arms – and if someone would try to take Kasamatsu away from him, then they better expected to face Hell.

 

 _Shougo-kun, you better start preparing your grave because next time I see you, you’re dead,_ inwardly warned Kise, pushing Kasamatsu’s face more tightly against his shoulder by grabbing the back of his head, warm tears soaking the fabric of his school uniform in that area. _I will never forgive you for breaking Senpai’s most important possession and breaking him too in the process! I’ll get his ability back and then I’ll make your body into minced meat...!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "AWAITED TIME" by Kimura Ryouhei - our idiotic dog - and Hoshi Souichirou - our tsundere senpai!
> 
> God, I love these two to bits! Which breaks my heart to see Kasamatsu suffering so much, even if he tries to put on a strong facade in front of Kise... Uhh... My babies TTvTT
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi  
> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	145. With the bitterness that remains in each of our hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> Death flag no. 3 is on, everyone! *bawls" I-I'll be over there... in that corner... *sniff* waiting for the incoming assassin to kill me off and save everyone, including the characters, of even more misery...
> 
> By the way... WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS DESCRIPTIONS THAT SOME PEOPLE MAY BE MORE SENSITIVE ABOUT, ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF EATING DISORDERS AND DEATH! Please proceed with caution if you are triggered by any of the two.
> 
> Enjoy... Not possible, right? But still... try to enjoy TTvTT
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this bawling mess of a chapter]

“See you tomorrow, then, Shin-chan~” said Takao, waving his goodbyes to the green haired male as he turned around to face him from outside of his apartment. The black haired male leaned the side of his torso on the door frame and crossed his arms over his chest, a mischievous grin on his lips. “You’ll come tomorrow too and keep me company the whole day, right~?”

 

“Don’t hold your breath on it, Takao. I’m busy since Akashi isn’t around,” informed Midorima, adjusting his glasses as he readied himself to cross that corridor and go back to Fuyu. “I can try, at least, to open a couple of hours for you.”

 

“Pfft...! You said the same thing yesterday and you spent the entire afternoon and evening, up until now, with me,” laughed Takao, snickering softly at the small blush that popped up on the taller male’s cheeks. “I’ll be counting on you tomorrow too, then<3”

 

“Hmph!” Midorima readily looked away from the black haired male’s amused semblance, inwardly grumbling about what exactly was the reason that made Takao able to read him so well, even taking his ability into consideration. “See you tomorrow.”

 

“Bye  bye, sweetheart~” teased Takao, straightening his body and getting a hold of the knob of the door, which he started closing at the same time the green haired male dived into the corridor to return to his current living quarters – painfully far away from his, as far as it concerned the raiven haired male.

 

Once the door was closed, Takao remained on the entrance area of his apartment, closely listening to what was happening outside to certify himself that Midorima had really gone back to Fuyu and wouldn’t suddenly return once again. A good couple of minutes later, the raiven haired male ran as quickly as an arrow to the bathroom attached to his bedroom, spilling all the food he had eaten with the green haired male for dinner and snacks in the toilet.

 

“Ack...! Ugh...” Choking slightly in the mixture of half digested food and acrid juices released by his digestive system, Takao tried to take from his insides every little drop of content that filled his stomach and had been causing dire distress to his body for hours now. He knew very well that he had to eat or his body would crash down and cause unnecessary worry for his lover, but food in his stomach equalled pain.

 

Pain didn’t scare Takao. It never had. But what that pain could lead to deeply frightened him and, as such, he forced himself to eat in the presence of others, abstaining from food or vomiting the one that he had ingested when completely alone.

 

“Ahaha... Good thing Shin-chan left this early or I would have gagged all over him at some point...” dryly laughed Takao, cleaning his mouth with the back of his hand as he slumped his body on the floor, his back leaned against the cold tile wall. “Though that would have been sort of amusing, in a way... Ahaha...”

 

The raiven haired male slowly turned his body around and crawled out of the bathroom, weakly propelling his body up to the bed by grabbing into the frame for some help. By the time he had successfully laid down on it, he was panting hard and his skin was coated with sweat due to the strain. Good thing he was a very good actor, or Midorima would have noticed how tiring it was only to accompany him to the door to bide his farewells or to cook dinner with him. He wouldn’t even start about how it felt to walk to Teikou Academy and attend his classes.

 

But he would still continue to do it. Every single second that he could spend with Midorima was worth gold and diamonds and Takao wouldn’t waste any of it throughout the very limited amount of time that he still had on his life spam. While he was alive, it was to act all happy and goofy with the green haired male, teasing him endlessly and laughing together with him – not stuck to a hospital bed, taking medicine after medicine that wouldn’t have any effectiveness in slowing down his illness.

 

Coughing softly, Takao took a look to his nightstand and intently stared to the cell phone there. How ridiculous of him... Even though Midorima had left not even twenty minutes ago, he was already dying (no pun intended) to hear his voice once again. To see him once again. To touch him once again.

 

With soft and weakened movements, the raiven haired male slowly lead the cell phone to near his body and pressed the quick dial, putting the communication device on his ear afterwards as a dull ring resounded on his hearing channel.

 

 _“What is it? I just left a few minutes ago,”_ groaned Midorima from the other side of the connected call. _“Is everything alright? Do you want me to return or bring you anything?”_

 

“You’re such a gentleman, Shin-chan~” teased Takao, chuckling at the worried words that the green haired male was actually blatantly telling him. “I just forgot to tell you something so I called again.”

 

 _“What did you forget to tell me?_ ” asked Midorima, his voice molded with suspicion. _“If you are about to tell me something stupid or something along the lines of stupid, I’m warning you right now. Hang up the cell phone.”_

 

“Ahahaha! Don’t worry, it’s not stupid at all,” laughed Takao, bumping the back of his head against the wall as a smile curled up his lips. “What I forgot to say was... I love you, Shin-chan.”

 

 _“I know,”_ shortly acknowledged Midorima.

 

“You are so unromantic, Midorima Shintarou,” half-heartedly pouted Takao, already conscious that he would get that answer out of the green haired male. For some reason, tears moistened the corner of his eyes just a little bit.

 

 _“You didn’t let me finish, you fool!”_ admonished Midorima, a sulking tone coming together with his words. He cleared his throat softly and added, _“I love you too, Takao.”_

 

“Nn... I know,” acknowledged Takao, bumping his head once again against the wall as two thin rivers of tears started flowing down from his steel blue eyes. He was so proud of himself that his voice had only cracked in a very soft and totally unnoticeable way.

 

 _“Now who is the one being unromantic here?”_ pointed out Midorima, the raiven haired male already picturing in his head that the taller male was currently rolling his eyes just the slightest. _“But... Takao, are you—“_

 

“Ah, it seems like someone is knocking on my door!” interrupted Takao without any warning, lying through his teeth as he faked a knock on the main door by bumping his fist very softly on the surface of his nightstand. “It’s probably Miyaji-san running away from Hayama-san or maybe Otsubo-san with some more ingredients for me. Talk to you tomorrow~”

 

_“Taka—“_

 

Takao quickly pressed the end call button and slammed the communication device on the mattress of his bed, a violent coughing attack shaking his body around like a rag trying to survive the epicentre of a hurricane.

 

When he dropped his hands back to the bed, blood stained the previously pure white sheets.

 

“Shin-chan... I’m sorry...” apologized Takao, tears adding up to the blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth. “I’m the one... who won’t be able to keep our promise... I don’t think... Ngh... we have as much time as you think we do...”

 

_I don’t think we have any time at all..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Ashita e Tsurete" by Ono Daisuke - our Shin-chan - and Suzuki Tatsuhisa - our dying Takao TToTT
> 
> This is the most literate death flag that I have ever wrote *sobs* And... MidoTaka was supposed to be our healing angels!!! Why the heck are they make us suffer this much once again!! Why...!? *runs off crying*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi  
> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	146. This game has been entrusted to me, bounded only by two extremes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with a new chapter~
> 
> The last death flag is here, everyone! I don't think anything can beat the MidoTaka death flag, but this one is also quite... *bites nails*
> 
> Enjoy!

Kagami could already hear from a far away distance the rhythmic sound of a basket ball being handled against the floor, every now and then the sound of the round object hitting the rim and another set of points being scored with it. It annoyed him deeply that those throws, no matter how ridiculous their form would be, seemed to always bring out victorious points to the person tirelessly playing basketball in the middle of the night.

 

“Hey,” greeted Kagami, the side of his body leaning over the metal crossed railings that surrounded the basketball court as he looked to the tanned male near the rim as he threw the ball in the air in a totally unorthodox way – still scoring nevertheless. “Your childhood friend came to me, almost crying as she asked me to find you and bring you back to Teikou. She said you haven’t showed up on school grounds or in any of the dorms since Friday morning.”

 

“If she was really as worried as you are making her seem, then she would have came here to the court right away,” pointed out Aomine, grabbing the ball from the floor with one hand and readily starting to dribble it once again. “Satsuki knows that I come here every time I need to think about shit. Or to get away from shit, in this case.”

 

“What happened?” asked Kagami, easily catching the ball when the tanned male suddenly threw it over in his direction. He gave a couple of dribbles to the ball and then, with a quick run done with very few steps, dunked the ball inside of the rim, the goal teetering around at the impact.

 

“...”

 

“Momoi told me that the crazy bastard Akashi took Kuroko away from Teikou so they could attend an event as representatives from Teikou or something like that,” continued Kagami, seeing as the tanned male had grown completely silent. “She also said that you ‘disappeared’ just a little bit before both of them left Teikou to go to the event. Is it about that?”

 

“Why should I care about where Akashi takes Kuroko!?” yelled Aomine all of a sudden, stealing the ball away from the redhead and now dunking it on the rim himself, with a monstrous strength that ripped the metallic arch from its place. “They could both go to the end of the Earth and stay there for all eternity and it would be none of my concern! Kuroko already disappeared on me once, if he does it again, it’ll just be the same crap as always since I don’t fucking remember anything at all!!”

 

“...” Kagami silently observed as the tanned male got a hold of the basket ball and furiously threw it against the court’s railings, a hole appearing on it as the ball penetrated and broke the metal crossings, disappearing afterwards in the dark of the night without leaving any other trail other than the broken railing. When he saw that he had calmed himself down considerably by doing so, Kagami decided to proceed. “What happened between you and Kuroko, for you to be this angr—“

 

“I have no fucking idea what happened and that’s what’s making me so fucking pissed off!” yelled Aomine once again, his fingers curling up into fists. He dropped his body to the ground of the court and sat down there, throwing his head backwards to continue yelling to the sky. “Shit, I really hate this! Fuck you, Kuroko, that’s what! Just... fuck you!”

 

“Geez, you sound like you are going to murder him the next time you see his mug...” sighed Kagami, walking over to near the tanned male and sitting down next to him. “Now in all seriousness... What happened?”

 

“Kuroko’s the one...” mumbled Aomine, straightening his head as he rubbed the back of his neck. When he peeked sideways and saw the completely lost expression on the redhead’s face, he rolled his eyes around and explained further. “Kuroko’s the one who I and Satsuki have been looking for. And he’s also the one who erased our memories of him.”

 

“What? Kuroko is your forgotten childhood friend? And also the one who erased your memories?” repeated Kagami, one of his dual eyebrows perked up high on his brows. “That doesn’t make any sense... Kuroko would never do something like that, especially if he knows how much it means for you and Momoi.”

 

“Well, it seems that he did,” groaned Aomine, a displeased expression on his face as he crossed his legs against the floor. “He erased all of my and Satsuki’s memories of himself! And then he acts like he doesn’t know anything about it, acting around the both of us like he doesn’t know us at all either! Fucking bastard... He’s worst than Akashi, that he is!”

 

“Have you considered that maybe he doesn’t remember it either?” pointed out Kagami, giving a thought to what the tanned male was confiding on him and his previous interactions with the bluenette. “He never really gave any indication that he knew any of you five Miracles or Momoi before you guys caught him when he ran out of control. Afterwards either. Maybe he also has the same type of amnesia as you two do.”

 

“’Doubt it, from what Akashi said yesterday,” grumbled Aomine, starting to feel irked once again. He pushed his knees up and crossed his arms over them, staring away in the distance with a complex expression twisting his features. “I had a flashback after our meeting yesterday, you know... I only saw some brief and really torn images and heard voices speaking, but I could understand right away what kind of scene it was. Kuroko... He was trying to commit suicide by jumping down one of the buildings inside of Teikou.”

 

“S-Suicide!?” yelped Kagami, his eyes going wide open and jaw slacking down in pure and utter shock. “A-Are you sure? I mean... Suicide? Kuroko? T-That can’t be... Are you really, absolutely sure of it?”

 

“I am,” acknowledged Aomine, his face now getting twisted in extreme pain, hands tightly squeezing his lower arms in search for some comfort. “I don’t think having this flashback would have been this painful if it hadn’t been that. And it probably wasn’t the first attempt that he made, taking the words that he said into consideration...”

 

“Holy shit...” cursed Kagami in English, his fingers running through his hair as everything was interiorized on his brain. “What the heck happened to Kuroko in the past?”

 

“Huh?” interjected Aomine, taking a sideways glance to the redhead with incomprehension written all over his face.

 

“I mean... I don’t think Kuroko is someone who would try to commit suicide because of a teenager emotional crisis or anything along those lines,” explained Kagami, inwardly grieving over the unknown past of the smaller bluenette. “I don’t think even something similar to my own past would force him to take such extreme actions! And my parents blew up right in front of my eyes!”

 

“Ah... Now that you mention it...” suddenly said Aomine with a hesitant voice, his eyes going wide open. “In the meeting... Akashi said...”

 

“What? What did the crazy bastard said!?” hurriedly questioned Kagami, his head whipping back to the tanned male with worry written all over his face and body.

 

“For starters, I have no idea how I’m being able to talk about this with you, since Akashi commanded us to not mention this to anyone that wasn’t present in the meeting but fuck that right now,” started mumbling Aomine, his eyes searching for something invisible in the dark until he turned his head around to look at the redhead, his features growing considerably pale all of a sudden. “K-Kagami... You said you used to live in America, didn’t you? And the terrorist attack that killed your parents... it also happened in America, didn’t it?”

 

“Huh? Yeah, I did,” acknowledged Kagami with a quick nod of his head, not fully understanding why the tanned male was leading the conversation in that direction all of a sudden, even if he did mention his parent’s death.

 

“Do you perhaps know the name of the terrorist group that killed your parents?” readily asked Aomine, his heart thundering inside of his chest in anticipation for a positive answer from the redhead.

 

“I do. Of course I do, I’ve been trying to track them down for years now, for fuck’s sake!” groaned Kagami, an intense bolt of anger striking his brain. “They don’t have an official name, per se, and it was hard as hell to find out how their members address the group... but I found out the name on the same day I _awoke_ as a ‘User’. So my mind can be playing tricks on me with this one, since I don’t fully remember everything that happened that da—“

 

“Forget about that shit and just hurry the fuck up on saying the name,” commanded Aomine in frustration, lunging his hands forward to take a hold of the redhead’s shoulders, his fingertips burying deeply into his upper clothes. “Tell me the name right now!”

 

“Jabberwock,” said Kagami, the word tasting extremely bitter on his mouth as it exited his vocal cords. “They call themselves ‘Jabberwock’, based on an evil dragon-like creature from a book of some famous writer.”

 

“Ngh... Ah... AAAAAAH!” yelled Aomine in pain, his brain being struck by the strongest bolt of electricity he had felt so far since he got his memories wiped from his head. His whole body throbbed and his heart went through motions that would have been gentler if it had been squeezed inside out with the help of a lathe.

 

_“Tetsuya-chan, we’ve come to pick you up~ Your fun-fun time as a student is now over. Mission accomplished and case closed. It’s now time to go back home. Back to Jabberwock, where you belong.”_

_“Thanks for your hard work, Kuroko! Now you don’t need to keep attending classes anymore and can just spend time with me on our HQ! There’s a basketball court really close to it, one that has been recently built, so we won’t be getting bored any time soon.”_

_“I-I... don’t...”_

_“Hmm? What’s this that I’m hearing? Is the little pet starting to house thoughts of biting the owner? Huh, Tetsuya-chan!?”_

_“Ugh!”_

_“S-Stop! What are you doing to Tetsu-kun!? And who are you, in the first place!?”_

_“Mind your own business, bitch! Or I’ll fucking rape you right here!”_

_“Kyaah!”_

_“Satsuki! You fucking bastards, what the hell do you think you are doing!?”_

_“Like he said... Mind your own business, ‘Miracle’. Now that I think about it... You have had your use, but now you are just dead weight that can pull us down. Shige, kill them both!”_

_“NO! Please don’t hurt Aomine-kun or Momoi-san! Please, Go—“_

 

“Ngh! Haa... Ahh!” painfully groaned Aomine, his fingertips now digging into his head as he tried to think up a method to soothe down the pain while making the flashblack even clearer, not listening to the voice only but also acquire the images of what was happening at that moment.

 

“Aomine! Hey! Are you okay!?” worriedly asked Kagami, his hands hovering in the air as he had absolutely no freaking clue as to what was happening right now or how he could help the tanned male on his current struggle. “Do you want me to call Momoi!? Hey, Aomine! Answer me!”

 

“Haa... Haa... Ngh...!” All of a sudden, Aomine lunged his hands forward and once again grabbed into the redhead’s shoulders, his body jumping from the court’s ground and causing him to tackle down the other male on the floor underneath his body.

 

“Ouch!” yelped Kagami, the back of his head hitting the ground in the wrong and most painful way that could have happened, somehow bumping into a small, but sharp, pebble there. “What’s the big id— Aomine...?”

 

“Ugh... Kuroko, he... For us...” sobbed Aomine, big tears running down his dark blue eyes and falling on top of the redhead’s face, to later slide down his skin and fall on the ground. “For me and Satsuki... he gave up on a life in Teikou... He gave up a _safe_ life and went with those bastards to not get us killed... Because of us... he was tortured again and again... Ngh... Because of us... he had to go with the fucking terrorists that killed your parents...!”

 

“...............What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ULTIMATE ZONE" by Ono Yuuki - Kagami - and Suwabe Junichi - Aomine.
> 
> Guys... I have a confession to make... I ABSOLUTELY LOVE to see Aomine crying XD This sounds really awful, but I do! I love to see our big blue panther crying like a baby~ And I love to give reasons to make that happen~ So... I guess you should get used to it because this is the first of many times when you will see Ahomine shedding beautiful tears *evil smirk*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi  
> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	147. From a pure aspiration, let’s run towards the newly born day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter :D
> 
> Guys! Don't get fooled by this chapter, okay? Don't get fooled!
> 
> Enjoy~

When he opened his eyes automatically at the same hour of the morning as every day, Akashi found himself in a complete tangle of bodies, clothes and bed sheets. For as incredulous as it might sound, somewhere throughout the night, Kuroko had managed to half undress his street clothes, probably too hot and uncomfortable to sleep with, and wrap both his and the redhead’s body in a messy cocoon made of the bed sheets that they had fallen asleep on top of – all of this done without ungluing himself from Akashi nor waking him up.

 

That came to prove how relaxing and calming it was to sleep beside the bluenette, since he usually woke up if even a pin was dropped anywhere near the room where he was resting.

 

With extremely soft and slow movements, Akashi adjusted his body against the bluenette, who was once again sleeping more on top of him than on top of the bed itself. As he gently parted his wild bedhair from on top of his face, he found Kuroko’s usually pale features slightly painted with a reddish colouring around his eyes.

 

 _Well, crying oneself to sleep usually has that curse when morning comes,_ inwardly pointed out Akashi, softly rubbing the pad of his index finger on the red circles around the bluenette’s closed eyes. Seeing Kuroko slightly scrunch his nose at the touch couldn’t bring out of him anything other than a soft chuckle.

 

He gave a quick sideways glance to the window, but the curtains had been fully closed this time around and it was impossible to see the morning light through it. Sighing softly, Akashi did his utmost to not move too much as he turned his body around with a certain difficulty in order to grab his cell phone, placed on the nightstand on his side of the bed.

 

“Oh... I certainly wasn’t expecting this...” unconsciously mumbled Akashi, his eyes slightly open in surprise when he saw the time. “It seems that it was both of us that ended up sleeping in, not just Tetsuya.”

 

Placing the electronic device back on the nightstand, the redhead returned his attention to the smaller male deeply sleeping while grabbing into his clothes, his blue locks of hair a completely monumental mess. Nothing pained him more than having to disturb his sleep, especially after the conversation that ended up happening the previous day, but they couldn’t afford to arrive late to the pastry competition, the things at stake being what they were.

 

“Tetsuya,” softly called Akashi, his thumb gently caressing his fluffy pale cheek. “Tetsuya, you have to wake up now. The hotel’s breakfast will end in half an hour. And we need to be in Sumida Triphony Hall at 9.30am once again.”

 

“Nn...” breathed Kuroko, his head turning around against the redhead’s chest so he could escape the ticklish sensation on his features. “Then... I’ll sleep for... 25 more minutes...”

 

“That’s okay with me,” chuckled Akashi, his fingers now running through the disorganized blue locks of hair of the smaller male. “But I need to get up. And I can’t if you’re sleeping on top of me.”

 

“I want... to sleep 25 more minutes... with you, Akashi-kun...” mumbled Kuroko, grabbing into the redhead as strongly as he could with his current sleepiness, one of his legs wrapping around one of the taller male’s and keeping their sleeping positions on a more permanent and unmoving basis.

 

“...!” Akashi immediately let his head fall back to the pillow, an exasperated groan wanting the escape his throat as a brief sparkle of arousal hit the base of his stomach. “Tetsuya... What have I said regarding your sleep-talking habit?”

 

“That you... might attack me... if I did it again...” mumbled once again Kuroko, rubbing his cheek a little bit against the redhead’s chest since he felt too lazy to remove his hand from the messy hold that he had on his clothes and rub his sleepy teal eyes with it.

 

“Correct,” acknowledged Akashi, once again lifting his head to peer over to the bluenette. “I also said that I would be on my best behaviour until the end of the pastry competition. So can you—“

 

“But I like to sleep with you...” sighed Kuroko, a contempt soft smile on his lips as he gave up on moving around and simply let himself relish on the warmth, safety and comfort that the taller male provided him. “I sleep... a lot better when I do it with you... So I really like it a lot...”

 

“I give up... You win...” groaned Akashi, inwardly starting to chant the periodic table and all of its agents’ properties one by one. He took a hold of one of the bed sheets that had fallen out of the bed and wrapped it around their bodies, his arms closing around the bluenette’s waist so he could snuggle with him for a second time. “We’ll eat breakfast outside and on our way to the pastry competition, so sleep for as much as you want as long as we don’t arrive there late.”

 

“Nn... Thank you... Seijuu...rou...” mumbled Kuroko, his body and mind immediately drifting back to sleep when he got the redhead’s approval on such, the soft smile on his lips widening just a fraction.

 

 _At this rate, I don’t think I can hold back from gobbling up all of you before the end of the pastry competition...,_ inwardly cursed Akashi, tightly closing his eyes as he hugged the bluenette, pulling his body closer to his own in between a messy cocoon of bed sheets and entwined bodies.

 

“I won’t forgive you if you don’t take responsibility for the disarray that you are making me become, Tetsuya,” whispered Akashi, delivering a soft kiss to the sleeping bluenette’s forehead. “Mind, body, heart... Everything is in turmoil because of you, my turtle dove. So take responsibility for it. I’ll make the same happen to you and then take responsibility for it until the end of times.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "We're just moving" by Ono Kenshou.
> 
> Once again... Don't get fooled by the fluff! If you do... you might not live long enough to last until next Sunday~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	148. If he decides on an awesome comeback shot good enough to take breaths away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> Today it was the worst of the worst days ever... *sigh* Every day that passes I hate more and more human beings... The day I get millionaire, I'm buying a small island in Japan and just live there in complete isolation from direct human contact for the rest of my life! I'll become the most extreme case of hikikomori ever seen in the universe!!!!
> 
> Anyways... I told you to not be fooled, didn't I? So let's enjoy the fun-fun time to come starting this chapter~ (And yes, I'm being sarcastic here -.-')
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

“Tetsuya, you still have some bedhair,” informed Akashi, motioning his hand forward to try – yes, try! – to put one more of the blue locks of the smaller male back on well behaved conditions and in its correct place in terms of presentation for social interactions and circumstances.

 

“Akashi-kun, I think that’s the least of our worries right now,” pointed out Kuroko, panting slightly as both he and the redhead gave a short run from the car towards the main entrance of Sumida Triphony Hall, the doors still open for the very little amount of people coming inside of the large building. “Leave my hair alone and—“

 

“Kyaa...!” yelped a female voice, coming from the small thing the bluenette’s legs had bumped into in the middle of his running. Luckily, Kuroko was fast enough to grab the little girl that was about to fall on the ground due to the impact.

 

“I-I’m sorry. Are you okay?” gently asked Kuroko, lowering his body to check on the little girl, his heart thundering in his chest not due to the running around but to being in contact with one of the situations that he hated the most due to his past – crashing against unsuspecting people that weren’t aware of his presence. “Did you get hurt anywhere?”

 

“No, I’m fine,” acknowledged the little girl, positioning her body in a correct position and then straightening her dress from the creases caused by the impact. Once she was satisfied with her work, she looked up at the bluenette and happily grinned at him. “Thank you for worrying, Onii-chan!”

 

“That’s good to hear,” softly sighed Kuroko, giving a quick pat on the little girl’s head as he also straightened his body to a full standing position. He took a quick glance around their surroundings and then looked back to the little girl. “Are you here with someone? Or did you get lost?”

 

“No, Mommy is right there,” answered the little girl, pointing at a woman that was talking with a group of men by the entrance of the large building. The woman bowed her head and then looked over in their direction, making a quick calling motion with her hand to the little girl. “Oh, I have to go now, Onii-chan. It was nice to meet you! Bye bye!”

 

“Goodbye,” said Kuroko, also waving to the little girl happily waving at him as she ran towards the woman walking away from the group of men. When he returned his gaze and attention back to the redhead, he couldn’t help but arch an eyebrow slightly. “What? Why are you looking at me like that, Akashi-kun?”

 

“No, it’s nothing, really,” answered Akashi, lowering his eyes just a fraction in order to control his facial expression and stop a bright, but quite goofy, smile from escaping onto his lips. “The thought that you would be a good teacher just crossed my mind. A pretty stupid thought, in my opinion, taking what you told me lastnight into consideration.”

 

“...”

 

“Anyway, we need to hurry,” continued Akashi, trying to change the topic of conversation as quickly as he could to spare the bluenette any more suffering than what he already had to go through the previous night. “It wouldn’t be good for us to actually arrive la—“

 

“Isn’t it quite a surprise to see you getting some place almost on the last minute, Akashi?” said a male voice from behind the redhead and the bluenette.

 

When the two of them turned around to see how had approached them, Akashi’s hands immediately curled into tight fists, inwardly cursing again and again as he stared to the group of adults in front of them that he should have recognized at first glance when he took notice of them in front of the hall’s main door.

 

“And isn’t it quite the surprise to see _you_ here, Prime Minister Shirogane?” asked back Akashi, readily taking a step closer to the bluenette, who had unconsciously retracted his body as he also recognized all of the people present in front of him. “May I know what brought you to Sumida Triphony Hall with Aida-san, Harasawa-san and Araki-san?”

 

“I think it goes without saying that the Prime Minister should be present during such moving and wonderful events such as a pastry competition which helps the needed,” said Shirogane, an unreadable expression on his features as he intently looked to the two younger males in front of him. “Don’t you agree with me, Akashi?”

 

“Yes, I guess I do...” cautiously acknowledged Akashi, his eyes suspiciously keeping all three men and woman under his continuous gaze.

 

“Unfortunately I couldn’t be present during the first day due to my official duties with the Japanese government and Japan itself,” continued Shirogane, his eyes suddenly shifting solemnly to the small bluenette half hidden behind the redhead. He stiffly forced himself to give a quick smile at him. “So my belated greetings to you, Kuroko-kun.”

 

“Y-Yes...” hesitantly acknowledged Kuroko, retracting even further to behind the redhead as he tried to control the urge of grabbing into him. Now was definitely not the moment to display even more weakness than he already was by showing how frightened he currently was.

 

 _Exactly... This is not the time to be weak... If I want to live, I can’t let them see how weak I truly am and I can’t let them use that in their favour either,_ inwardly reminded himself Kuroko, giving a quick bite to the inside of his cheek as a shaky deep breath escaped from his mouth in a masked way.

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Shirogane-san,” greeted Kuroko, moving out from behind the redhead’s protectiveness and walking towards the older male. Once he stopped in front of him, painfully ignoring the way the taller male gave half a step backwards to put distance between them, the bluenette slowly motioned his hand forward to handshake the Japanese prime minister.

 

“...” Shirogane stood there completely frozen, his eyes fixedly staring to the limb that had came close to him and simply remained in the same place, waiting for closure in this first meeting’s greeting. The Prime Minister of Japan shaking hands with ‘The Phantom’, a mass murderer and terrorist that killed thousands of innocents in a couple of hours...? _That would be beyond ridiculous...!_

 

“Shirogane-san?” called Akashi, a knowing smirk on his lips as he tilted his head to the right, his heterochromatic eyes boring holes through the older male as he intently stared at him. “Is something the matter?”

 

“N-No, it’s nothing,” answered Shirogane, inwardly clicking his tongue as he motioned his hand forward and gave a brief handshake to the bluenette, withdrawing his hand the quickest it was possible for a human like him – he could have guess that beings such as the two younger male in front of him would have done it with even quicker movements if it pleased them. “You probably should know who I am, but for formality sake, I’ll introduce myself. I’m Shirogane Eiji, the Prime Minister of the Japanese government. This woman here is Araki Masako, the Minister of Defense.”

 

“Araki Masako,” introduced Araki once again, motioning her hand forward and quickly, but strongly, shaking the bluenette’s hand.

 

“This gentleman here is Harasawa Katsunori, the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology,” proceeded Shirogane, now pointing to the black haired male, his locks of hair considerably long and curly.

 

“Pleasure to meet you, Kuroko,” greeted Harasawa, also giving a quick handshake to the small bluenette before withdrawing back to his initial position slightly behind the prime minister.

 

“And this last gentleman is Aida Kagetora, the Minister of Foreign Affairs,” concluded Shirogane, giving a quick pointing motion towards the brunette also placed behind him, an unhappy, perhaps tired even, expression on his face.

 

“Nice to meet you, Kuroko,” greeted Kagetora, motioning his hand forward and clasping the bluenette’s. He gave a firm final squeeze to the small hand of the bluenette and then released it, his brown eyes momentarily crashing with the teal ones of the smaller male.

 

“Nice to meet you all,” finally greeted Kuroko, offering a quick bow to the four older males and female. “I am Kuroko Tetsuya. Most known as ‘The Phantom’.”

 

“We are aware of that,” said Shirogane, trying to keep his neutral composure towards this conversation and the bluenette and not showing on his face how truly disgusted he felt of even seeing the deadly ‘User’ in person.

 

 _If it were up to me, I would arrest and execute him in less than 24 hours, counting from this precise moment...,_ inwardly resented Shirogane, throwing a quick glance to the heterochromatic redhead, who remained with an even better neutral composure than his own. _However... everything at its own pace._

 

“We are quite lacking on time right now, but I’m sure we could return to our first meeting during the lunch break, perhaps?” suggested Shirogana, once again forcing himself to give a quick smile to the two younger males. “I would love to enjoy a meal with the both of you and my companions in more private settings, so we can have a long and nice talk about our _differences_ in quite a lot of aspects.”

 

“Of course we will comply with such an earnest request, Shirogane-san,” acknowledged Akashi, offering a quick smile to the older male himself. “Can we leave the arrangements in your hands or should I make them myself, as usual?”

 

“As the host of the proposal, I will make all the arrangements personally,” said Shirogane, a deep frown appearing on his brows for a fraction of a second before the same neutral expression stuck once again to his features. “Any requests from your behalf for me to keep in mind?”

 

“Anything is fine,” answered Akashi, a mischievous smirk starting to tug at the corner of his lips as his golden eye flickering briefly. “Though I would appreciate it if you could avoid a lunch meeting that may include fancy dishes like Fugu, Shirogane-san. We don’t need any more _poison_ revolving around the discussion of our ‘differences’.”

 

“Maybe I should avoid Basashi too,” added Shirogane, glaring for a couple of seconds to the redhead before turning around on his heels and walking back inside of the large building that was once again housing the second day of the pastry competition. “It would be far too _bloody_ and tempting for your palates.”

 

The other three companions of the prime minister followed after the older male’s movements and also proceeded inside of Sumida Triphony Hall, some of them clearly more pleased than others with the way this initial greeting had went, and leaving the two younger males behind in the outside area of the main entrance.

 

“Was this what you were expecting, Akashi-kun?” asked Kuroko while sideways glancing to the redhead, finally breaking the deep and heavy silence and ambience around them. “Regarding the ‘mole’ and the troublesome things that may happen throughout the pastry competition that you mentioned yesterday?”

 

“No,” answered Akashi, a furious glare on his eyes while they followed the last of Shirogane as he disappeared inside of the large building. “I wasn’t expecting this in the least.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Can Do" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Bam! I bet you weren't expecting this one, were you, Akashi? Muwahahahahaha! But the surprises don't end here, everyone~ Oh no, no, no~ There's a LOT more of surprises about to come into life! Muwahahahahahahaha!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi  
> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	149. I’m fine just barely hanging in there – That’s my way of moving forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> I have the feeling that some of you already had a certain... I don't know, itching premonition that it was such, but I still hope that this chapter comes as a big ass surprise for you~ Because you are finally about to get some freaking ANSWERS!!! *throws fireworks*
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

Even with the initial and unexpected greeting by the Prime Minister and several of his Ministers in the entrance of Sumida Triphony Hall, what was going around inside of the private balcony being used by Akashi and Kuroko was the exact same as the previous day – a calm and relaxed viewing of the first challenge by a different set of pastry chefs from the first day and the expectation of what sort of flavour the sweets being baked on the main stage downstairs truly had.

 

“Um... Akashi-kun?” hesitantly called Kuroko, his body suddenly starting to fidget just the slightest as he shyly peered at the taller male with a sideways glance. “D-Do you think I can quickly go to the bathroom?”

 

“Feeling nervous once again?” chuckled Akashi, amusement written all over his face as he also peered sideways to the bluenette.

 

“I believe I have more reasons than yesterday to feel nervous,” deadpanned Kuroko, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes around at the taller male’s teasing. When the redhead’s expression suddenly grew more serious and worried, he cut his next words short before the first one even was formulated in his vocal cords. “I’ll be careful. I promise to be careful, Akashi-kun, and I’ll be as quick to return as I can.”

 

“Fine...” sighed Akashi, his shoulders slumping down just the slightest in concession. “But please really keep your surroundings and everyone around you in close check. If you take longer than I deem normal _or_ safe, I will go search for you and thoroughly admonish you for the huge scare that you’re giving my heart.”

 

“I think I can cope with that,” acknowledged Kuroko, chuckling softly as he got up from his chair and started walking towards the door that connected the insides of the private balcony to the corridor that linked all the other balconies in that floor.

 

Once the door was closed behind his back, all the little expression in Kuroko’s features fully disappeared and an almost dead semblance appeared, a decisive glint on his teal eyes as he crossed the corridor with soundless footsteps while activating his ability and fully nullifying his presence from everyone’s eyes.

 

He softly put one of his hands inside of his pants’ pocket and took from there an extremely small folded piece of paper. With quick and trained movements, the bluenette opened the small piece of paper and read the codified words written on it, which offered a time and location. It seemed that he was actually right on the money in regards to the time but the location would probably take him longer to reach and return from than he expected to have given the excuse of going to the bathroom to Akashi – but well, knowing the person he was dealing with, it was to be expected already.

 

Using his ability for a second time, the piece of paper started dissolving against the palm of his hand, turning into a small heap of almost microscopic-sized particles before fully ceasing to exist in this world. Kuroko dropped his hand to the side of his torso and silently walked through the corridor, all of his being hidden in the shadows that made his soul and existence.

 

After a couple of minutes of diving through the inside of the large building, Kuroko stopped in front of a bathroom (oh the irony) in the top floor of Sumida Triphony Hall, in a more secluded area, especially taking into consideration that one of the challenges was being performed at that moment. He put his ability to rest, becoming visible once again, and motioned his hand forward to open the door as he released a soundless sigh.

 

“Aren’t you taking quite risky actions?” asked Kuroko as he stepped inside of the bathroom and closed the door behind himself once again. “I wasn’t expecting to meet the Prime Minister today, but I was expecting even less to have you request a quick meeting with me, taking such a situation into consideration.”

 

“Well... In times of need, we have to do what we must do, even if it puts our lives on the line,” answered Kagetora, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders as he leaned his lower back on the washing basin in the bathroom. “You should know that better than anyone, Kuroko, the way you taunted Shirogane earlier.”

 

“I was not taunting him. He simply made me slightly angry with the way he was acting,” explained Kuroko, a slight pout on his face as he walked deeper inside of the bathroom and leaned his body against a wall to continue talking with the older male. “Is this location safe?”

 

“As safe as a bathroom can be,” shortly said Kagetora, a mischievous smirk on his lips. “I wasn’t actually expecting to be here in Sumida today either, so all the preparations that I did were done last minute and may have some faults on them. Nevertheless, I still had to come to meet you and what better opportunity that when we are inside of the same building?”

 

“What sort of reason made you want to see me in private?” asked Kuroko, his head tilted to the right just a little bit as he curiously looked to the older male.

 

“For starters... How is my Riko-chan doing<3?” asked Kagetora, a goofy and loving expression appearing on his face as he thought about his adored and only daughter. “Is she eating properly? Going to school every day? No male scum following her around with dubious intentions in their sex crazed brains?”

 

“S-She’s doing just fine, as far as I know,” awkwardly answered Kuroko, especially due to the threatening aura that appeared around the older male as he said that last sentence. “I saw her a couple of days ago and she was as cheerful and lively as usual. Strict and demanding too.”

 

“That’s my girl!” acknowledged Kagetora, a wide contempt grin on his face. However, his expression soon softened and his eyes fell down to the floor, keeping no place in particular under his gaze as he continued speaking. “Being the father of a ‘User’ while working for the Japanese government is tough, you know... I can’t see her or contact her whenever I want, and during those short moments when I can actually meet with Riko, I’m forced to be under supervision of security guards and another representative of the government. Just terrible and so very disgusting...”

 

“...”

 

“But this is the way Japan and its government works,” sighed Kagetora, a strained grieving expression on his features as he looked up to the bluenette. “Even if I don’t like it, I don’t have enough power to bring any type of change on it, even if I’m a Minister myself. Actually, the person inside of this bathroom that is closest to bring a change isn’t me but you, Kuroko.”

 

“...”

 

“Have you told Akashi about it already?” asked Kagetora, returning his usual frowning demeanour to his face as he intently analyzed the silent bluenette. “About your actual function in Teikou?”

 

“There’s no way I could tell Akashi-kun something like that,” dryly laughed Kuroko, his gaze being the one being dropped to the floor this time around. “I can’t tell Akashi-kun or anyone else, for that matter. I shouldn’t involve any more people in it than I already did.”

 

“Yes, I can see your point there,” sighed Kagetora, his arms crossing over his chest as he thought closely about it. “The knowledge that ‘The Phantom’ is the current Headmaster of Teikou Academy and that he has been secretly working alongside the Minister of Foreign Affairs and his ‘User’ daughter may be a huge burden for those that discover it. Especially for Akashi, seeing as he is the current Student Council President of Teikou Academy.”

 

“To be honest, I still don’t understand even now why Kouzou-san decided to give me his position after he died,” confessed Kuroko, releasing a soft sigh. “I’m ‘The Phantom’, who caused the ‘Bloody Night’ that killed thousands. I can’t operate with anything that is electronic and I used to be pretty much a slave to ‘Jabberwock’. I can’t make sense of his actions...”

 

“From what I knew of the old man, he gave you his former position exactly because of all of those things,” said Kagetora, his gaze softening a little bit as he saw the tormented semblance of the smaller male. “He wanted you to have a reason to remain in Teikou. And what’s better to keep you stuck on it than holding a heavy as hell position of command in it? Hell, Akashi may not know it, and I think he will be pretty pissy about it if he ever finds out, but half of Teikou’s achievements were successfully guaranteed thanks to you, not him.”

 

“I can’t really see it that way, Kagetora-san,” softly said Kuroko, a pained expression on his face. “When it comes down to it, I was simply playing the role of ‘double agent’, helping Kouzou-san make Teikou Academy become a stable organization while sneaking information about it to ‘Jabberwock’ while it still existed. And after the ‘Bloody Night’ happened and I become the official, thought unnamed, headmaster, what did I do to contribute to it? Nothing but using the title in my favour to do what has been set for me to do.”

 

“I’m the one who doesn’t understand...” exasperatedly sighed Kagetora, scratching the back of his head as he closely kept his brown eyes on the bluenette. “You’re such a fucking idiot for not seeing the value of your presence in Teikou and how much you being there helps everyone around you. You’re blinded by your own anguish and past, Kuroko. I only hope that you don’t wake up one of these days from it to find yourself completely alone, due to having missed your chance of getting a hold of what’s the best for you.”

 

“That’s what I’m hoping for, though, Kagetora-san,” confessed Kuroko, departing his back from the bathroom’s tiled wall and walking towards the closed door. “It’s only safe for everyone if I’m alone. I don’t deserve anything better than perpetual loneliness and being the target of deep hatred.”

 

“Why did you give your consent in coming to this pastry competition with Akashi, then?” pointed out Kagetora, also departing his lower back from the washing basin and taking a step towards the bluenette, who had come to a sudden halt as he grabbed the knob of the door. “Your actions are contradicting your words, Kuroko.”

 

“This is only selfish indulgence of mine,” answered Kuroko, not turning around to face the older male as he spoke. He resumed with his movements and opened the door, half of his body already out of the bathroom as he bid farewell to the other male. “I need to take my leave now, Kagetora-san, or Akashi-kun will issue a detailed search through the whole building with the idea that I have been kidnapped like a little child by someone moulding his judgment.”

 

Once the door closed once again, Kagetora loudly groaned as he furiously scratched the back of his head.

 

“This foolish brat is such a pain in the ass... He could have at least let me finish saying what I wanted to say and inform him that someone in Teikou found one of the countless torture videos that ‘Jabberwock’ did of him...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ZERO" by Ono Kenshou - Kuroko, the motherfucking Headmaster of Teikou Academy XD
> 
> *sigh~* God, I got to love giving you answers... I'm so freaking excited to read all about your reactions in the comments XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi  
> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	150. At the most, you’ll just continue to struggle in the time between the end of the game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> Fufufu... Hehehe... MuwahahaHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

“And the winner of the last challenge of the morning events is...” mysteriously announced the man taking the paper of host once again, his eyes dramatically looking over to all of the audience sitting in front of him. “Chef number 2, with her lemon soda ice cream in a butter cookie cup! A round of applauses to our chef!”

 

The entire audience roared a loud round of applauses to the female bowing her head to it, a bright smile on her face at the victory that she had acquired in the pastry competition. Kuroko and Akashi, of course, also complied with the host’s request, clapping their hands at the young pastry chef – though the later had an extremely sour look on his face as he did so.

 

“Akashi-kun... Are you still sulking about what happened...?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, taking a quick sideways glance to the redhead. It seemed that he was, because a frown got even more noticeable on his brows after he made that question. “I-I already apologized, didn’t I...?”

 

“I will keep on sulking even if you hadn’t apologized,” announced Akashi, his clapping coming to a halt as he crossed his arms over his chest and let his body slide down just the slightest against the chair. “You took ages to return and the moment I get up from my chair to start searching for you and give a quick death to whoever was making you _takes ages_ to return, I was kindly greeted with a door slammed on my face and you saying, ‘I’m sorry, Akashi-kun, I got distracted on my way back with a vanilla-flavoured pastry that I passed by on one of the corridors’.”

 

“Y-You know I can’t resist vanilla...” mumbled Kuroko, his body fidgeting a little bit in guilt.

 

“You’re supposed to not be able to resist _me_ , not vanilla,” admonished Akashi, his pouting expression growing more and more as the bluenette’s words continued to fuel his anger towards the situation that happened earlier in the morning when Kuroko excused himself to go to the bathroom. “And yet, we had the perfect proof right there that you would exchange spending time with me to eat a vanilla-flavoured pastry...”

 

“T-That’s not true...” tried to deny Kuroko, at a complete loss of what exactly he was supposed to tell the redhead to brighten his mood even a little bit. It was more than obvious that he couldn’t confess the true reason that made him go out of the private balcony and be absent from there for a long period of time, seeing as he initially gave the excuse of simply going to the bathroom. “If you want, you can eat all the vanilla-flavoured sweets and pastries for the remainder of the pastry competition...”

 

“No, thank you,” readily denied Akashi, a vein almost popping up on his forehead at the good natured words of the bluenette. “I’ve suddenly gained an extreme aversion to vanilla.”

 

“Akashi-kun, please tell me that you aren’t jealous of vanilla now,” requested Kuroko, rolling his eyes around as he fully looked over to the redhead. When he saw the taller male impatiently tapping his nail on the armrest of his chair, he almost felt like face palming himself right there and then, but he controlled that monumental urge and simply decided to drop the topic there, shifting his attention back towards the main stage once again.

 

“With this, the challenges for the morning part of the last day of the pastry competition have been concluded,” continued the host when the applauses calmed down. “A one-hour lunch break will now begin and then we will resume the pastry competition with two final challenges, this time featuring the winners of previous challenges only! After that, all of you will be able to relish in all the pastries and sweets that were baked throughout the whole competition, which will be available in different rooms of Sumida Triphony Hall for ever—“

 

All of a sudden, the microphone that the male host was yielding in his hand made an ear-splitting noise, the chandeliers in the ceiling of the large main hall teetering around due to the acute screech and the younger children screaming in pain at the vibration on their eardrums.

 

 _“Ah! Ah! Ah-ah! 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3! Can everyone hear me?”_ sounded another male voice coming from the same loudspeakers that the voice of the host was previous coming from in order to reach all of the audience inside of the main hall. Without any warning, all of the lights went down and the entire division was flooded in darkness, leaving everyone inside whispering around in curiosity over what was happening all of a sudden.

 

A single spotlight was lightened in the main stage, a black haired male, unknown to almost everyone, being illuminated with it.

 

“Sorry for interrupting your fun little time, acting all friendly and like good, well behaved human beings, but I have an announcement to make,” said Hanamiya Makoto, an evil smirk on his lips as he spoke into a microphone in the centre of the main stage.

 

“...!” As soon as his heterochromatic eyes laid upon the black haired male, Akashi’s body straightened on his seat, his hands motioning forward to grab into the railing of the balcony so that he could take a closer look to the wanted ‘User’ appearing for the first time in years in front of him. When he looked over to the private balcony being used by the Prime Minister and the other Ministers, he saw them having the exact same panicky reaction as him. Kuroko, however, seemed completely lost on what was happening right now as he remained sat down next to him, switching his gaze between the redhead and the black haired male on the stage.

 

“The announcement being, of course, a wonderful game that I’m about to propose to everyone that is currently inside of this locked large area~” continued Hanamiya, his evil smirk widening even more as he delightfully observed incomprehension on the faces of everyone nearby him. “The rules of the game are quite simple. I want you to give me something that is currently hiding inside of this building. The time limit for your lives is of 25 minutes, I guess. Because there’s currently five bombs hidden inside of this room, which will go off one by one with an interval of five minutes each as soon as I press this little button in my hand~”

 

As soon as Hanamiya showed the small electronic device on his hand, a bright red button on the centre, a collective frightened gasp resounded through the whole area. Akashi quickly got up from his chair and motioned to the door that gave access to the corridor, noticing that it had indeed been locked from outside – when, he wasn’t sure, for he had absolutely no recollection of hearing the latch being used throughout the whole morning.

 

“Akashi-kun... What are we...?” asked Kuroko, his body turning around on his chair so he could look to the redhead, his heart thundering on his chest as he figured out what exactly was the ‘something’ being hidden in the hall without even needing to hear the black haired male spell it out.

 

“Tsk!” Clicking his tongue in frustration, Akashi returned to near his seat and stood there, continuing to pay close attention to the black haired male and the words he was announcing to everyone in the main hall, his brain already starting to make plans on how to get everyone successfully out of this massive problem, no major damages or casualties in any way or form.

 

“I’m a nice person, so I’ll give you a little clue on what is the something that I want you to give me,” proceeded Hanamiya. He loudly cleared his throat and his body took a quite theatrical and overdramatic stance, one of his arms spread open as the other maintained the microphone near his mouth. “My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground.”

 

“Ah...” At hearing those so well known words, Kuroko felt all of the air inside of his lungs being stolen from him, his body immediately reacting by trembling around like dead leaves in the wind. “No...”

 

“There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him,” continued Hanamiya with the most eloquent voice he could use. “He was despised and rejected – a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.”

 

“Sto— Please...!” begged Kuroko, tears gathering in the corner of his eyes as he protectively wrapped his arms around his head, his body trembling more and more.

 

“Tetsuya?” called Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched as he walked around their chairs and stopped near the bluenette, trying to determine what was happening to him all of a sudden.

 

“He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weakness he carried; it was our sorrows that weighted him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins!” finished reciting Hanamiya a passage from the Bible, one placed in the Book of Isaiah.

 

“Ngh...!” softly whimpered Kuroko, his brain exploding all of a sudden into a tsunami of all the memories that he had been safely keeping locked down on the deepest corners of his mind.

 

_“Isn’t it so amusing that the holiest book in the world, the Bible, has a passage that so well describes you, Tetsuya-chan? You, a disgusting, worthless piece of trash that turns others into monsters, into sinners... You contaminate the world with your darkness, feeding off of their weak hearts, and destroy them inside out. The perfect monster that brings about the Apocalypse – the one and only Anti-Christ.”_

 

“--------------!” A silent scream got stuck in Kuroko’s throat as he fell down from his chair, his knees heavily hitting the floor as his nails desperately clawed into the carpet placed underneath his shaking body. The air entering inside of his lungs seemed to burn the poriferous tissue with the high speed it took as it was inhaled and then exhaled once again, his heart threatening to explode at any moment just like the five bombs hidden inside of the large hall.

 

“Tetsuya!” yelled Akashi, immediately dropping his body to the floor too and gently wrapping his arms around the dead frightened male, his eyes so dramatically open in fear that his features were more teal than the ghostly pale colouring of his skin. He protectively hugged the smaller male, hiding his features against the nook of his neck as he softly motioned their bodies up to sit down on the bluenette’s chair once again and finish listening to the black haired male’s words – Akashi desperately tried to soothe down the shaking bluenette with soft words and gently caresses as his brain furiously circled around to find the quickest solution possible.

 

“The clue is out in the open! Now you just have to give him to me!” announced Hanamiya, his stretched arm raising up in the air. “Give me the most hated ‘User’ of the entire world! One of the ‘Users’ currently inside of the very same hall that you have been inside of since the first day of this pastry competition, carefully hidden in the shadows! ‘The Phantom’~”

 

Akashi instinctively hugged the bluenette even more tightly, his hand landing on the back of his head and pushing his frightened features more closely against his neck, as if such an action would hide Kuroko from all the dangers of the world. In his eyes remained a wrathful glare, his heterochromatic eyes threateningly glowing in the dark as they intently locked down on the black haired male.

 

“The... Phantom...?” hesitantly voiced one of the people in the middle of the audience.

 

“What the hell is going on?”

 

“Is this some sort of prank or show?”

 

“Oh yes~ ‘The Phantom’,” acknowledged Hanamiya once again, clicking his fingers and making another spotlight being lightened, this one pointing and illuminating the private balcony reserved to the two ‘Users’ supposedly attending the pastry competition. “Give me the blue haired kid on that balcony and no one will get hurt needlessly~”

 

“Like hell I will give him to you, Hanamiya Makoto!” yelled Akashi on top of his lungs, making sure that his voice travelled to every nook and cranny of the large hall. “Only over my dead body will you be able to take Tetsuya away from me!”

 

“Well then~ I guess your funeral can be arranged to happen now, Akashi Seijuurou~” taunted Hanamiya, sticking his tongue out to the redhead. He took a new hold of the electric device and whipped it to the front of his body, his thumb pressing down on the red button in the centre. “And... _kaboom!_ ”

 

A single second of deep silence remained in the whole room before a loud explosion shook the entire building around, part of the ceiling in one of the corners of the main hall breaking down in smithereens and starting to fall on top of the audience placed around that area, screams and screeches adding to the rumbling noise.

 

Only that none of the large blocks of stone and cement hit the floor, dust showering the numerous guests that were all crouched down in their seats as they embraced head on their incoming death.

 

“Akashi~ Don’t be a stick in the mud and stop using your ability to protect these worthless humans,” teasingly said Hanamiya, shaking his head around in disapproval towards the redhead’s actions. “It would be easier for you and safer for everyone in general if you just gave up ‘The Phantom’ to me~”

 

“I told you that only over my dead body will you be able to take Tetsuya away from me!” yelled Akashi once again, his red and golden eyes still shining in the dark room as he continuously kept them on the large smithereens of the destroyed ceiling and walls of the main hall suspense in the air through the means of his commands.

 

“Yeah? But how long do you think you can keep on using your ability to keep all of these people safe?” asked Hanamiya, an evil smirk on his lips as he took a glance to his wristwatch. “In a couple of minutes, another bomb will go off. Even more blocks of stone will start falling on top of these disgusting humans. Do you intend on using your ability to stop them from falling on them too? Do you intend on preventing the building from going down completely with your ability? Im~po~ssi~ble~”

 

“...” Akashi clicked his tongue once again, noticing that the black haired male’s words had a certain truth to them. Sending a building down through the means of his ability was extremely easy... but preventing a breaking down building from falling completely was a strain to his ability and body that he had no idea for how long he could withstand – probably not enough time to send a request for help to the outside and safely take everyone out of the building.

 

“Give him ‘The Phantom’ already!” suddenly yelled a woman’s voice, her voice shaking with fear.

 

“Who cares about the safety of ‘The Phantom’ in the first place!? Let him take him away from us right now!”

 

“Go away, ‘Phantom’! Stop bringing misery and destruction to Japan once and for all!”

 

“Leave! Leave! Leave and die a horrible death like the ones that those that you killed during the ‘Bloody Night’ had!!”

 

Hearing those furious screams of denial and accusation towards Kuroko, Akashi hugged the bluenette even more strongly, protecting him of anyone who even dared to rip him away from his embrace.

 

In the middle of the yells, a soft beeping sound and light came from the black haired male’s wristwatch, an evil laugh exiting his smirk lips. “Oh~ Time’s up once again in... Five... Four... Th—“

 

All of a sudden, Kuroko pushed Akashi’s body away from him, making him and the chair tumble down on the floor, and his hands grabbed the railing of the balcony, his feet quickly propelling his body from the carpeted floor and enabling him to jump out of the balcony.

 

“Tetsuya, wait...!” ordered Akashi, getting up once again as quickly as he could, his eyes following after the bluenette as his feet touched the ground on the floor below them with a feather-like landing – they had been in a height close to that of a third floor and the redhead could have swore that the smaller male had simply jumped one step in a stairway. “Tetsuya, don’t you dare to—“

 

The redhead’s words were fully swallowed when the second explosion resounded, large cracks appearing in another area of the hall’s ceiling and walls before they slowly started crumbling down. It didn’t even take half a second for Kuroko to position himself underneath the almost breaking down debris and take a hold of the little girl crying over there... the same little girl that he had bumped into that morning before his conversation with the Prime Minister.

 

“Don’t worry. I’ll take you out of—“ started reassuring Kuroko, but both his words and movements came to a sudden halt when the little girl frighteningly grabbed into his clothes.

 

“Don’t—! If I move out of here... it will—“ sobbed the little girl, her body trembling desperately as she clutched desperately at the bluenette’s clothes.

 

“Ah...” Kuroko’s eyes immediately went open in shock when he noticed what had been placed underneath the little girl’s dress and his body stilled completely, the cracks in theblocks of stone and cement growing threateningly bigger and bigger as small bits rained down on them.

 

“Shit! Tetsuya, get out of the—“ warned Akashi, his eyes quickly shifting towards the ceiling and walls of that corner of the main hall as the weight of the stone finally made the cracks burst and the large blocks free fall in the location where the bluenette and the little girl were, commanding them in the back of his mind to stop and float around in the air like he had with the others.

 

But he couldn’t.

 

Out of the blue, Akashi’s whole body froze in place, his brain shutting down completely even though he was still aware of his surroundings and able to witness as the smithereens of stone motioned in almost slow motion in the bluenette’s direction.

 

Akashi felt the exact same emotions as the ones that overcame his being on the day he _awoke_ as a ‘User’ – helplessness and despair – when his ability momentarily disappeared completely and he returned to be nothing more than a weak and fragile human.

 

All of the blood in his body turned into ice when the large blocks of stone hit the floor with a loud crashing sound, Kuroko and the little girl disappearing from sight in the midst of a thick cloud of dust.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "MAD BREAKER" by Fukuyama Jun (our despicable Hanamiya who I fantasise of castrating when I'm preparing cucumbers for the sushi~)
> 
> [Me while writing the end of this chapter]: Akashi, you are useless! So fucking useless! Aren't you supposed to be the strongest User of all Japan, the Emperor, and blah blah blah? Then why the hell were you so freaking useless in this chap- *eyes wander to the notebook of wonders* ...Oh. I-I was just kidding, okay? I know that you aren't useless and that there's a very good reason as why things turned out the way they did. I love you, Akashi. You know that, right? Aha... Ahaha... W-Why are you walking in my direction with a knife...? I-I said I was j-just kidding! Y-You aren't useless at all! You are the super almighty Akashi Seijuurou, Kuroko's one and only turtle dove.
> 
> [Akashi]: As long as you know your place, then we are good. Now go back to write the rest of the story... and stop cockblocking me and Tetsuya. If not... *smiles* You're next.
> 
> [Me]: Y-Yes...
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi  
> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	151. Today you’ll lose the meaning behind putting in so much effort that you’ll cry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I will inform you here that from the 1st to the 5th of every month I will take a break from releasing chapters. It's a necessary break so that I can ensure that you will have a continuous flow of chapters the rest of the month. Please understand and try your best to survive until October 8th, when the next chapter of SM will come out~
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

Screams and shrieks echoed through the half destroyed main hall of Sumida Triphony Hall, heavy dust thickening the air as the attendees, chefs and workers that were attending the pastry competition pressed themselves away from the large blocks of stone and cement on the floor. A woman, weeping as she called her daughter’s name desperately, was being restrained by two men, forcibly stopping her from running to the area where the little girl had been buried alive with the young male that had suddenly popped up near her.

 

“Ahahahahahaha!” loudly laughed Hanamiya, his upper body doubling over at the amusement he felt towards this whole situation. “You wanted ‘The Phantom’ dead? Here you have it then! Dead and well buried in a grave of stone~ Ahahahahahaha! Oh, and by the way~ The third bomb will go off in three minutes.”

 

“Let us out! Please let us out!” screamed a man, his hands furiously banging on the locked up main door to the insides of the main hall. Similarly, others were trying to break down the other side doors spread around the area still unaffected by the two explosions. “Let us out of here!”

 

“Dead or alive, I want ‘The Phantom’,” said Hanamiya, sticking his tongue out to the panicking public. “And I still don’t have him in my hands. So you can’t get out yet~ Ahahahahaha!”

 

As the seconds went by, the panic grew bigger and bigger. The screams also grew in intensity and the despair of the occupants of the main hall was palpable in the midst of the confusion. The fact that they didn’t know where the next explosion would come from only fuelled their fear and irrational actions.

 

Akashi, however, could do nothing but stare at the large pile of rubble that he hadn’t been able to stop from falling.

 

_Again... Am I going to let someone dear to me slip away from my grasp and lose them forever again? Am I truly as weak as letting the person I love die right in front of me, completely powerless to do anything to prevent it? Am I going to be alone and dead inside once again in this cold, empty and worthless world?_

 

Clicking his tongue loudly, Akashi took a hold of the railing of the balcony and jumped from it to the main floor of the large hall, swiftly landing on the ground and running towards the pile made of large blocks of the ceiling and walls that had been blown up.

 

He, however, was forced to come to a sudden halt on his motions when an extremely familiar black shadow flashed before his eyes at an astonishing speed, its length stretching more and more as it meandered through the hall and grew steadily closer to one of the corners of the large division, where its pointy end got buried in. A second string of shadow soon appeared, its erratic motions doing the exact same until its end speared another spot of the main hall.

 

The whole division was filled with dead silence when the large pile of rubble exploded without warning, even more black strings of shadow coming into view, their current stance seemingly forming some sort of protective net in the centre of the area previously crushed by the fallen ceiling and walls.

 

Once the shadows-turned-shield started to turn into smoky, small black particles as they disintegrated, a curled up form appeared on its place, the dust and the black particles making the form appear almost surreal in the middle of such a destroyed area.

 

“Tetsuya...!” Feeling his heart beating once again at the relief that overcame his entire being at the sight of Kuroko straightening his body to a standing position, the little girl protectively held in his arms, Akashi immediately resumed his movements and darted towards the bluenette, his feet sliding down on the small bits of rubble and dust covering the floor once he reached their location. “Tetsuya, you’re—“

 

“Find a knife or something sharp right now!” instructed Kuroko almost immediately, putting the little girl on the floor and crouching down in front of her. He quickly wiped the blood dribbling down from a cut on his forehead with his dusty sleeve and then motioned his two hands forward, ripping the front of the whimpering little girl’s dress. A black vest with a timer in the centre was revealed, the time pointed on the electronic panel continuously diminishing.

 

“Is that a...?” blurted out Akashi, his eyes widening at the sight of an indubitable bomb placed on a child that couldn’t have more than 7 years of age by her appearance.

 

“...” His eyes carefully taking every single detail and piece that constituted the ticking bomb, Kuroko ripped even more the little girl’s dress to fully put the whole device into view, his body shifting around so that he could cover the half naked child from other people’s eyes. With calculated and soft movements, he pulled a small hatch open from the plastic box that constituted the timer, revealing a messy assortment of wires and electric connections.

 

“Wait, what are you doing?” readily asked Akashi, a completely flabbergasted expression on his face when he saw the bluenette starting to fiddle with the coloured wires, his teal eyes intently searching for something as his fingers cautiously grabbed wire by wire.

 

“Akashi-kun, do you know how to deactivate a bomb?” asked Kuroko, halting his hand’s movements and looking over to the redhead, one of his eyes slightly closed due to the small threat of blood flowing down from the wound on his forehead.

 

“Of course I don’t,” answered Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched at the smaller male’s question. He was quite knowledgeable about a large field of subjects but explosive mechanisms were definitely not inserted in one of the numerous areas of expertise that he had become proficient at.

 

“Akashi, what exactly is the situation!?” asked Shirogane, running towards the two ‘Users’ and the little girl near them while accompanied by his three Ministers, all of the panting slightly because of the hard time they had getting down from their balcony and reach the main floor of the large hall.

 

“I do so let me focus right now,” answered Kuroko, not even taking notice of the newcomers to their surroundings. He returned his eyes to the open box and the electric connections inside of it, his fingers once again scavenging through every wire, all of them different in colouring. “I haven’t touched one of these things in a while so I may be a little bit rusty. And I definitely can’t afford to make a mistake right now.”

 

“...!” Yet again, Akashi’s heterochromatic eyes widened in size at the answer he obtained from the bluenette, surprise written all over his face. He softly cleared his throat to break himself out of his flabbergasted state and forced his gaze to depart from the bluenette and his motions towards the bomb, starting to search their surroundings for any object that could be similar to what Kuroko had requested as soon as he got near him. “Any more secret skills that can be revealed now?”

 

“I also know how to build them,” confessed Kuroko without a shred of hesitation, his fingers gently pulling out of the box three wires, one dark blue, one red and the other a spiralling mixture of yellow and black.

 

Akashi almost slapped his own face right there, his gaze shifting to the group of older men and woman right behind them, a strained and reluctant demeanour on their expressions as they heard the exact same confession that he had. Sighing, the redhead shortened the distance between him and the smaller male and cautiously whispered at him, “I don’t think that’s something you should reveal to me when people from the Japanese government are in hearing range, Tetsuya.”

 

“That’s the least of my concerns right now,” said Kuroko, one of his fingers softly sliding through the length of the dark blue wire, searching for a little something that he couldn’t find in that electric connection in particular. He switched to the red one and started doing the exact same. “We have less than ten minutes to deactivate the bomb. And I still need the knife.”

 

“Yes, but— Wait, less than ten minutes?” started acknowledging Akashi, coming to a halt on his own words when the bluenette’s words made him realize something that he hadn’t noticed until then in the middle of all these revelations. His eyes quickly scanned the entire room, a suspicious glint on his eyes. “Why hasn’t the third bomb exploded yet?”

 

“I’ve already dealt with the third and fourth bombs,” answered Kuroko, releasing the red wire and starting to pat the yellow and black one, his impatience growing slightly as the number in the timer continued to steadily decrease, the little girl’s sobbing also not coming as a helpful sound. “I destroyed them with my shadows.”

 

“You destroyed them?” repeated Akashi, his eyes befalling on the places in the corner of the main hall where the two initial strings of shadow had suddenly motioned towards, a small perforation surrounded by cracked stone marking the spot that had been hit by them. “You knew of their location!?”

 

“The mindset of terrorists is always the same, Akashi-kun,” dryly scoffed Kuroko, a small smirk appearing on his lips as the pad of his finger finally bumped into what he had been searching for. With his nail, he softly scratched the yellow and black wire, a different colour being revealed as the layer of painted tape started coming out. “The objective is always one: causing the biggest amount of victims as possible. The best way of doing that is destroying the whole area. Given the structure of this building and of this hall, if one blew up with the foundation pillars that sustain the whole structure, then the entire building would crumble down like a castle of cards. I simply used that knowledge to pinpoint the location of the remaining bombs and nullify their electric circuits through the means of my shadows. Though it was a coincidence that I found this one.”

 

“Then can’t you do the same with this bomb?” asked Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched as he intently glanced to the bluenette. He would have to review everything that he thought he knew about Kuroko after all of this situation had calmed down and been solved for all that was being suddenly revealed to him was almost coming as a major slap to his face – Akashi would have never guessed that the smaller male was knowledgeable about self defence techniques, but the fact that he knew how to build and deactivate bombs was simply ridiculous and so very foreign to his image of him.

 

“I could but I don’t want to risk hurting her in any way,” sighed Kuroko, his gaze softening from its serious glint as he cleaned one of the tears rolling down the little girl’s cheek with the back of his finger. “You know that the control I have of my shadows is very lacking.”

 

“If I hadn’t been together with you during your trainings, I would have thought that those words were a lie, the way you managed to use them just now,” pointed out Akashi, once again searching with his eyes through their surroundings to find maybe a knife being used by the judges of the pastry competition or a cooking instrument of the chefs.

 

“Akashi, Kuroko, here!” said Kagetora, running towards the group after having momentarily scavenged through the area where the judges’ seats had previously been before the whole hall was turned upside down with the human confusion and explosions. He stopped near the two younger males and the little girl and passed a desert knife to the bluenette, which he had found laying on the floor. “Does this work?”

 

“Yes, it does. Thank you, Aida-san,” acknowledged Kuroko, quickly taking a hold of the knife and resuming with his analysis and work towards deactivating the ticking bomb. He softly pressed the knife against the masked wire and took a deep breath, a small jerk of his wrist making the blade of the knife divide the wire in two.

 

The timer continued with its countdown, getting the little girl and all of those around her one more second closer to death’s doors, but the analogue screen suddenly flashed completely black, making the bluenette’s body slump down slightly against the dusty floor, releasing a soft sigh of relief.

 

“It’s off,” announced Kuroko, quickly taking the black vest from around the little girl’s body and covering her half naked torso with his jacket, gently snuggling her in the little comfort that he could provide her given the traumatic situation that she had been unwillingly involved into – a situation that Kuroko had made her get involved into.

 

As soon as Kuroko got up on his feet once again, another string of black shadow appeared from thin air, its hovering body protectively circling the bluenette as it pierced the core of the bomb and fully nullified all of its electronic circuits, making it impossible for any of its pieces to be used to build a new one.

 

As the bluenette was about to turn around towards the older figures and the redhead, the main door of the hall burst open, revealing a group of men in police uniform that quickly spread through the whole division, mainly near the area where the most important people were placed in – the Japanese Prime Minister and the three Ministers of the same government.

 

“Good. Help has finally come,” acknowledged Akashi with a nod of his head. Though when he looked to the empty main stage, he couldn’t help but click his tongue in frustration. “And Hanamiya Makoto surely had to slip away once the tide changed to play against him, not in his favour...”

 

“Kuroko Tetsuya,” called Shirogane, his face completely void of expression and taking a completely neutral stance as he took a step forward in the bluenette’s direction, whose attention had been caught by the mention of his name. “You are now under the Japanese government’s guard and the deliberation of how your execution will be effectuated will be publicly announced to the whole world in 24 hours. We would appreciate it if you didn’t struggle and came with us willingly. If not... we will be forced to take measures right this moment.”

 

Hearing those words, Kuroko’s heart sunk down to the pits of his stomach, no voice coming out of his parted lips as he stared to the older male with teal eyes wide open in fright. He could care less about the numerous handguns aimed at him right this instant – the next following words were far scarier than any weapon that could have been put right in front of his face.

 

“Arrest ‘The Phantom’ and bring him to Tokkou’s Headquarters right this instant, so he can be interrogated and the degree of his crimes fully calculated, all of it to be carefully debated and exposed on the hour of his execution!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "MAD BREAKER" by Fukuyama Jun - the still on the run Hanamiya -.-'
> 
> Well... Things certainly are looking bleak right now, aren't they? Hey, at least Kuroko is alive!!! Ah... For now, maybe...
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	152. Clashing head-on like a pair of natural enemies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's FINALLY HERE WITH THE AWAITED CHAPTER XD
> 
> You know... This week I was tasked with cleaning the refrigerator where we keep the fish for sushi in... It was a scene straight out of a horror movie, chains with large chunks of dead animals and shelves filled with dead fish and chunks of their bodies spread all around the tiny, freezing cold room - added to the large amount of fish guts and blood that I would have to clean due to a small incident the previous week with one of our containers. To be honest... I NEVER HAD SO MUCH FUN IN MY WHOLE LIFE XD I had a never leaving feeling that it was just a matter of time until a serial killer would cross the door and also spread my guts on the floor. But mostly because... I was constantly thinking that I was cleaning up the evidences of a murder. I think that you can guess with this chapter who was the character that I would have personally murdered if I could >.> *starts sharpening the knifes while glaring at a certain Prime Minister*  
> [Dear lord, I'm such a weird person...]
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

“What was it that happened in Sumida!?” roared Aomine as soon as the door to the inside of the main room of the Student Council building was slammed open, panting slightly after having run all the way to that area of Teikou Academy from the basketball court in the premises. Kagami was right behind him, a deep frown on his brows as he also panted just the slightest. “How are Kuroko and Akashi!?”

 

“Great to know that you are still alive, Aomine,” said Nijimura, an eyebrow slightly perked up in the midst of a deep frown on his face. He was standing by the heterochromatic redhead’s empty desk, his hands holding a bunch of papers.

 

The whole division was filled with an intense silence as four of the ‘Miracles’, Nijimura, Momoi and four of the ‘Uncrowned Kings’ remained inside of the office room, all of them with frowns and serious demeanours plastered on their faces.

 

“Get inside quickly and let me give you an even quicker explanation of what is happening inside of Sumida Triphony Hall right now, from what my little bird has been telling me,” sighed Nijimura, putting the paper down on the desk and getting a new hold of his cell phone, just in case he had received any message from someone with information on this matter. Once both Aomine and Kagami had settled down in one of the sofas, their bodies fidgeting around with both worry and curiosity, the black haired male couldn’t help but sigh once again. “The summary of what is happening is... Hanamiya Makoto has made a move and tried to kidnap Kuroko. It failed, apparently, but now Shirogane-san, the Japanese Prime Minister, has enough reasons to take Kuroko into his custody... and execute him publicly.”

 

-.-

 

“Arrest ‘The Phantom’ and bring him to Tokkou’s Headquarters right this instant, so he can be interrogated and the degree of his crimes fully calculated, all of it to be carefully debated and exposed on the hour of his execution!” yelled Shirogane as loud as he could so that his words would be carried to every single corner of the large hall and all of the people inside of it. He raised one of his arms and pointed a finger in the bluenette’s direction. “Japan will finally have closure on the ‘Bloody Night’ and finally return to be categorized as a safe country once again!”

 

“Like hell you will, Shirogane Eiji!” also yelled Akashi, stepping forward and putting his body protectively in front of the bluenette, still so taken aback that he hadn’t moved a single inch since the older male had began speaking. “Tetsuya is under Teikou Academy’s guard and protection! The Japanese government has nothing to do with him for as long as it remains like that. And I have absolutely no reason to change that!”

 

“Yes, everything you just said is absolutely correct, Akashi,” acknowledged Shirogane, giving a short nod with his head and also taking a couple of steps forward towards the two younger males, though still leaving a considerable distance between both. “However, one of the reasons as to why I gave you my consent to bringing ‘The Phantom’ outside of Teikou and into the outside world was that you guaranteed to me that he would cause no problem whatsoever to anyone. I also said that if such was not to happen, I would readily collect him and he would be under the Japanese government guard from that moment onwards. I think that our currently half destroyed surroundings are a clear proof of which organization is the one that detains ‘The Phantom’ from now on.”

 

“It wasn’t Tetsuya who blew up the bombs, but Hanamiya Makoto. If anything, the reason why we are currently all alive and fully unharmed is because Tetsuya put his own life on the line and deactivated the bombs that had yet to go off!” pointed out Akashi, putting his hand on top of the one that had suddenly taken a hold of the back of his upper clothes, teetering around immensely in fear of what his bleak future would really be like from then onwards. “Tetsuya had absolutely no involvement on what happened today and we now owe the fact that we are all alive to him! And you dare to say that he caused some sort of incident and is now in your guard!?”

 

“Indirectly speaking, it was because of ‘The Phantom’ that this happened,” said Shirogane, trying to maintain the most political and unfazed stance as he continued to debate against the redhead. “If you hadn’t brought him here but someone else, then nothing would have happened. In my eyes and, I’m very sure of such, everyone’s eyes, this is ‘The Phantom’s’ fault. It was because of him that two bombs exploded and partially destroyed the main hall of Sumida Triphony Hall. Luckily there have been no physical injuries, but can you say the same for the traumatic experience that this must have been to all of the audience, one that is mainly constituted by young children and teenagers? Not only could this situation have gotten them killed, but it has now possibly impaired their future by giving them a scarring trauma. In my opinion, there’s nothing worse than ruining the future of the next generation. Heh... As if you ‘Users’ haven’t done that plenty already. Especially ‘The Phantom’, which brings us back to the part where you silently and obediently deliver him to me, Akashi. Don’t make this any more complicated than it has to be.”

 

“You planned this,” softly breathed Akashi, his golden eye starting to glow all of a sudden. “You knew that this was going to happen and that’s why you decided to show up today only, so that you could witness everything and gain a reason to take Tetsuya with you to finally execute him!”

 

“I have absolutely no idea of what you are saying, Akashi,” defended himself Shirogane, a serious demeanour on his features – though the small hint of a smirk could be found on the corner of his lips, if one were to pay more attention to his body than to the excuses he was spewing. “The Japanese government is on the human side, not on you freak’s side. So why would I create a conspiracy with a wanted ‘User’, one that would put the lives of my own at risk for the chance of acquiring a terrorist like ‘The Phantom’? That’s something that only degenerates like you would think of.”

 

 _You bastard...!,_ inwardly cursed Akashi, his hand strongly closing on top of the bluenette’s. He adjusted the position of his body once again and put himself in front of Kuroko in an even more protective stance, daring anyone in that room to take a step forward and lay a single finger on the bluenette at their own life’s risk. “I won’t hand you Tetsuya, even with you trying to twist your words, my words and the actual truth for your own benefit.”

 

“No, Akashi. It’s not for my benefit, it’s for the entire Japan’s benefit,” corrected Shirogane, shaking his head just the slightest. “An entire country is a reason far stronger than the short-lived whims of a teenage brat. Deliver ‘The Phantom’ to the Japanese government.”

 

 _What should I do?,_ wondered Kuroko in the back of his mind, his fingers tightly wrapped around the redhead’s upper clothes. _What should I do? If this continues like this, then..._

 

“I’ve already said no to that, Shirogane Eiji,” repeated Akashi once again, the golden light being emitted by one of his orbs shining brightly in the dusty hall. “The arguments you are throwing at us are fake. You are the one acting according to your own whims, not according to the well-being of Japan or any of its citizens.”

 

_If this continues like this, then I and every ‘User’ will...!_

 

“That may be so, but I think that every single _human_ inside of this building would act in the exact same way as me,” pointed out Shirogane. “That makes my fake arguments and whims the will of the entire Japanese population. No, of the entire world! Give me ‘The Phantom’ and let nature follow its order by giving the so awaited execution of the genetically modified terrorist that killed thousands in a couple of hou—“

 

All of a sudden, all of the previously open doors were slammed shut with a loud _bang_ when a couple of black strings of shadows appeared from behind Kuroko, who was now walking in the older male’s direction while staring directly at him.

 

“Prime Minister!” called one of the police officers pointing his gun at the two ‘Users’. He quickly ran over in their direction, the weapon in his hand ready to be fired. Such, however, wound up not happening as the arm that was wielding the handgun was grabbed by a pale pair of hands and his body thrown down to the floor. With a quick and swift tug, the man’s shoulder took on a disfigured shape and the police officer screamed at the top of his lungs. “ARRRRRGH!”

 

“So you finally let your true colours show, ‘Phantom’,” said Shirogane, his face twisted in disgust as he witnessed in first person the bluenette dislocate the shoulder of the officer with his bare hands. “I take it that you want to do this the hard way, then.”

 

With the raise of the older male’s hand, all of the police officers of that area closed in and made a tight circle around the two younger males and the four members of the Japanese government, their weapons in their hands and ready to be fired with the next command of the Prime Minister.

 

“Tetsu—“ started calling Akashi, taking a step forward in his direction, but he came to a halt when he noticed the sign that the bluenette was giving him with the hand placed behind his back, probably only visible to the redhead from the position the both of them had taken, the smaller male directly in front of him.

 

That sign was all it took to reassure Akashi that he had no need to worry about anything anymore. That sign was all it took for the redhead to understand what Kuroko was trying to accomplish right now.

 

If Kuroko had let Akashi continue to take a stance for himself, then Shirogane would continue to think of him as nothing but a puppet without any will of its own, one that changed masters and wielders according to what was more convenient to himself. If Kuroko wanted to fully prove not only to the Japanese Prime Minister but to the whole world what his true intentions were – to show who he truly was – then this was a step that he would have to take by himself, without any help from the redhead or anyone else that sided with ‘Users’.

 

If Kuroko wanted to get rid once and for all of the constant threat to his life hovering around him... then this was the time to do it.

 

 _What Kagetora-san said this morning was true. Out of everyone in here, I’m the one that has the biggest probability of bringing a change to how things currently are,_ inwardly said Kuroko, commanding his shadows to disappear once again after having certified himself that all doors were fully shut and that no one that was inside could leave before he finished saying what he needed to  say. _I just need to play the cards hidden up my sleeves without letting them know where they came from._

 

“Clause no. 1 of the treaty signed on the day of the official opening of Teikou Academy, signed by Shirogane Eiji, the Prime Minister of Japan, Akashi Seijuurou, the Student Council President of Teikou Academy, and Shirogane Kouzou, the prior Headmaster of the same institution,” started Kuroko, his teal eyes never leaving the older male’s ones. “Albeit their nationality is that of Japanese citizens, all ‘Users’ registered in Teikou Academy owe their allegiance first and foremost to the growth of the named institution, later on providing support to the country denominated Japan.”

 

“Wha—“

 

“Clause no. 2 of the same treaty,” continued Kuroko, quickly cutting off the words that Shirogane was about to say. “All registered ‘Users’ must comply with Japanese laws and will be dealt accordingly with them. Paragraph A of the same clause. The exceptions for such are in the eventuality that the ability of the ‘User’ in question was the perpetuator of the breaching of the law, having its yielder not taken any conscious and/or intentional actions to the accomplishment of such, and when external factors influenced the ability to perform as such.”

 

“You—“

 

“Clause no. 47 of the same treaty,” interrupted Kuroko once again, causing the older male to click his tongue in a supposedly masked way. “All ‘Users’ put under Teikou Academy’s guard, for any number of reasons, are exempted from their duties towards the Japanese government and become a solemn possession of the named institution. The Headmaster and the Student Council President are the official guarantors of the ‘User’ and will make all decisions regarding the individual.”

 

“...” By now, a furious furrow covered the entirety of Shirogane’s features, his closed fists trembling with the sheer wrath he presently felt towards the bluenette.

 

“My registry number as a ‘User’ from Teikou Academy is 1511,” proceeded Kuroko, taking one more step forward and closing the distance between him and the older male. “As such, all of those clauses that I recited and the remained ones from that treaty apply to me, Shirogane-san. I must stress that you were one of the signers of such, having received it 24 hours prior to its signing so that everyone would be sure that both sides, human and ‘User’, were in agreement with what was stated there.”

 

“Circumstances are different from that time and the present time,” spewed Shirogane, his lower lip twitching in deep anger as he spoke. “You, ‘Phantom’, made the circumstances change.”

 

“It doesn’t change the fact that this treaty is still under effect and all clauses in it remain unchanged, even after the events of the ‘Bloody Night’,” pointed out Kuroko, tilting his head just the slightest as he intently stared to the older male. “According to the treaty and, hence, according to yourself, I belong to Teikou Academy and have absolutely nothing to do with you or Japan itself. Unless the Headmaster and Student Council President of Teikou decide otherwise.”

 

“T-That’s true,” acknowledged Shirogane, swallowing in dry and fully regretting the day he had signed that treaty, years ago. “However, in my phone call conversation with Akashi, the Student Council President of Teikou Academy, after I had received an email from him regarding the matters of taking you, ‘The Phantom’, to this pastry competition, it was heavily implied that I had his consent to collect you if any incident were to happen.”

 

“Phone call? Email?” asked Kuroko, his head tilting to the right even further. “Are you sure that such events really happened?”

 

“...What?” interjected Shirogane, an eyebrow slightly arched as he heard those words coming out of the bluenette’s mouth. “Of course I’m sure they happ—“

 

“Then I’m sure that you can show to everyone in here the said email that you received from Akashi-kun, as well as the recording that you surely made of the phone call that you also mentioned,” said Kuroko, straightening his head once again, a hint of a smirk on the corner of his lips. “Go on. I don’t mind waiting for them, since I would have to go with you in case you put them right in front of my eyes seeing as Akashi-kun has given you permission to do such.”

 

“Tet—“ started calling Akashi once again when he saw the victorious smirk that appeared on the older male’s lips as he inserted his hand in his pocket and took from there his smartphone, readily opening his email inbox. But when he saw the bluenette doing the same sign with his hand one more time, as well as the sudden loss of colouring in the older male’s features, he decided to remain quiet, standing behind the smaller male.

 

“Is something the matter, Shirogane-san?” asked Kuroko, a fake worried expression on his face. “I thought that since such conversation must have happened quite recently, you would easily find the email and the recording of the conversation attached to it afterwards once the said phone call was ended.”

 

“You sneaky little bastard!” roared Shirogane, angrily stuffing his cell phone back into his pocket. “You hacked into my email address and erased the email and the recording of the conversation, didn’t you!?”

 

“I’m sorry, Shirogane-san, but that’s impossible,” readily informed Kuroko, giving a quick bow with his head to the taller male. “My ability makes it impossible for me to work with any electronic device for periods longer than 5 minutes, or they will immediately stop working or explode. Akashi-kun can vouch for such, since I accidentally broke his previous cell phone due to it being constantly near me. And I believe it’s impossible to hack into an email account from a member of the Japanese government in less than that amount of time.”

 

“...!”

 

“This simply comes to prove that the email and conversation never happened,” continued Kuroko, a small smirk really starting to show on his lips now. “I never thought that the Prime Minister of Japan would fall as low as to lie in such ways right in front of his so beloved citizens. Ah, but that’s what you think is fair to do, isn’t it? What you think is the best for everyone, correct? Exposing other people’s crimes to the public is what humans should do, even if they are regarding a ‘User’. Then, shouldn’t ‘Users’ be able to do the same thing?”

 

“What are you talking about?” asked Shirogane, a deep frown appearing on his brows as he glared daggers to the bluenette right in front of him.

 

“August 20th, four years ago, Roppongi Hills,” suddenly announced Kuroko, a dead serious demeanour on his features as his eyes never left the once again paling features of the older male. “November 15th, also four years ago, Kabukichou. March 3rd, three years ago, Ginza. July—“

 

“Stop!” interrupted Shirogane this time around, his eyes almost boring holes through the bluenette with the intensity of his glare. “Be quiet already, before I order my men to fire against you and drag your dead body to Tokkou! Nothing would make all of Japan happier than knowing that ‘The Phantom’ has been dealt with!”

 

“You want to arrest me? You want to shoot me?” asked Kuroko, leaning his upper body forward and taking a hold of the handgun dropped by the police officer that he had disabled by dislocating the shoulder. He quickly pressed the magazine release button and took the magazine out of the grip panel, his fingers skilfully taking bullet one by one from it until only one remained in the magazine, which he quickly put back inside before he pointed the handgun directly to the older male’s face.

 

“...!”

 

“Then _you_ do it, Mister Prime Minister of Japan,” said Kuroko, the handgun slipping out of his hand, getting suspended on his finger by the trigger guard momentarily before he got a hold of the barrel and motioned the grip towards the older male. “Do all of that personally, in front of all of these witnesses or citizens, whichever you prefer to call them. Show the world how the Prime Minister captured ‘The Phantom’ and, with it, broke pretty much all treaties, agreements and contracts signed between Teikou Academy and Japan itself, some of them which he had personally signed and acknowledged beforehand.”

 

“...” Eyes switching between the bluenette and the handgun on his hand, Shirogane’s body trembled in utter rage. The little brat was making a fool out of him, manipulating everything in his favour only so that he could breathe another day.

 

“However, be aware that by doing so, all ‘Users’ will have nothing holding them back from rebelling against this country,” continued Kuroko, taking a step forward and pressing the grip on the older male’s chest. “You say that you protect your own from any threat, correct? Then if you humans have the right to protect yourselves from us monsters, then we monsters also have the right to defend ourselves from the humans that hunt us down and use us to their own benefit with claims of it being for their own self-preservation or defence!”

 

“Nothing would make me happier than doing that,” acknowledged Akashi, feeling that it had finally arrived his cue to ingress in the conversation once again. “And I’m 100% sure that all ‘Users’ registered in Teikou would share my opinion. I’m sure that Atsushi would love to crush your body with his barriers, Araki-san, and Daiki would really enjoy putting you inside of a burning bus, Harasawa-san. It goes without saying that _I would personally deal with you, Shirogane Eiji_.”

 

“...!” A shudder immediately went down the spines of the two men and woman as they heard those words, withdrawing their bodies further away from the two younger males at the same time as the police officers took on similar actions.

 

“Now if you would excuse us, me and Tetsuya will return _together_ to Teikou Academy, where all ‘Users’ without an exception belong to and are welcomed,” announced Akashi, taking a couple of steps forward after having grabbed the bluenette’s hand and stopped right in front of the older male. “If you want to get Tetsuya, then you will have to come and get him from there. But be aware that war between Teikou and Japan will start the moment a human steps inside of Teikou Academy’s territory from this day onwards, because they will be deemed as an agent sent by you to kidnap him. Humans are hereby denied entrance in Teikou Academy for as long as I detain the position of Student Council President, with zero exceptions to such!”

 

“S-Should I also deny your entrance to the rest of Japanese territory then?” tried to threaten Shirogane as soon as the two younger males passed by them and started motioning towards one of the now open doors.

 

“Be my guest,” acknowledged Akashi, turning his head around to peer sideways to the older male as he walked, a mischievous smirk on his lips as he said his next words. “I can continue to detain 57% of the Japanese economy in my hand even while inside of Teikou’s territory. Maybe I should start considering expanding its total area and slowly start conquering the surrounding wards one by one.”

 

“That would suit you quite a bit, Akashi-kun,” acknowledged Kuroko, also taking a quick peek to the older male. “As expected of the ‘Emperor Eye’.”

 

“It does, doesn’t it?” also acknowledged Akashi, turning back to the door and simply continuing to walk beside the bluenette as he dropped one final sentence while the doors slowly closed behind them. “Maybe it’s just a matter of time before Japan belongs to ‘Users’ and not to humans.”

 

As soon as the clatter of the door closing stopped, the entire half destroyed main hall of Sumida Triphony Hall was left in a deep and quite grievous silence.

 

In a bout of fury, Shirogane threw the handgun that Kuroko had left on his hand to the floor and loudly cursed, his fingers running through his white smeared hair in pure frustration.

 

_This is not the end, Akashi, Kuroko. Don’t go thinking that this is all that takes for us humans to give up on making things right once again. Because if it’s a war that it takes to get rid of all of you disgusting freaks... then it’s a war that Japan will give you._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Bring it on now!! Feat. Takao Kazunari" by Ono Kenshou and Suzuki Tatsuhisa (our bravest bluenette in the world and our healing angel whose fate is still unknown TToTT)
> 
> Hell yeah, Kuroko! HELL YEAH! That's it, my baby, show them who the boss is! I think we can momentarily (yes, momentarily only) take a deep breath and relax because an execution is not to happen now, for as long as things remain like they are! *sniff* I'm so happy for them... *sniff* They are the best couple ever, whether they act like two adorable cuties with their flirting and bickering, or when they team up on their evil "schemes" to defy the fucking Prime Minister of Japan XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi  
> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	153. Saying that this is the answer of my unwavering self

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I love Mondays. For me, they are a wonderful day because it's the only day of the week where my work is not chaotic (we have very few customers in the restaurant on Mondays, after all~). But today, it was an ever more wonderful Monday because this conversation happened~  
> Me: *blurts out* You two are so cute together~ *while staring with fujoshi eyes to one of my coworkers and the security guard of the shopping centre where the restaurant is placed on*  
> Security guard: *a huge, bulky man who is almost three heads taller than me* You think so? I find him cuter when he's together with your other coworker. The beard guy, you know?  
> Me: *immediately enters into full fujoshi mode* Yes, yes. I can see the appeal on that one too.  
> Security guard: The owner of the restaurant too!  
> Me: Yes~ <3 *starts mentally drooling* But I find your chemistry with him sort of... I don't know, more interesting to observe.  
> Security guard: Well, I do enjoy teasing him quite a bit so... He's lady number one of this restaurant. Now please translate this whole conversation to him. I want to see him crying over it.  
> Me: *evil smirk* Oh, I will~
> 
> Anyways, enough with my daily dose of fangirling. I'm here to give YOU your daily dose of fangirling. Hence, enjoy~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading~]

As soon as the door closed behind their backs and Akashi gave a couple more of steps in the exterior of the building’s direction, a slightly heavy weight pulled his hand down and made him come to a sudden halt, a soft thudding sound accompanying the pull. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw Kuroko on the floor, trying to lift his body to a standing position once again while still holding onto his hand, his legs visibly shaking around.

 

“Tetsuya?” called Akashi, readily turning his body around and dropping it to the same height as the bluenette, his hand carefully searching his features for any indication that something had gone even worse than it already had, in terms of his current physical condition. “Are you okay?”

 

“I-I’m sorry... I’m fine, it’s just... All of a sudden...” answered Kuroko, still struggling to put his body back up. But the immense relief he felt over the fact that he was still alive, could leave Sumida Triphony Hall together with Akashi to return to Teikou and not as a prisoner with less than 24 hours until his execution hit his being all at once when the doors closed behind them. It would most likely take him a couple of minutes to regain his bearings and be able to walk, the way all the fear and stress caused by the previous situation was slowly sipping out of his body by weakening his legs.

 

“Let’s go home, okay?” softly said Akashi, circling the bluenette’s waist with his arms and pulling his body up, picking up his whole body and the weight it carried afterwards as if picking up the most delicate gold-lined pillow in the universe. “Let’s return to where we belong.”

 

“Nn,” shortly acknowledged Kuroko with a small nod of his head, his arms wrapping around the redhead’s neck to help him carry his own weight back to the car that would, most likely, take them back to their hotel room so they could pack their things and immediately depart to Teikou Academy. The corner of his lips slightly tugged upwards when the taller male resumed with his walk once again, Kuroko dropped his head against his shoulder and allowed his forehead to rest there. “Thank you, Akashi-kun.”

 

“For what?” asked Akashi, motioning one of his hands out of the bluenette’s body so that he could open the glass door that gave them access to the exterior... and Kuroko’s acquired, albeit possibly still temporary, freedom. “If it’s about what happened inside of the main hall, then I was only doing what was the most correct and important – keeping my promise to you.”

 

“Still, thank you,” repeated Kuroko one more time, his arms closing more strongly around the redhead’s neck as the fresh air of the outside world touched their bodies.

 

The two carried on in complete silence after that sentence, quickly reaching the black car parked on a side street near Sumida Triphony Hall. Akashi readily opened one of the backseat’s doors and softly put Kuroko back on the floor, who pushed his body inside of the vehicle the quickest he could, allowing space for the redhead to do the same right after him.

 

Door closed, the driver immediately started the engine of the car, not requiring further instructions on what was supposed of him to do – five minutes after the two Users had abandoned the half destroyed main hall of the building, the black car was in motion and returning them back to their hotel room.

 

“...” As the smooth ride on the road continued, Kuroko took a quick glance to the taller male sitting beside him – he was writing something on his cell phone, which screen went completely black afterwards. Once such happened, he turned his head around and continuously stared away in the distance, a deep silence also installing itself inside of the car.

 

For some reason... Akashi was acting in an extremely weird and unsettling way once again and, this time around, Kuroko had absolutely no clue as to why such was succeeding.

 

-.-

 

Silence again.

 

When they crossed the rotating doors in the lobby of the hotel, it was done in silence. The whole travel in the elevator – silence. As they walked through the corridor that connected the elevator to their room – silence one more time.

 

Kuroko was at a complete loss of what was happening and what he should do in regards of it, even more than when the incident inside of the main hall was going around, bombs threatening to kill all of them if he didn’t surrender himself to the hands of a wanted ‘User’ and then the Prime Minister’s arguments to take him into the Japanese government’s custody so that he could be readily executed.

 

Was Akashi possibly regretting what had happened in Sumida Triphony Hall? Was he regretting already the fact that he had defended him and tried his very best to keep Kuroko with him and with Teikou Academy, at the expense that now there was a deep animosity between the Japanese government and the solemn ‘Users’-only institution of the world?

 

Was Akashi perhaps having second thoughts about _everything_ and deliberating in his mind if the safest option for everyone wouldn’t be to really deliver Kuroko to Shirogane and put an end to all of this once and for all?

 

The beeping sound of an electric card being accepted and the opening of a door broke Kuroko out of his inner mussing and the beginning of a slight panic too strong roots in the core of his brain. Gulping down hard, Kuroko slowly walked inside of the large room and stopped in front of one of the sofas, his brain spiralling around with the entire unknown.

 

When the door was closed with a slight _bang_ , Kuroko’s whole body trembled in fear, immediately turning around to face the redhead and provide some sort of excuse that would put him completely alone, even if just momentarily. “A-Akashi-kun, I-I think I’ll have a bath now and then just go to be—“

 

Akashi didn’t even let him finish his sentence when his two arms tightly wrapped around the bluenette’s body, their chests strongly crashing against one another and throwing them out of balance, which caused the smaller male’s rear and lower back to heavily hit the floor with the momentum of the sudden hug and the weight of two male bodies together.

 

“A-Akashi-kun...?” hesitantly called Kuroko, trying to move his body around but finding himself unable to, given the strong, almost suffocating, hold that the redhead had on him.

 

“Tetsuya...” breathed Akashi, in an almost pained way, as his arms crushingly tightened around the bluenette’s torso, not caring right now that he would probably bruise his body with all the strength he was actually putting forward. “Tetsuya...”

 

“Akas—“ started calling Kuroko once again, his head in the initial stages of a tilt, when he came to notice something that had completely passed him with the sudden ‘pinning down’ on the floor – Akashi’s body was trembling immensely, almost as much as his hand when he was hearing that cursed passage from the Bible earlier.

 

“Tetsuya, you’re fine,” breathed Akashi once again, pulling the bluenette’s body towards his. “You’re alive. You’re still breathing and you are no longer hurt. You’re still by my side, where I can touch you and hold you and feel your body temperature and your beating heart. You’re still right here, in my arms. I... I’m so glad that you’re still alive.”

 

_Crack!_

 

“ _Never_ have I been so scared in my whol—“ continued Akashi, lightening his hold on the bluenette’s body and starting to separate their bodies, but he came to a halt when he saw the two rivers made of tears overflowing from Kuroko’s teal eyes. “Tetsuya...? Why are you...? Wait, did I hurt you when I hugged you all of sudden? Tetsuya! Say something!”

 

Even with the never ending worried babbling of the redhead, Kuroko didn’t formulate a single word, for what was being held deep inside of him had broken completely.

 

His inner glass had been completely filled and the overflowing liquid stored inside of it took on such pressure that the thin walls that made them shattered completely and broke down into millions of little shards, the liquid now pooling down all around them.

 

Akashi wasn’t regretting or having second thoughts about anything throughout all of those endless minutes of deep silence – he was simply holding himself back and all the emotions he had pushed back inside until the moment where they would be alone arrived.

 

_Nobody... ever hugged me like this... Nobody ever tried to hold onto me with such strength and desperation, fearing over my well being rather than theirs... Nobody ever needed me like this, shaking in fear over the thought of losing me... Nobody had ever been this overjoyed with my existence in this world..._

_And for the first person to feel all of those things to be the man who I feel in love with..._

 

“Yes, I’m also glad to still be alive,” acknowledged Kuroko, crystal clear tears running down his eyes as a bright smile appeared on his lips, illuminating all of his previous shadows and turning them into nothing but dust that would surely be blown away to a far away land if given the necessary time.

 

And they had time. Kuroko still belonged to Teikou Academy and he was now 100% sure that it would remain as such for all eternity, the way Akashi, the Student Council President, was holding onto him and worrying over him crying. Because, he, as the Headmaster, surely wouldn’t surrender ‘The Phantom’ to any other person except him. Though Kuroko knew that there would arrive a day when he would have to leave, he himself wouldn’t surrender any part of his being to anyone but Akashi Seijuurou.

 

“If you are going to smile at me for the first time ever, then please do it while _not_ crying,” sighed Akashi, motioning his hands forward and taking a hold of the pale features of the bluenette, his thumbs cleaning the tears still flowing down from those beautiful teal fountains.

 

“Yes,” sobbed Kuroko, the large smile still present on his lips as he strongly grabbed onto the redhead’s wrists. “I’ll stop crying in a few minutes so please wait until then.”

 

“I will. I will wait for as long as you need, Tetsuya,” acknowledged Akashi, once again cleaning more tears rolling down the bluenette’s cheeks with his thumbs. A smile also remained on his features as he shortened the distance between their faces and planted a soft kiss on the smaller male’s lips. “I’ll always wait for you while being by your side.”

 

“Yes. Please do so,” said Kuroko, giving a quick sniff in order to try to control the flood of tears that still threatened to burst out of his glands. “Please do so for the rest of your life.”

 

“I prefer to put an unlimited amount of time to that, Tetsuya, because not even death will rip me away from you,” added Akashi, leaning his forehead on the bluenette’s, the tips of their noses bumping into each other. “You’re my one and only turtle dove. I won’t let anyone, no matter who they may be, take you away from me. I’ll break their necks if they even start housing such thoughts.”

 

“Yes,” acknowledged Kuroko, chuckling softly at the redhead’s last sentence. He motioned his hands up and circled the taller male’s neck with his arms, tightly hugging him in a similar fashion to what he had previously done. “I, too, can no longer go without the light of the sun.”

 

 _Ahh... I’m contradicting myself once again...,_ inwardly noted Kuroko, only to forget all about it the next second, as soon as his lips joined with Akashi’s in the most wonderful and filled with love kiss that they had ever shared.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ANSWER" by Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Kenshou (our lovely AkaKuro which is finally going some progress in the right direction XD).
> 
> Dear lord... Finally...! After over 150 chapters, it's... it's finally...!!! *sobs* Itsh finally happening!! My lovebirds are finally getting there...! *blows nose noisily* Just one more little push and then... They will be an OFFICIAL married couple >///<
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
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	154. Own up to your own inexperience

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san~ Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I don't want to keep you here in the notes today so~  
> Warning: MAJOR NOSEBLEED ALERT + CLIFFHANGER  
> (Let's just say that I'm granting several of your wishes all in one chapter *wiggles eyebrows* But not all of them *evil smirk*)
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter *v*]

“Um... A-Akashi-kun, could you please remind me once again why is it that the two of us are currently inside of the bathtub at the s-same time?” asked Kuroko in a slightly stutteringly way, a dark red blush covering the entirety of his features that he tried to conceal by keeping his head lowered towards the water filling the tub up until their chests.

 

“I also feel the need to take a bath and simply relax while soaking in the water,” explained Akashi, pushing his wet locks of red hair backwards and then settling his hand once again on the bluenette’s waist, who remained sat down in front of him in between his legs. “I also remember stating that I would never leave you for the rest of my life, in your version, and for an unlimited period of time, in my version.”

 

“E-Even if that is so, this is not how two people usually bathe together,” pointed out Kuroko, his body fidgeting around just the slightest in a masked way as he tried to still himself completely in order to keep himself from having his completely naked body touch more than necessary the also completely naked body of the redhead.  Extremely hard to do, considering their current position. Just the fact that one of the taller male’s hands remained wrapped around his waist was sending his heart into yet another rollercoaster, its speeding making question of sending a threatening notice to his brain that it was only a matter of time until it leapt out of his throat.

 

“Hm... I guess it would depend on the type of relationship that those two people have, wouldn’t it?” pointed out Akashi too, dropping the arm that had been leaned on the edge of the tub back inside of the water and fully wrapping his two arms around the bluenette’s torso, pulling him towards himself until his back remained fully against his chest. The small yelp that Kuroko released at it was probably one of the cutest sounds that he had ever heard in his entire life. “For me, this is the ultimate position to bathe with you. I regret not having done it the other times I took a bath with you, though it would be impossible seeing as we only had the shower available.”

 

“Uh...” softly groaned Kuroko, his blush darkening even further as the heat of the water started to infiltrate inside of his body, though in a completely different meaning of what would happen if it was him solemnly trying to raise his temperature after having used his ability. Gulping down hard, the bluenette tried to depart his back once again from the taller male’s chest, his clumsy movements made it impossible though. “A-Akashi-kun, y-you’re too c-close...”

 

“Are you feeling uncomfortable with this position?” asked Akashi, his head slightly tilted as he looked to the back of the bluenette’s head, his neck slightly smeared in red – a colouring that definitely hadn’t appear there due to the temperature of the water.

 

“Y-Yes,” awkwardly acknowledged Kuroko, once again resuming with his attempts to regain his bearings and put the necessary amount of distance between him and the redhead, one that would enable his brain to work in the way it was supposed to.

 

“You are, huh?” stated Akashi, a knowing smirk, one quite mischievous popping up on his lips. He unwrapped the bluenette’s torso and let his hands slip down through the sides of his body, his fingers teasingly passing over his hips until they landed on top of his thighs. “But is it really discomfort that you are feeling right now, Tetsuya?”

 

“Ngh...!” Feeling Akashi’s hands roaming around his body, Kuroko readily motioned his own forward and put them on top of the redhead’s, intending to put a brake on whatever was running deep inside of his scheming and perverted brain. “Y-Yes, _extremely_ uncomfortable only.”

 

“Even though you are putting it like that, I still am under the impression that you are using the wrong word,” teased Akashi, moving his head forward half an inch and landing a soft peck on the back of the bluenette’s neck. “Besides, didn’t you once say that you disliked seeing me naked? Unless your dislike is more like intense hate, I don’t see what other reasons would make you uncomfortable. Then again, uncomfortable isn’t even the correct word so it wouldn’t matter either way. Right, Tetsuya?”

 

“Ngh!” half moaned Kuroko, hurriedly covering his mouth with his two hands to keep it inside of his throat and not in the open when the redhead softly scraped his teeth on the back of his neck, giving a long lick over its length afterwards.

 

With an opportunism even faster than that of a predator, Akashi motioned his hands up and landed them on the bluenette’s chest, his fingers readily taking a hold of his rosy buds and giving a soft pinch to them.

 

“Ah— Ngh...!” moaned Kuroko, sealing his mouth even more strongly with his hands. He quickly turned his head around, momentarily removing his hands from his mouth, and glared at the redhead. “W-What do you think you’r— Mmnh!”

 

Again, Akashi didn’t hesitate even the slightest and readily put his lips on the smaller male’s in a hungry exchange of deep kisses and entwined tongues, his hands resuming with rolling the bluenette’s nipples in between the pads of his fingers, occasionally pulling and pinching them with a teasing and lightly painful approach.

 

And all that Kuroko could do was melt away at the touches and kisses, his brain fully shutting out any sort of refusal that would perfectly serve to put a stop to it, as he was previously trying to do. Now, the only thought in his mind was how much he had been craving Akashi, in every single sense of the word, since he had kissed him the previous day in the corridor of Sumida Triphony Hall.

 

“Haa... Uncomfortable, was it?” asked Akashi as soon as he broke the kiss and dropped one of his hands towards the bluenette’s crotch, his fingers wrapping around his hardened length. “I think not.”

 

“Ahh!” moaned Kuroko, his body shivering in pleasure when the redhead’s hand started stroking his erection, the other teasing one of his nipples and his teeth softly nibbled at the back of his neck, all at the same time. “Akashi-k— Ah—!”

 

“Moan even more for me, Tetsuya,” said Akashi with a husky voice, heavily charged with all the pent-up sexual frustration of the latest times. “Moan and scream in pleasure until you lose your voice.”

 

“Ahhh!” With the quickening of the hand pleasuring his cock, Kuroko let his voice flow completely unrestrained, throwing his head backwards until it fell on top of the redhead’s shoulder. His breathing rhythm grew wilder, though no more than the maddening beating of his heart as he felt against his lower back Akashi’s also hard member. When the taller male gave a quick, but strong bite, on the side of his neck, leisurely sucking at his skin, it was the last drop and Kuroko readily spilled his release on the water, his body convulsing at the intense wave of pleasure. “Seijuur— Ahhh—!”

 

The moment his arched back leaned over the redhead’s chest, panting desperately to cool down his extremely hot body, Kuroko readily went back into moaning his lungs out when Akashi once again resumed with pumping his erection, making it grow completely stiff one more time.

 

“Nnahh! Wai— I just c— Ah!” loudly moaned Kuroko in between trying to reason out with the redhead’s continuous attacks to his weak spots. His head slumped down against the taller male’s shoulder a second time, turning it around towards his neck and unrestrictedly mewling against his hot and wet skin. “Ahh— Seijuurou...! Sei—“

 

“Haa... Come here,” said Akashi, dropping the hand teasing the bluenette’s now reddish bud and halting the pleasuring of his cock so that he could turn his body around and then sit him back down on the insides of the tub, this time both of them positioned one in front of the other while facing each other.

 

Opening his mouth wide, Akashi once again joined their lips, feasting deliriously in Kuroko’s sweet tongue and saliva with all of his being. Once the bluenette’s arms closed around his neck, he didn’t wait even a fraction of a second to pull  his waist closer to his body, the water around them rippling and overflowing from the tub as their cocks where put against one another, their lengths pleasuring and rubbing against their stomachs.

 

“Mmnm... Seijuurou... Haa...” softly whimpered Kuroko when their lips came apart, his teal eyes half-lidded as he lovingly stared deep into the red and golden ones that observed him with the exact same amount of adoration as his. When the redhead’s mouth closed around one of his erect nipples, the bluenette’s fingers also closed against his back, his nails desperately clawing at his skin and leaving red half moons and lines in it. “Ahh...! Seijuurou! Not... enough... Haa... More!”

 

Hearing such desperate mewls, there was no way Akashi could hold back anymore – not when he had been forced to stop his little escapades with Kuroko for numerous reasons again and again. He departed his mouth from the little bud and reverted back to hungrily kissing the bluenette while he took one of his hands from around his neck and lead it towards their hard and throbbing cocks, both of their fingers wrapping around their lengths at the same time and almost instantly beginning a steady, but fast, pumping motion.

 

“Mmnm!! Haa... Mmn...!” soundlessly whimpered Kuroko, all of his moans being greedily swallowed by the sensual movements of the redhead’s tongue inside of his mouth. He could have very well melted completely with the kisses alone, but the continuous rubbing of their cocks against one another and against their hands was making him become nothing more than a dribbling mess – pretty much what Akashi had been aiming at for quite a while now. “Mmnm...”

 

The moment he was fully certain that Kuroko would not stop or halt the movements of his hand, Akashi softly took his own from around their members and allowed it to swim around in  the water, slowly caressing  the smaller male’s hip as it continued to creep further south against his skin. Soon enough his other hand joined the soft caressing and as quick as lightening both of them were gently cupping Kuroko’s rear, the pads of his fingers trailing a path until they found his small crevice.

 

“Mmnm!” Feeling the foreign intrusion that had slowly slipped inside of his lower body, Kuroko’s eyes immediately went wide open and he separated his mouth from the redhead’s. “Wait...! W-What are you doin— Ngh!”

 

“It will be easier for the both of us if you relax, Tetsuya,” softly advised Akashi, giving a quick peck to the bluenette’s flushed cheeks as he inserted his finger deeper inside of his crevice, only to slowly withdraw it again and then push it back in, again and again.

 

“Ngh... Haa... T-Take it out...!” whimpered Kuroko, his hand stopping its movements completely and switching his hold on their hard members to tightly grab into the redhead’s shoulders, his features twisted in discomfort and slight pain as the finger continued working around his insides. “Seijuurou... Take it... Ngh... out...!”

 

“It doesn’t feel good?” asked Akashi, softly bumping his forehead against the smaller male’s, his eyes intently locking down on the teal ones right in front of him. The bluenette readily shook his head, his eyes tightly shut as he panted hard. “Then I guess we need to change that.”

 

With a quick thrust of his finger to deeper grounds in Kuroko’s crevice, Akashi readily aimed at the spot where supposedly the prostate was located, gently rubbing the tight wall around him as he searched for the sweet spot that would put the bluenette singing moans once again. It didn’t take him half a minute to find such location, and it took him even less to discover such.

 

“Ahhhh!” loudly moaned Kuroko, arching his back all of a sudden while strongly sinking his nails into the taller male’s shoulders. In the exact second when the tip of Akashi’s finger had hit _some_ part of his insides, his body had felt a spark of deep pleasure, one that fuelled even further his arousal. It was honestly scary, how that solemn action had pretty much made him completely forget that the redhead had his finger currently moving in and out of his crevice and only god knew what exactly would happen if such continued. Actually, even he knew what would come after and that knowledge only made him fear what was happening right now even more. “Seijuurou...! Haa... Ha... P-Please... stop...”

 

“I’m sorry, Tetsuya... Haa... But I’ve long reached the point where I can no longer stop,” apologized Akashi, giving a quick peck to the bluenette’s lips. His finger resumed with his movements inside of the smaller male, now acquainted with that particular spot that could make Kuroko moan so erotically. “I won’t go all the way... but I can’t exactly stop right now either.”

 

“Ahhh! Sei—! Ahh—“ True to his words, the redhead continued to move his finger inside of him, stretching his tight walls and hitting that same spot that made him go insane and drown in pleasure again and again. Kuroko was at a complete loss of what to do and his brain also wasn’t contributing in helping him out seeing as all it could think right now was how good it felt to have that particular area continuously rubbed. “Ngh... Haa... Ahhh! S-Seijuurou... Seijuu...rou...!”

 

Feeling that the bluenette’s body had grown considerably more relaxed and taking into account that his crevice wasn’t clenching down on his finger as tightly as before either, Akashi gently slipped a second finger into Kuroko, halting all movements for a couple of seconds afterwards to allow him to adjust once again to the now thicker intrusion to his insides. Once the smaller male’s breathing rhythm stabilized back to its normal quick motions of inflating and deflating during such sensual activities, he started moving his fingers one more time, remembering to stretch even further the entrance by gently parting and then uniting his fingers in between reaching out to the spot that made him able to hear the bluenette’s sweet moans.

 

“Ahhh! Seiju— Can’t— I— Ahh... Cumming...!” loudly moaned Kuroko, his back arching once again as his body squirmed around, a strong current of pleasurable electricity hitting his spinal cord and spreading from there to every single cell of his body as he finally achieved a second climax – one that far surpassed the former. “Ahhhh—!”

 

Now completely stripped of any remaining strength that his body may have housed after that initial release, Kuroko’s body lifelessly slumped down against the redhead’s chest, his lungs heaving and desperately fighting for some fresh air to soothe down the extremely hot temperature that was inflaming his whole body.

 

“Tetsuya?” softly called Akashi, his free hand running through his wet blue locks of hair to catch his attention. When he got absolutely no answer out of the bluenette, with the exception of the increase of weight plastered against his upper body, he knew right away that play time was now officially over. “Shit...”

 

Carefully, the redhead removed his fingers from inside of the smaller male’s crevice and took a hold of his waist, circling it as he pulled their bodies at the same time out of the tub and out of the hot water, carrying the entirety of Kuroko’s completely spent body in his arms for the second time that day.

 

Only that this time Kuroko had passed out due to the overheating of his body and the intense pleasure of his climax, and Akashi sported a tent further south that he would have to take care alone – for the hundredth time!

 

“Maybe doing this inside of the bathtub was a mistake...” sighed Akashi, crossing the bathroom and quickly picking a couple of towels on his way to the bedroom with one of his hands while he used the other to continue to maintain a hold to the bluenette’s heaving form.

 

Once inside of the bedroom, Akashi carefully put Kuroko on top of the bed, not caring that the sheets and mattress here getting soaked with the water coating his body. At such a sight – Kuroko out cold, his cheeks flushed red and breathing rhythm just as heavy as it had been while he was still awake – the redhead couldn’t help but curse once again, at the same time as he started patting dry the smaller male’s body before he could catch a cold.

 

“If I were to tell someone how many times I had to jerk off alone since the beginning of this school year because of you, Tetsuya, they would wonder how exactly I haven’t forced myself on you during moments like these or how come I haven’t jumped at you in the presence of someone else,” grudgingly mumbled Akashi as he softly ran one of the towels through the bluenette’s fully exposed and defenceless body. “And what I would tell them is that I love you far too much to even dare to force you to do anything that you don’t want or even risk hurting you because of my own carelessness when all heated up. Ngh...”

 

All of a sudden, the redhead lifted one of his knees and put it on the wet mattress, pushing his naked body to on top of the bed and, subsequently, to on top of the sleeping bluenette, who he softly kissed with lips twisted in a small mischievous smirk.

 

“Then again, I can barely wait for the day where I will make all of you mine,” whispered the redhead against Kuroko’s lips, which he kissed once again for long minutes. “Not Seijuurou’s, but _mine_. Hehe...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Hengenjizai no Magical Star" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Damn... That escalated quickly... *tries to wipe blood profusely overflowing from nose* But... Good bye, everyone... I can (almost) die from lack of blood now that I have pulled this card on them. The only reason why I really won't die is because I freaking need to give you the next chapter!! XD After, it's not only the perverted brain of Akashi Seijuurou that Kuroko has to deal with~ Nfufufufu~ *evil smirk*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	155. I will impress upon you the difference in our status

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> Shattered Miracles hit yet another milestone!! Over 400k words!! Thank you for your support throughout all of these words and I hope to continue to see all of you around for 400k more XD
> 
> Enjoy! (and I know you will *evil smirk*)

Kuroko felt hot. Usually, the next couple of hours after his shadows had been activated or he used his ability more than once in a single day, his whole body was overcome with a terrifying coldness, as if it had returned to what he was supposed to be – a decomposing corpse. However, contrary to such state, his body temperature felt unusually high, almost making him think that he was sporting some sort of lesser fever.

 

Tossing around against the blankets covering his body, the bluenette turned around on the mattress and was greeted by even more hotness, which made him release a soft groan. He slowly parted his eyelids, his teal eyes taking a suspicious peek to the source of such high temperature and being readily greeted by an extremely familiar shade of red.

 

“...Akashi-ku—“ softly started calling Kuroko, his throat slightly scratched due to the unusual high volume of his voice while he was inside of the bathtub with the redhead, but he immediately jumped apart from his body as soon as he saw the mortifying golden glint on one of his mismatched orbs.

 

“Isn’t that a little bit rude, Tetsuya?” asked the redhead, a mocking smirk on his features as he turned his body slightly against the bed and used his lower arms and elbows to propel his upper body just a little bit from the mattress where he had been lying on beside the smaller male. “Even though we haven’t talked with each other for a while now?”

 

“W-Why are you out?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, his body taking a defensive position as it slowly crawled further away from the redhead. “W-What happened to A-Akashi-kun?”

 

“Seijuurou is out of commission for the moment and it will remain as such for the time being,” answered the redhead, his smirk widening considerably when he saw the paling of the bluenette’s features at this sudden notice. “Or so I would like to say. Unfortunately, this body belongs to him and, as he’s the official owner, I can’t command it fully to my amusement. I’m certain that in a couple of hours he will regain control once again, if not sooner.”

 

Kuroko unconsciously released a deep sigh driven out of intense relief, his body relaxing just the slightest at hearing that so welcomed news. He, however, deeply regretted having done so, the moment he saw the redhead’s heterochromatic eyes changing into tight slits, his gaze never leaving his body.

 

“So you prefer Seijuurou’s company over my own...” sighed the redhead, his shoulders slumping down in fake disappointment. “Even though I went out of my way to get you all dried up and then changed you into some comfortable clothes while you were sleeping, this is the thank you that I get. I feel hurt.”

 

“U-Um...”

 

“But well, it was worth the trouble, as I finally got the chance to personally take a long~ look to your naked body and maybe cup a feel or two, hehe,” mischievously added the redhead, his amusement growing even further when he saw the bluenette’s demeanour change from frightened to a completely expressionless deadpan face. “Feeling more comfortable, now that you finally realized that we aren’t all that different from one another?”

 

“Yes, I can certain agree with the fact that the both of you are perverts,” deadpanned Kuroko, resuming once again with pushing his body further away from the taller male while remaining on  top of the mattress. “But I have to disagree on the both of you not being all that different from one another. As far as I know, Akashi-kun misbehaves a lot and always tries to have the upper hand on everything that he does, not only revolving around me but everyone that gets to interact with him, directly or indirectly, but he has never tried to hurt me in any way. I can’t really say the same for you.”

 

“Oh, may you be referring to our first meeting?” asked the redhead, tilting his head slightly as he continued to lock his glistening orbs on the teal ones of the smaller male. “I simply got so excited and happy over finally meeting my most earned for Tetsuya that I unconsciously let my control slip a little bit and winded up softly wrapping my fingers around your fragile neck~”

 

“You express happiness with strangulation?” repeated Kuroko, a soft glare on his eyes as he forced himself to not avert those frightening eyes. “It makes me wonder how exactly do you express sadness or anger.”

 

“I’m sorry to inform you that those that witnessed such will forever remain silent for they are dead,” said the redhead in a leisurely way, turning his body around on the mattress so that he could remain laid down with his back pressed against the bed, his eyes now locking down on nowhere in particular as he stared to the ceiling. “Some studies say that split personalities appear due to the inability to concretize some of our wishes and deepest desires. The brain creates a second personality that is allowed to do everything that the original one isn’t able to do, for any number of reasons. It may be because they are afraid of doing it or don’t have the necessary confidence in themselves to try to accomplish such. It can also very well be to escape a stressful situation that the original one doesn’t want to face or can’t cope with. That was my former role.”

 

“...Your... former role?” ended up asking Kuroko, an eyebrow slightly arched at the fact that Akashi’s inner beast was actually telling him things about himself without requesting any sort of thing in exchange – something that the bluenette would have easily expected out of him, taking into consideration their previous, and first, meeting.

 

“Every time Seijuurou couldn’t deal with our father, I would take his place,” explained further the redhead, his fingers crossing over his stomach. “Every time he felt tired from his demanding studying schedule, I would take his place. Pretty much every single time that he didn’t want to be who he was but another person, I was the one taking over his consciousness.”

 

Hearing such an explanation was the most surprising thing that Kuroko had ever heard about Akashi Seijuurou as a whole, even taking into consideration that he had a second personality, who he was currently talking with. He had never thought that he could be the type of person that was sp fragile and weak as to resort to some strategic escapade to not having to deal with reality.

 

The bluenette was now starting to understand why Akashi was continuously preaching at him about not dealing with his past but being perpetually running around and around the events without solving anything regarding them – he was simply trying to stop Kuroko from making the same mistake that he had previously done, one that now had no possible solution to the consequences that it had brought forward.

 

“But that came to an end on the day we met you,” suddenly confessed the redhead, slowly turning around on the bed and propelling his body slightly up, using his hands and knees to predatorily shorten the distance between him and the bluenette.

 

“...!” Kuroko’s body felt a numbing shudder go down his spine when the redhead’s golden eye started to glow even more intensely, partially illuminating the room half lit with the initial stages of the sunset. He quickly started to also crawl backwards, trying to make up the distance that the taller male had already covered while motioning towards him. “I-I don’t think that me bumping into A-Akashi-kun in the corridor near the gym c-could have changed anything.”

 

“But that wasn’t our first meeting,” shortly pointed out the redhead, a knowing smirk on his face as the distance grew smaller and smaller, and his desire to make the bluenette his grew stronger and stronger.

 

“...Eh?” managed to interject Kuroko in the midst of his completely flabbergasted state. He was forced to come to a halt when his hand reached the edge of the bed, his eyes quickly flashing a peek in its direction as he became completely trapped between the animalistic redhead in front of him and a painful fall towards the floor from behind – he far preferred the pain at this point. “I-I never met you or Akashi-kun before that time. I-I’ve seen Akashi-kun before, yes, but I never i-interacted with him in any way.”

 

“You did. You met us on the day you granted me my wish,” said the redhead, his body stopping right in front of the smaller male, more on top of him than on the bed as his hands sided his waist and faces where put a breath away from each other. “On the day we became free – Seijuurou gained the freedom and control he had always sought and I became my own being, my consciousness fully separating from his.”

 

“I-I never...” continued to deny Kuroko, his head shaking just the slightest at the words he was hearing from the taller male’s mouth. “I didn’t...”

 

“You gave me an identity, a life of my own even while sharing the same body as my original self,” continued Akashi, a growing smirk slowly forming on his lips. “Always around... I saw you so many times, again and again and again. But I could never reach you, never touch you. So close but still so far away. Doing whatever you pleased, interfering with our missions as ‘Miracles’... I wanted to get a hold of you so badly that it drove me crazy!”

 

“Ngh!” All of a sudden, two hands were tightly wrapped around Kuroko’s throat, trapping all the air on his lungs inside of the spongy tissues without a way of renewing the oxygen levels and release the accumulated dioxide. In search to fight back against the strong hold on his neck, the bluenette’s hands quickly climbed up in the air and grabbed into the taller male’s arms, his nails clawing into his sleeves and flesh. “Ack! W-Wai—!”

 

“I chased after you, Tetsuya. Again and again and again!” continued the redhead, his fingers continuing to close more tightly into that beautifully slender and pale piece of flesh. “But you never let me catch you! You never let me get the chance to make you mine! And, even though I knew you were there for longer than him, Seijuurou still dares to try to make what is to become mine his!? He dares to touch you before me! To get a hold of you before me! I found you first, so you will belong to me first!!”

 

“Le— Haa...! Wa— Ack!” tried to speak Kuroko, his hands furiously fighting against the taller male’s arms and hands to free himself from the powerful grip around his neck. “Akas— Mmnm!!”

 

In a fraction of a second, the hands around his neck departed from his flesh and were replaced by a hungry kiss that stopped him from getting back all the air that had been forcibly abstained from his lungs. A tongue quickly slipped in and mercilessly played around with every single nook and cranny of the wet insides of the bluenette’s mouth, tasting and leaving his mark on its entirety like the redhead had always wanted to do – for six long years now.

 

“Haa... Haa... Ngh... Haa...” Being forced to become nothing more than a panting mess for the second time in the same day, one moment after the other, Kuroko remained laid limply on the bed, completely stripped of any strength that he may have housed after his short sleep from passing out in the bathroom.

 

“I can’t hand you over to Seijuurou, Tetsuya,” stated the redhead, his glowing golden and red eyes becoming smeared with a thin layer of salty water and his features taking on a pained expression. “He can have this body, he can have the title of ‘Miracle’ and of Student Council President of Teikou Academy, he can have the whole world that I could care less. But I will never give you to him! I won’t hand him over the one person that I—“

 

Kuroko’s body was crushed underneath the lifeless body of the redhead out of the blue, when the taller male simply slumped on top of him without any warning whatsoever. He made absolutely no attempts of getting back up and his whole body had taken a stance so still that it resembled more that of a doll than of a living human.

 

“A... Akashi-k...?” tried to call Kuroko in between soft coughs, his throat now completely sore due to the previous overusing in the bathroom and the second strangulation attempt that he had fallen victim to since the beginning of that school year. “A-Akas—“

 

When the redhead’s body suddenly motioned upwards once again with the help of his hands and arms, hovering on top of the bluenette’s body, Kuroko shook in fear, already expecting that he would have to deal with the nerve-wracking and dangerous inner beast once again.

 

He was, however, greeted this time around with an extremely familiar and fully welcomed glaring heterochromatic eyes.

 

“I’m going to kill this bastard...” cursed Akashi, a furious glare on his eyes as he saw the panting bluenette underneath his body, his pale neck once again covered in finger-shaped purplish bruises. “I’ll kill him even if I have to stab myself one thousand times!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "FINAL EMPEROR" by Kamiya Hiroshi (our devilish angel which is more like a devil in this chapter that usual -.-')
> 
> Answers, oh answers! Where art thou!?
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	156. The connecting pass has opened up the line of the future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I have some new info regarding my release schedule, so please be sure to check out my release blog ^.^
> 
> Moving along~ I am so freaking excited about what is come after this chapter that I'm almost passing out with overdose of fangirling XD Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter *v*]

“Akashi-kun, I already said that I’m fine,” sighed Kuroko with a soft husky voice, his vocal cords uncomfortably scratching against one another in their inflamed state.

 

“I’m sorry, Tetsuya, but there’s no way I can believe in those words,” readily denied Akashi, taking the wet fabric from the bluenette’s neck as gently as the touch of a feather and sinking it once again in a small bowl with iced water, quickly taking it out once again and squeezing out any extra water so that he could put it back on the bruised skin of the smaller male. A deep frown appeared on his features as he softly circled Kuroko’s neck with the fabric, hoping that the coldness would diminish the extremely visible purplish and yellowish ‘collar’ on his neck, as well as sooth down the possibly crippling pain to such a fragile location. “Because of my own carelessness, that guy managed to slip into my consciousness once again and fully shut me out on his resting place. Shit... He’s continuously pestering me about wanting to meet with you and then when he sneaks his way out, look at what he did!?”

 

“Please calm down, Akashi-kun,” said Kuroko, his voice steady and serene. He motioned one of his hands forward and put it on top of the redhead’s upper leg, giving a firm reassuring squeeze. “This bruise will be gone by morning time. Other than repeating the same thing that he did last time, he didn’t hurt me in any other way. From what I understood, he was the one that got me all dressed up and ready after I p-passed out in the bath. And... we had a quite interesting conversation, so...”

 

“I don’t understand why you are even trying to defend him,” pointed out Akashi as he released an exasperated sigh. He dropped the wet fabric on the bed and motioned his two hands forward, gently cupping the bluenette’s bruised neck as his thumbs softly massaged the coloured skin. “He did something as cruel as trying to strangle you for the second time. How come you don’t understand that everything that he said was him trying to mess around with your head too? You call me manipulative, but compared to that guy, I’m the most honest person on Earth.”

 

“I’m the one who doesn’t understand why you are blowing everything out of proportion,” sighed Kuroko once again, now him being the one motioning his hands forward and taking a hold of the taller male’s features, which he gently cupped as he brought their bodies closer to one another and forced him to take his hands from around his neck. “From what he said, and also from my own knowledge on the matter, he’s a second personality that you have, one that is a representation of what you could not do until the moment you ‘officially’ split into two, right?”

 

“...” Remaining completely silent, Akashi simply gave a soft nod with his head, his heterochromatic eyes almost gaining a child-like glint of shyness – something that the bluenette found so foreign but still endlessly adorable in him.

 

“I think that, in a roundabout way, it’s still in effect, since I have the feeling that he has absolutely no self-restraint in anything that he does or the emotions he feels. The way he expresses them too,” continued Kuroko, a soft smile on his lips as he grew closer to the redhead, his hands still remaining on his features. “So, in a roundabout way once again, he just did what you can’t do.”

 

“I would never try to hurt you, Tetsuya!” readily denied Akashi, a completely shocked expression on his face as he took a hold of the bluenette’s wrists and pulled his hands away from him, tightly holding onto his slim limbs afterwards. “I can’t believe that you even think that I could do something like that to you!”

 

“My point exactly,” acknowledged Kuroko, his lips stretching to form the second full-fledged smile that the redhead had ever seen in the smaller male. “You would never hurt me and that’s why he needs to do it. To prove that he is he and you are you. To make a clear line of distinction between the two of you and not let me, or anyone else, confuse over who is who. He might be one thousand times worse than you in certain... unfixable aspects, but he’s pretty much like a little child who doesn’t know what to do if he can’t pass himself as the villain. His faults lay on the fact that he just does things with the wrong methods.”

 

“...”

 

“Though please do your best to keep your consciousness out at all moments,” added Kuroko, a sudden deadpan expression popping up on his face as he dropped his hands and adjusted his sitting position on the bed. “I’m not very fond of those wrong methods myself and his presence is something that continues to make me feel uncomfortable. And that last one will remain as such for now.”

 

“...”

 

 _‘For now’...,_ inwardly repeated Akashi, still extremely taken aback by every single word that was coming out of the bluenette’s mind.

 

Contrary to his expectations, and to what he was used to getting out of everyone that met his inner beast, Kuroko wasn’t rejecting him. He wasn’t belittling him. In a way, he didn’t even fear him. He was accepting him. Welcoming his split self into the reality of their lives and offering a small space for it in their futures, even if such place was closed at the moment.

 

Within his own freedom and personal choices, Kuroko had never denied Akashi of anything. If he had ever done so, it had wound up being the correct choice that saved them from troublesome matters or enabled them to shorten the distance that was previously so visible between the two of them. He couldn’t really describe it as being spoiled or it being done out of fear of what would happen if he rejected anything, but the bluenette gave him everything that he needed in just the correct amount, one that satisfied all of his being – body, mind, heart and soul – to the fullest, if not too much at certain moments.

 

Love alone could no longer describe it.

 

Akashi was now completely certain that all the suffering moments of his childhood... All the cruel decisions that he had to do in order to build a haven for ‘Users’... All that he wound up losing along the way to this precise instance...

 

All of it had happened just so that he could meet this one person.

 

 _You have to die once to understand what it truly means to live,_ softly said Akashi in the back of his mind, his hands motioning towards the bluenette and taking a hold of his features, which he caressed dearly, as if touching the most precious, but oh so fragile, object in the world. _The moment I started living once again was when I bumped into you in the corridor before the opening ceremony of this school year. I remained dead for 15 years and now I can finally breathe, feel my heart beating in my chest and love someone._

 

“Tetsuya, tomorrow, would you like to go on a date with me?” asked Akashi, a bright soft smile illuminating the entire room, even though the lights had been turned on due to the beginning of the night.

 

“...Eh?” Kuroko immediately felt the cheeks being softly cupped by the redhead burst into a myriad of shades of red, his mouth gaping wide open with that out of the blue question. “Eh? B-But... We’re returning to Teikou tomorrow, right?”

 

“I think they can make do without us for one more day,” pointed out Akashi, slowly leading his face closer to the smaller male’s. “And if they do start complaining about it, I can always just say that you were in need of rest for a while longer after the unexpected events of the pastry competition.”

 

“I’m not as weak as needing to take a full day of rest and delay our schedule because of something like that,” pouted Kuroko, his cheeks puffing out just a little bit.

 

“I know that,” reassured Akashi, chuckling softly at the bluenette’s always unwavering sense of pride. “But I still want to go on a date with you, Tetsuya. An official date, one that is going to happen without any reason of being except the fact that we want it to happen. What do you think?”

 

“I...” softly blurted out Kuroko, his eyes indecisively scrambling around through the room as he tried to make up his mind on the matter. Not that he had actually anything to think about in regards to this proposal, for he knew very well what was the answer that he would have liked to have given to the redhead without having to hesitate a single fraction of a second.

 

“Do you want to go on a date with me tomorrow, Tetsuya?” asked once again Akashi, his smile widening even further. “A date as more than the ‘Emperor Eye’ and ‘The Phantom’. As more than ‘Student Council President’ and ‘protégée’. A date as something more than whatever name you use to describe our relationship.”

 

“I do,” answered Kuroko, this time barely waiting for the redhead to finish speaking. “I want to go on a date with you, Akashi-kun.”

 

“Perfect,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a quick peck to the bluenette’s lips before he took his hands off of his rosy features. “I’ll be sure to let them know in Teikou that we will have our return delayed by a day then. For now, let’s have dinner and sleep, to get fully ready for the tomorrow that is to come.”

 

“I’m not very hungry righ—“ started mumbling Kuroko, slightly embarrassed over the taller male’s current excitement, but he came to a stop to his words when he saw him arching an eyebrow just a tiny little bit at his words. “Please let’s go have dinner. A light one, if possible.”

 

“Ahahaha. Yes, a light one is more than fine,” acknowledged Akashi once again, softly running his fingers through the bluenette’s soft locks of hair. He gave yet another peck to his cheek and got up from the bed. “Ahh... I can barely wait for tomorrow. Why is it that time goes around in such a slow fashion, I wonder...”

 

“T-That would also mean that tomorrow would go by quickly,” pointed out Kuroko, also getting up from the bed and walking behind the redhead to leave the bedroom and enter inside of the living room area of their hotel room.

 

“Rescind my words then,” quickly corrected himself Akashi, looking backwards towards the bluenette and giving a quick wink with his eye. “I want time to be as slow as it is possible, so that tomorrow can be stretched forever and ever.”

 

“Y-You say such weird things from time to time, Akashi-kun,” shyly said Kuroko, his blush becoming even more accentuated on his cheeks.

 

“All for my turtle dove,” chuckled Akashi, his heart already pounding in his chest with the wave of happiness that he already felt over the smaller male having accepted this invitation in such an easy way. He would have expected Kuroko to act more reluctant about it, but he had said yes in such a quick fashion that he had almost gotten completely flabbergasted at it.

 

Maybe, just like it had happened with him, Kuroko had reached some sort of consensus within himself with the events that had revolved around one single day. If that was such, even the more reason for tomorrow to be their first official date.

 

_I will make sure that tomorrow will become the best day of our lives, the first of many that are yet to come._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Future Line" by Ono Kenshou - our lovely bluenette that is about to have his first date with his beloved devilish angel XD
> 
> God... I feel that so much development between Kuroko and Akashi has happened in the last couple of chapters that makes me wonder why the heck it's only after over 150 chapters that it has come! I mean... I'm taking slow build to the extreme here!!! But it doesn't matter! The time for these two to enjoy themselves as come and I will greatly relish on it for as long as it lasts XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	157. The spider’s web has been finished

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here... with a late chapter...
> 
> Yesterday I got unexpectedly busy after work so I couldn't find the time to post the chapter... Really sorry about that >_< But it's here... and I know you would have preferred if it wasn't after reading it~  
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading! And for the very amusing commentary you made during the proofreading XD]

The _clank_ of a door being locked echoed through the dark room as Shirogane walked towards his desk in the centre of his official office in the building appointed as Tokkou’s Headquarters. As soon as he sat down on his cushioned chair, he softly opened the screen of his laptop and clicked on the email app installed in it, one which purpose was to supposedly prevent any hacker or spy from infiltrating the contents of his email address.

 

As he skirted through his inbox and found no traces whatsoever of Akashi Seijuurou’s email to him nor the attached recording of their phone call the day previous to the arrival of the also missing email it was more than obvious that the program had been a waste of time and funds for the Japanese government.

 

“’The Phantom’ is far more dangerous than I would have expected,” softly murmured Shirogane, leaning his body on the back rest of his chair. He closed the laptop once again and then pressed the button of the small lamp on top of the desk, partially illuminating the area around where he was sitting. “What is your opinion on the matter?”

 

“Yes, far more dangerous and entertaining,” answered Hanamiya, walking closer to the older male’s desk as he appeared from deep within the shadows of the dark room. “I honestly didn’t expect him to be aware of your little ‘side job’ in order to put an end to our existence.”

 

“If I remember correctly, it was you, Hanamiya, who introduced me to the ‘side job’,” pointed out Shirogane, his fingers leisurely entwining on top of his folded legs. “But that matters little right now. If ‘The Phantom’ continues to run around free, it will only be a matter of time until that comes into light. Especially since he’s perpetually around Akashi, from what I could understand. The country is not ready to have a new Prime Minister so I can’t afford any of this to go out in the open, to whoever it may be.”

 

“And what exactly do you plan to do about it?” mischievously asked Hanamiya, placing one of his hands of top of the desk as he leaned his upper body over in the older male’s direction. “For all we know, Kuroko might already have spilled everything that he knows about you to Akashi. He may have already told him every little thing that he knows regarding whatever it may be. If that is the case... then bye bye, Shirogane Eiji, former Prime Minister of Japan.”

 

“I think that if he had, then I would be long dead right now,” said Shirogane, a deep frown on his features as he thought about the best course of action towards this massive threat to his career and future. “’The Phantom’ needs to be eliminated at all costs, more now than before. And if he can’t be eliminated, then we need to silence him or break all of his ties to Teikou permanently.”

 

“Break? Ehehehe,” shortly laughed Hanamiya, throwing his head backwards just the slightest with his amusement. “Well now, that’s a speciality of mine, isn’t it? Turning toys into nothing more than broken pieces of trash.”

 

“Yes, I believe it is so,” acknowledged Shirogane, a knowing smirk on his lips as he departed his back from the chair and put his elbows on top of the desk, his fingers entwining once again so that he could rest his chin on the back of his hands. “That is precisely why I would like you to finish what you started, Hanamiya. Get a hold of ‘The Phantom’ for me. You don’t need to kill him, just make sure that you keep him away from Teikou and Akashi for the necessary amount of time.”

 

“And how long would that ‘necessary amount of time’ be?” asked Hanamiya, a smirk still present on his features as he tilted his head to the left just a tiny bit.

 

“Until I crush Teikou Academy and get rid of Akashi Seijuurou once and for all,” shortly answered Shirogane, a completely passive expression on his face. “Once that and the rest of the ‘Users’ in that freak circus is dealt with, we can resume with the sentencing of ‘The Phantom’. Having the public execution of ‘The Phantom’, the last ‘User’ in the world, going off in every single channel would be the perfect grave stone for the existence of you freaks, wouldn’t it?”

 

“Am I also included in this total wipe out plan of yours?” asked once again Hanamiya, his amusement nevertheless present on his expression even with the possibility of him being one more of the ‘freaks’ to be destroyed in the near future.

 

“Of course. Hanamiya Makoto is to be eliminated together with all ‘Users’,” readily answered Shirogane, a smirk starting to tug at the corner of his lips. “However, that only applies to Hanamiya Makoto. If you were to become someone else, a human, then you are free to live your life as you see more fit.”

 

“Oh~ Is that so~?” said Hanamiya, straightening his body once again. “It is indeed always a pleasure to do business with you, Shirogane. I will let you know right away that you made the right choice to ask me for this little ‘mission’ of yours, for I have time at my disposal whenever I need it~”

 

“Using Kiyoshi Teppei again?” asked Shirogane, more amusement over the matter than actual disgust over the way the black haired male played around with one of his numerous puppets. “Feel free to do so. He can be the first to be eliminated after you have ‘The Phantom’ in your hands.”

 

“Sure thing. I will take my leave now. Planning such entertaining games requires time and focus on my behalf,” declared Hanamiya, turning around on his heels and starting to motion towards the door. He came to a sudden halt, however, as soon as his hand landed on the knob. “But... be aware that you will have a storm coming towards you the moment you take Kuroko away from Akashi, Shirogane. You better find a way to kill him before he comes after me to get his precious ‘Phantom’ back. He has quite nasty ways of getting rid of his enemies, especially if it’s his other personality that we would be dealing with.”

 

“I’ll have something sorted out before you put your own plan in motion, then,” acknowledged Shirogane, a smirk full of confidence backing up his statement. “Though I’m sorry if it ends up being a fruitless attempt. We all know how hard it is to get rid of you pests.”

 

“Well, I think I can cope with that,” mischievously said Hanamiya, giving a quick jerk to his wrist and opening the door. “Maybe I’ll be the one killing the ‘Emperor Eye’~ Or maybe I’ll put his beloved ‘Phantom’ ending his misery personally~ Whatever would make this game more interesting, ahahahaha!”

 

As soon as the door was closed behind himself, Hanamiya clicked his fingers and the spider web, visible to his eyes only, disappeared from around him.

 

“I wonder how long it will take for Shirogane to understand that he is exactly in the same position as Kiyoshi~”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "STEAL YOUR BREATH" by Fukuyama Jun - our Hanamiya Makoto who I still fantasise about killing in gruesome ways...
> 
> Damn it... Our two lovebirds really can't have a break from evil ploys, can they? *sigh* Another countdown is here... I just hope that it goes as well as the events in Sumida Triphony Ha- *takes a peek at the notebook of wonders* Oh fuck my life... TTvTT
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	158. What time is it? Make an escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san!
> 
> I'm really, really sorry that I didn't release this chapter yesterday, but... To be honest, I didn't really have a nice day and... Certain circumstances prevented me from releasing the chapter -.-' But it's here now!  
> So just enjoy the AkaKuro to your hearts content XD
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter ^.^]

Waking up to find Kuroko tightly pressed against his body, sleeping with an angelical serenity while grabbing into his clothes was possibly the best part of Akashi’s daily routine since they had arrived to Sumida three days ago and he had great pride in the fact that he was the only person in the world that could be present to witness such. He also greatly relished in the fact that no other person except him would ever be able to pull such a feat.

 

“Good morning, my turtle dove,” softly whispered Akashi as he propelled his head up from the pillow and delivered a gentle kiss on the crown of the bluenette’s head, feeling the spaced and rhythmic inflate and deflate of his lungs against his chest.

 

The redhead motioned his hand sideways, his eyes still locked in the beautiful angel sleeping more on top of him than on the bed and took a hold of his cell phone, bringing it over to in front of his face. It was still turned off, like he had made it become on their way back from Sumida Triphony Hall to their hotel room.

 

“...” Akashi knew that he would have to eventually turn it on and have his restful days with the bluenette terminated by the nagging of his companions and the heavy duties as the Student Council President of Teikou Academy, more so now that the institution was at odd ends with the Japanese government and, possibly, with the Japanese nation on the whole. He would like to allow this day to continue as such, but he still had to compromise with his own functions.

 

Quickly fiddling with his cell phone, the redhead turned it on once again, readily being greeted with a noisy ringing of the notice of dozens of missed calls and probably hundreds of messages left in his inbox, the way it had been filled to the brim and was complaining about lack of space for further new ones.

 

Akashi almost groaned at it, but remained silent as one of his arms wrapped around the bluenette’s waist and his free hand began the lengthy mission of opening every message and read their contents, most of which were texts from several ‘Users’ affiliated with Teikou questioning him over their current circumstances and where the heck the two of them were, quoting one of Nijimura’s messages.

 

When the electronic device started flashing a bright light and his ringtone filled the previously silent master bedroom, Akashi instinctively pressed the answer button, fearing that the noise would wake up the bluenette.

 

 _“Just where the fuck are you and why aren’t you back to Teikou already, Akashi!?”_ immediately roared Nijimura, not even allowing a single second for the redhead to speak. _“You dare to turn off your cell phone the moment you two get out of inside of Sumida Triphony Hall and just play dead up until now, huh? Do you have any idea of how messy things are right now? HUH!?”_

 

“Good morning to you too, Shuuzou,” sighed Akashi in a hushed voice, the bluenette having shifted his body just the slightest against him.

 

 _“Leave the greetings for another time!”_ admonished Nijimura right away, releasing a long, tired and exasperated sigh afterwards. _“Where are you? I know that you must have Kuroko with you, since I was told that you two left that place together. And why the heck did you turn off your cell phone right away? We are all extremely worried with all this shit, especially because we received a phone call from our precious and wonderful Prime Minister over what succeeded in Sumida Triphony Hall.”_

 

“What did Shirogane Eiji say?” asked Akashi right away, a deep frown on his features as the arm around the smaller male’s body tightened its hold on him.

 

 _“He pretty much gave us an ultimatum,”_ explained Nijimura, his voice tense with worry. _“Or we surrender Kuroko’s guard to the Japanese government or they will report in the social media that Teikou Academy has started rebelling and has joined forces with ‘The Phantom’ to plan out a total wipe out of humans from Japan. And that if we decided to follow with the second option, we could very well end up being greeted by a full army of soldiers in our doorstep without any further notice where we would be the ones being totally wiped out.”_

 

“Why is it that humans grow to become this stupid when panicking, I wonder...?” sighed Akashi, his head shaking just the slightest in disagreement over the older male’s actions and threats. “If he truly wants to scare us, there would be better ways than to say that he will wipe us out. No matter the size of the army that he sends to Teikou, I doubt that they would be able to put a foot inside of our territory if Atsushi is on the front lines, with Shintarou, Daiki and Ryouta providing the necessary attacking force to disable the enemy. He would be the one that ends up being wiped out.”

 

 _“Yes, we all know that but he doesn’t seem to have noticed that we have always had the upper hand in terms of combat,”_ pointed out Nijimura. _“We apparently even have the upper hand when it comes to word fights, the way you two managed to come out of there together.”_

 

“It seems that Tetsuya and I actually make a good team when it comes to defying the Japanese government,” chuckled Akashi, his hand lifting from the smaller male’s waist to softly run his fingers through his silky blue locks of hair. “Give us a couple more of weeks and we will become the emperor and empress of Japan, after we wipe out the entire human population of this country.”

 

 _“Yeah, yeah. It’s good to know that you two are getting along just fine, to the point where you are brought to fantasy world in your delusions and try to give sorry excuses of a joke,”_ sarcastically mumbled Nijimura, getting slightly irked at the shameless boasting of the redhead. _“Anyway, at what time are you scheduled to arrive to Teikou?”_

 

“I believe it would be somewhere around lunch time tomorrow,” answered Akashi, lowering the tone of his voice just a couple of decibels when the bluenette started moving around a little bit once again – it would probably be a matter of time until he fully woke up, from the looks of it.

 

 _“What? Tomorrow?”_ repeated Nijimura, his voice moulded with incredibility. _“I thought you two were going to return today!”_

 

“There was a small change of plans, due to Tetsuya’s and my mutual agreement in going on a date,” leisurely explained Akashi, a soft smile popping up on his lips as he saw the bluenette stretching his body in a slow and fastidious way. “We’ll be back tomorrow without fail, though. For as much as I would like to continue here.”

 

 _“This is not the right time for you two to be playing around on your own and enjoy a little romantic escapade!”_ admonished Nijimura, a vein apparently popping out on his forehead by the angry tone of his voice. _“There could be a war between ‘Users’ and humans,  between Teikou and Japan and you two are two of the most fundamental pieces to prevent that! Get your ass back here before I go get you two and drag you back by the hair!”_

 

“We’ll be back tomorrow, Shuuzou,” repeated Akashi once again, lovingly observing as the bluenette rubbed his sleepy teal eyes with the back of his hand and shifted his body around so that he could look over in his direction. “We’ll return to the real world tomorrow so just let us stay in fantasy world for one more day. See you tomorrow, then.”

 

_“Wait, Akashi! I just said that—“_

 

Pressing the end call button, the redhead let the cell phone fall off of his hand into the floor as he rolled his body around on the mattress, playfully wrapping himself around the bluenette. After a quick and sweet kiss, Akashi unglued himself from the smaller male just the slightest, a bright smile on his lips. “Good morning, Tetsuya.”

 

“Yes, good morning, Akashi-kun,” greeted back Kuroko, his lips fully stretched out to smile at the redhead as they relished in the warmth of their little cocoon made of entwined bodies and blankets and the ever present prickling sensation in their skins.

 

“Ready to have breakfast and go out?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Punky Funky Love" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> And so it starts XD AkaKuro official date no. 1 - commence!!! Please be prepared, because one way or another... there will be casualties on our side XD Too much sugar, too much AkaKuro, too much EVERYTHING~
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	159. I don’t mind if you are all awkward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello once again, minna-san! The true chapter of today is here~
> 
> Once again, please try not to die from sugar rushes or anything along those lines XD  
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter]

“Are you all set?” asked Akashi, his hand placed on top of the knob of the entrance door of their hotel room. A smile had remained perpetually plastered on his lips from the moment the bluenette had woke up and they exchanged their morning greetings with one another, lazing around in their little cocoon of warmth for a couple more minutes before they fully got up and started getting dressed to go out.

 

“Yes, I am,” acknowledged Kuroko, a soft smile also present on his features as he stopped beside of the redhead, both of them right in front of the door. When he saw the taller male nodding his head also in acknowledgment and start opening the door, a small hesitation started creeping up on the back of his head. “Ah...! Um... D-Do you think it’s safe, Akashi-kun? I mean, after what happened yesterday...”

 

“The safest place you can ever be is where I am, Tetsuya,” reassured Akashi, delivering a soft kiss to the bluenette’s forehead as he parted the door even further. “And I told you that I’m not going anywhere nor leave you by yourself, didn’t I? So if they want to dare to try to do something today, or any other day for that matter, they can expect to have to face my rage head on.”

 

“That’s... weirdly comforting to hear. In a way...” pointed out Kuroko, tilting his head slightly as he thought about those words more deeply.

 

“Oh? Am I finally starting to dye you in my colours, Tetsuya?” teasingly asked Akashi, making way for the bluenette to motion outside of their room to the corridor that leads to the elevator of that floor.

 

“Maybe,” answered Kuroko with a soft mischievous smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. He passed by the redhead and walked into the corridor, accompanied by Akashi after he apparently managed to break out of whatever made him stand completely paralyzed by the door. “Are we going to have breakfast in the hotel?”

 

“No, I was thinking of going to a certain place to eat breakfast,” answered Akashi, his cheekbones unusually smeared with a soft shade of pink. “So we are going there right now by train and then walk to our first date spot.”

 

“Uh... Your plans would have sounded more appealing to me if you hadn’t added ‘train’ to the sentence...” mumbled Kuroko, his shoulders slumping down just the slightest at the realization that this time around, there wouldn’t be a private car ready for the two of them only – they would have to travel alongside all the other occupants of the train.

 

“I would actually tell you to use your ability and nullify your presence if that makes you feel better and calmer, but... I don’t want to lose the chance of seeing all of you during the whole day,” confessed Akashi, motioning his hand sideways and enlacing his fingers with the bluenette’s. “I don’t want to miss a single thing about today. So, use me as your ‘security blanket’ for the time being. Hold my hand, grab into my clothes, do whatever you want for as long as I can see you doing it. I mean, you do look quite cute when trembling around as you try to hide on my clothes.”

 

“I-I already said that I wouldn’t do that again...” mumbled Kuroko once again, a soft blush on his cheek as he was reminded of how pathetically he had acted on their way to the bookstore. “Ah... That reminds me... You said that there was a ‘first date spot’. Does that mean that you...”

 

“Yes, I prepared a full program for today for the two of us,” acknowledged Akashi, pressing the button to call the elevator to that floor. “But I’m always open to suggestion on your behalf. It’s supposed to be a day for the two of us to enjoy, not only me, after all.”

 

“I’m not very knowledgeable about Sumida with the exception of Tokyo Skytree and Yokoamicho Park,” said Kuroko, now regretting just a little bit the fact that he had cut himself off of human society enough to not have anything more than a basic knowledge of the country called Japan when it came to... well, normal things.

 

“Such a coincidence, then,” teasingly said Akashi, at the same time as soft _ding_ announced the arrival of the elevator and the opening of the doors. “Those are exactly our first two stops. I was also planning on going to visit Ryogoku Fireworks Museum and have dinner at Chanko Tomoegata. Luckily for you, it will be only the two of us in those two latter ones since they are supposedly closed on Mondays.”

 

“Eh? Then how...?” asked Kuroko, his head tilted as he curiously looked over at the redhead at the same time as both of them entered inside of the elevator and the taller male pressed the button to the ground floor.

 

“Never underestimate the power of an Akashi, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, a mischievous smirk on his lips as he leisurely settled the side of his body against the bluenette’s. “I may be the very last one but there’s a reason as to why it only took me less than two years to build Teikou Academy. And it has got absolutely nothing to do with the fact that I’m a ‘User’ or that my family was one of the wealthiest in the Kansai region.”

 

Chuckling softly at another of the so frequent cheeky demonstrations of his influence and power, Kuroko reattributed their proximity by leaning the side of his head of the redhead’s shoulder, his eyes closing throughout the short elevator travel. “I would never dare to underestimate you, Akashi-kun.”

 

The moment a second _ding_ echoed through the insides of the elevator and the doors started to slide open, Akashi softly pressed his lips on the smaller male’s, kissing him gently and slowly... until a sharp pain met with his foot.

 

“Ow!” groaned Akashi, his body flinching at the pain and forcing him to straighten himself once again. When he was about to question the bluenette as to why he had once again strongly stomped on his foot, he found himself at a sudden loss of words.

 

“D-Don’t kiss me when p-people are around,” mumbled Kuroko, his features covered in a myriad of shades of red as he covered his mouth with the back of his lips, his eyes switching between the redhead and the open elevator’s open door, where a couple was standing completely frozen, flabbergasted to the core over having just witness two males shamelessly flaunting the same type of relationship that the two of them had even though they were of the same gender.

 

“I’ll kiss you when no one is watching or around, then,” playfully whispered Akashi in the bluenette’s ear, pulling him outside of the elevator by their entwined hands. He gave a quick sideways glance to the couple and bowed his head just the slightest, a knowing smirk on his features. “Have a nice day. We’ll be sure to enjoy ours plenty.”

 

“H-Have a nice day,” answered back the couple, the female’s face burning to a crisp when they saw the redhead leisurely slip his hand around the smaller male’s hips and walk away with him towards the lobby of the hotel.

 

“A-Akashi-kun, y-you’re the w-worst,” stutteringly said Kuroko, his voice slightly muffled by the hands tightly covering his face as he tried to not let his brain enter into overload mode due to his current embarrassment. “How could you... d-do and s-say something like that to complete s-strangers...?”

 

“Isn’t there a saying that goes about you not having to mind what other people think of you when you are outside of the area where you live?” pointed out Akashi, chuckling softly as he brought the smaller male’s body closer to his own as they stepped outside of the hotel and into the street packed with people. “That suits us just fine right now, then. Sumida isn’t where Teikou is. And in our home, Teikou Academy, trivialities such as homosexual relationships don’t really matter to anyone. Why should it matter, actually? We were already robbed of a lot of things in the past, so now we at least want to choose who we want to love. Whether that person might be a female or a male.”

 

“I-It does matter because you are the face of Teikou. Everyone knows who Akashi Seijuurou is,” pointed out Kuroko, parting the fingers covering his eyes just a small gap so that he could see where he was going. “What if n-nasty rumours start spreading about you?”

 

“I’m a ‘User’, Tetsuya, there’s nothing that could make my public image worse than that,” sighed Akashi, rolling his eyes around at the bluenette’s words. Though he really liked the fact that he was saying all of those things out of concern towards him, it was still vexing the thought that Kuroko saw that, if they were to have a relationship, it was something meant to not show to the world due to his high position and heavy responsibilities within Teikou. He slowed down his pace while slacking his hold on the smaller male’s waist, skirting around his body so that he could stand right in front of Kuroko and remove the hands covering his face. “And why would I care about such things in the first place? Whether I’m gay or not, that’s my business. It has nothing to do with anyone else except me and the person who I choose to be my life partner.”

 

“A-Are you, though...?” ended up blurting out Kuroko, his face immediately exploding into a glorious blush as the question he had just made was fully processed inside of his brain. “N-Nev—“

 

“Do I have actual reasons to be?” mischievously asked Akashi, leaning his upper body forward and stopping his face half an inch away from the bluenette’s, his red and golden eyes staring deep into the teal ones of the smaller male. “I don’t understand why you are asking me something like that when you are fully aware of the meaning of the endearment I use on you every time you call me weird, Tetsuya.”

 

After a soft brush of his lips against the bluenette’s, Akashi took a new hold of his hand and they resumed with their walk towards the train station.

 

“If you are still stubborn enough to continue to deny the obvious, Tetsuya, then I will continue to push forward until you have no other choice than to finally acknowledge it,” declared Akashi, softly pulling the beet red bluenette through the means of their entwined hands. “I’ll free you of your barbed wire and then finally tell you the words that I’ve been dying to say out loud. Not that you aren’t aware of them already.”

 

 _Please stop, Akashi-kun. I’m already so happy right now that my heart hurts,_ inwardly begged Kuroko, his free hand squeezing at his upper clothes as he let himself be led by the redhead. _Don’t make it explode by saying the words that I’m not meant to hear ever again in my life._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "FANTASTIC TUNE" by Ono Kenshou - our so in love bluenette~
> 
> JUST LET HIM DO IT, KUROKO!!! Just let Akashi freaking say those words to you once and for all >_< Please, please, please!!!! Everyone (including me) is dying to see that moment arrive!!!
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi  
> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	160. In these commonplace days that gave me no answers, I came across it by chance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> You know, since I apparently can pass off as a middle school student when buying a DVD with a above-15-years-old restriction (even if I'm 20...), I'm starting to consider going out on Halloween for a session of trick or treat around my neighbourhood~ I'm sure I would get loads of sweets before anyone discovered my true age, hehehe *evil smirk*
> 
> But better than that... My limited edition of Kuroko no Basket Last Game DVD has finally arrived XD I had to pay heavy customs for it but fuck that when I get to see Bokushi "dying" and our bromancing Kagami and Kuroko parting ways!!! I can just... do double shifts every single day of a full month without days off if that's what it takes to make up for it! (okay, I'm really blowing this out of proportion there but you should know what I mean if you have seen the movie!!!!)
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

“So... The place where you want to have breakfast is... Mochicream?” asked Kuroko, his face having taken a completely deadpan semblance as he tried to control the gigantic urge to run towards the stall and start binge buying everything displayed there, spending the rest of the day tasting the dozens of different flavours and treats that the franchise had. Gulping down hard such wonderful fantasy, the bluenette took a sideways glance towards the redhead, who simply looked over at the store with curious eyes. “What happened to your ever present discourse over my unhealthy high doses of sugar on a daily basis?”

 

“I was simply curious about one of their products since I’ve heard quite a lot of students in Teikou mentioning them,” answered Akashi, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders and both of them resuming approaching the store. “Besides, today it’s a date. Healthy meals can be postponed until we return tomorrow. I want to see your adorable expressions as you eat sweets.”

 

“I thought you had already seen plenty of ‘a-adorable expressions’ during the pastry competition,” pointed out Kuroko, a soft shade of pink smearing his cheekbones as he switched his gaze between the store exuding a mouth-watering scent and the taller male. “I-It’s not that I’m all that refusing to have breakfast in Mochicream but... Why? You are not even that fond of sweets in the first place, as I ended up discovering throughout this weekend, so why did you decide to come here?”

 

“Yes, I’m not all that fond of sweets, like you said, but I’m extremely fond of seeing you eating them, Tetsuya,” confessed Akashi, smiling leisurely to the bluenette. “So when I heard some students talking about mochi filled with several flavours of ice cream, I couldn’t help but start wondering what kind of expression you would make if you were to taste them. When I discovered that Sumida had one of the stores near Tokyo Sky Tree, I immediately included a visit to it before we visited the tower.”

 

“Akashi-kun, to be as honest as possible with you, please stop spoiling yourself through the means of spoiling me,” deadpanned Kuroko, his teal eyes growing as cold as ice. He wasn’t truly feeling angry or even inconvenienced by the redhead’s actions but it had somehow irked him the fact that he was conveniently using his uncontrollable adoration of sugary treats in his favour, all so that he could relish on the sight.

 

“Does that mean that you don’t want to try them? Would you prefer to skip our visit to Mochicream and simply go straight to Tokyo Sky Tree?” asked Akashi, tilting his head slightly as he came to a sudden halt, only a couple of meters away from the entrance of the store. When he saw the bluenette’s expression immediately morph from expressionless to one of complete misfortune and regret over what he had just said, he couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight. “I was just kidding, Tetsuya. Let’s quickly have breakfast and maybe buy a couple of them for those waiting for our return in Teikou. I’m sure they will forgive us if we bring back some ‘offerings’ to appease their anger.”

 

“O-Okay,” acknowledged Kuroko, fearing that if he was to complain even just a tiny bit more – as he would like to do – then they would really turn around and start their visit to the tower. That was something that he would dearly like to avoid, as the stomach silently rumbling around inside of his body came to prove. “But we won’t be able to buy the ice cream-filled mochi for them. It would melt before we even returned to the hotel.”

 

“Hm... That’s true. We can always buy them products that don’t melt and have a considerable small size, since we will have to carry them around with us for the whole day,” announced Akashi, his eyes sideways glancing towards the colourful posters on the walls of the store, advertising the products that they were currently displaying. “Let’s do the following. First let’s eat our own breakfast from the Mochicream Ice section and then we can go through the other sweets to choose the best options to take back to Teikou.”

 

“That sounds like a nice plan,” acknowledged Kuroko, giving a soft nod with his head. As soon as the two of them fully stepped inside of the store, the bluenette was forced to gulp down hard once again or he feared that he would simply start drooling as his eyes and nose where blasted at full strength with the small sweets. “Actually, that sounds like the only possible plan because I don’t think it would be an ‘adorable sight’ otherwise.”

 

“Is that so?” softly chuckled Akashi, his hand brushing against the bluenette’s and his little finger taking a hold of the smaller male’s one, both of them entwining on one another as they stopped in front of the display on the counter. “Which one do you want to give a try first?”

 

“My answer would be ‘all’ but I don’t think that would be the most correct thing to say,” honestly confessed Kuroko, his eyes already feasting on the delicious sweets right in front of them. “But it’s not like we can take them with us and eat them throughout the day either... So I’m feeling quite torn right now.”

 

“Yes, you aren’t very fond of making choices, isn’t that right?” pointed out Akashi, his eyes also intently gazing into the display. “And there’s over 30 different flavours on the ice cream-filled franchise too... My condolence, Tetsuya.”

 

“Uhh... You’re evil...” groaned Kuroko, his shoulders slumping down just the slightest at hearing the redhead’s words. “H-Have you decided on what you will have?”

 

“I’ll have the exact same as you,” shortly answered Akashi, a mischievous smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

 

“Yes, truly evil...” mumbled Kuroko, returning his gaze to the display. As he carefully analyzed what was begging to be eaten by him and what he was pretty much inwardly begging to eat too, a small thought popped up in his brain all of a sudden. “Akashi-kun, why don’t you pick five flavours and I pick another five flavours?”

 

“But I want to eat the same thing as you to fully understand, or at least try to understand, what makes you do such cute expressions,” said Akashi, a small pout appearing on his features. “If I’m to eat different flavours from you, then I’d rather not eat them at all.”

 

“I never said you wouldn’t get to try the same flavours as me,” interrupted Kuroko, as he had a feeling that the redhead would shortly begin a lengthy discourse over the reasons as to why he wanted to eat the same thing as him – one that would be extremely embarrassing to him since their presence in the store was already catching plenty of attention towards the few customers there and the employees serving them. Surely two high school students weren’t supposed to be found inside of a store during a Monday morning. “If we share the mochi, we will get to try ten different flavours. That means we will have tasted one third of the ice cream-filled franchise and could bring other sweets to Teikou, not only for ourselves but for Kagami-kun, Aomine-kun and the rest.”

 

“Somehow it really bothers me that you have immediately included Kagami Taiga in that list,” grumbled Akashi, a deep frown appearing on his features. “What makes you think that I would bring anything to him other than an early grave if he gets _unnecessarily_ close to you? In the first place, bringing a treat to him would mean that we would have to go out of our way to meet him. Whether he is your classmate or not, I would be extremely thankful if any interaction other than you sitting behind him weren’t to happen, whether I’m there to see it or not. The fact that you said Daiki’s name right after Kagami Taiga’s also displeases me immensely. I’m already starting to regret the fact that I was trying to be kind and considerate towards others and actually bring them a little gift from our trip to Sumi—“

 

“Sharing the mochi with me would be equivalent to an indirect k-kiss, since they don’t offer any tableware in this store...” shyly interrupted Kuroko, his words making his own face explode into a myriad of shades of red.

 

“I’m actually starting to consider buying the whole store,” readily corrected himself Akashi, softly clearing his throat as he returned his attention to the sweets on the display, now feeling much more dedicated towards the choice that he had been apparently forced to make. “We should also give the gifts for everyone in Teikou a try too before we take them with u—“

 

“Don’t push it,” interrupted Kuroko once again, sending a quick sideways glare at the redhead as his features remained colourfully painted in dark red. He lowered his gaze back the display, feeling his heart thundering in his chest at the thought that the words he had just said where to become true in a matter of minutes – and by his suggestion, to make it even more embarrassing. “L-Let’s hurry up and decide which will be the flavours. I’m sure that if we take a lot of time, then there will be a lot of visitors inside of Tokyo Sky Tree by the time we get there.”

 

“Yes, that’s true,” acknowledged Akashi with a soft nod of his head. “But right now, more than moving to the tower, I’m more keen on enjoying ten or more indirect kisses from you.”

 

“I told you to not push it, Akashi-kun,” grudgingly repeated Kuroko, scrunching his nose just the slightest at the taller male’s teasing. He sighed and decided to drop that side of the conversation there, moving forward to the actual objective of the indirect kisses. “I think I will choose vanilla, obviously, strawberry cheesecake, sweet potato, chocolate cookie & marshmallow and... hm... blueberry.”

 

“Sweet potato?” repeated Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched as he looked over to the bluenette with a certain suspicion on his features.

 

“It might be unexpectedly good,” pointed out Kuroko, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders. “Sometimes crazy flavours have a type of taste to them completely different of what the name makes us think of in our heads. I have tried mini purple sweet potato KitKat before and it was unexpectedly good.”

 

“If you say so...” acknowledged Akashi, still feeling slightly reluctant towards that mochi in particular. “Then I will pick the tiramisu, mango, lemon... and the ohagi vanilla and choco-mint because of my turtle dove.”

 

“I understand the reference to the ohagi vanilla one, but the choco-mint?” inquired Kuroko, tilting his head slightly as he looked over to the redhead with a certain curiosity – good thing that such a question popped up in his brain or he would have ignited once again in flames at the endearment rolling out of Akashi’s tongue one more time.

 

“The colour that it has is baby blue, very close to the colour of your hair and eyes,” explained Akashi, his soft smile slowly morphing into a mischievous smirk. “I guess I really will end up eating you whole during our stay in Sumida.”

 

“I guess I will end up doing the same, since we will have a mixture of both strawberry cheesecake and lemon,” deadpanned Kuroko, exceeding his limits on the matter to try to conceal the increasing beating of his heart. Definitely... Yes, Akashi would definitely kill him throughout the course of this date...

 

“I take it that I’m the strawberry cheesecake and _he_ is the lemon,” chuckled Akashi, his face growing steadily closer to the bluenette’s ear. “I wonder which one of those you will end up liking better in the end.”

 

“...!” Feeling his breath getting caught up in his throat at the mischievous purrs against his ear, Kuroko readily covered it with one of his hands, taking a step sideways to put some distance between him and the taller male. “I-I think that vanilla will remain my favourite.”

 

“Don’t count your chickens before they hatch, Tetsuya,” added Akashi, giving a quick ruffle to the bluenette’s blue locks of hair before he returned his eyes to the display and then to the sales assistance behind the counter. “Excuse me. We would like to make our first order.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter comes from the lyrics of "GLITTER DAYS" by Fo'xTails.
> 
> Sweeter than mochicream ice is without a doubt these leisure moments between our lovebirds XD God, we seriously will need to take care of our sugar levels during their date, don't we?
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi  
> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	161. I’m telling you it’s still too early to give up, the one who decides this is you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I'M SO VERY SORRY!!! This chapter was supposed to be released yesterday but... I got busy... with stuff and more stuff... Mainly with calculating a way of not going broke -.-'
> 
> But it's here, nevertheless! So enjoy one more injection of sugar (in more than one way~)
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter ^^]

His face completely beet red as he took a small bite of the blueberry-flavoured Mochicream Ice, Kuroko greatly relished in the sweet and fluffy mochi wrap filled with cold and milky blueberry ice cream. After he had finished slowly munching on the heavenly delicacy, he motioned his hand towards Akashi, bringing the leftover half closer to his mouth.

 

“H-Here...” shyly mumbled Kuroko, his eyes not fully looking over to the redhead due to the deep rooted embarrassment he felt over the continuous exchange that had been going around the both of them, leisurely sat down in a more secluded bench near Mochicream store.

 

“Thank you for the meal,” teasingly said Akashi, giving a quick jerk with his head and readily putting the half blueberry mochi on his mouth, happily chewing on the cold treat and then licking his lips to clean them from the dusty traces that the mochi wrap had left on them. “Which one do you want to try next? Well, we actually no longer have a lot to choose from.”

 

“A-Any is fine,” stutteringly answered Kuroko, rubbing his clammy hands on his pants due to the nervousness he was feeling at the moment. Akashi had, for some sort of twisted ploy of fate, actually managed to convince him to directly handfeed him the mochi filled with ice cream and they had done so for close to twenty minutes now, having wolfed down more than half of the sweets they had bought. “Y-You know that you can also c-chose, right?”

 

“That’s true,” acknowledged Akashi, smiling softly to the bluenette. He had simply given up on the right of free choice due to how adorable the bluenette looked when cornered against a wall, his plain nervousness showing on how his teal eyes intently scavenged the treats inside of the thin cardboard box every time he was forced to pick which would be the next tasting. If he voiced those inner thoughts out loud, though, he could pretty much guess that his stomach would be greeted with another punch. “I’ll choose one this time, then. I know you are saving the vanilla-flavoured one for last so... Hm... Why don’t we eat me this time around?”

 

“---!” A voiceless babble furiously started to exit Kuroko’s throat, his mouth opening and closing like that of a golden fish as his whole face erupted in fire, burning at higher temperatures than freshly formed magma.

 

“And by me, I meant the strawberry cheesecake mochicream,” explained further Akashi, chuckling softly as he found himself unable to keep his amusement fully locked inside of himself. “But you are always more than welcome to take a bite, Tetsuya.”

 

“Perve— Mmph!” started admonishing Kuroko, but his voice was swiftly bottled up when the redhead motioned his hand forward and softly stuffed the reddish ice cream-filled mochi in his mouth. All of the words he was about to throw at Akashi fully evaporated from his mouth as he started munching the sweet, the cold ice cream pleasuring as it motioned down his throat. “T-This is... too good to be real.”

 

“Why thank you,” chuckled Akashi, cleaning the corner of the bluenette’s lips with his thumb.

 

“I’m talking about the mochi, not you,” deadpanned Kuroko before he took another small bite to the treat, one done with extreme carefulness so that he wouldn’t eat more than the half meant for him. As he chewed on the sweet milky filling and the soft external wrap, a soft smile started forming on his lips, his gaze lowered just the slightest. “But well... I like this one better than the lemon one...”

 

“Tetsuya...” painfully groaned Akashi, motioning one of his hands up to push his red locks of hair backwards. “Don’t say something like that in a public place... I won’t know what to do with myself.”

 

“Eh? I’m simply expressing my opinion on the Mochicream Ice,” pointed out Kuroko, a small hint of a smirk on his lips. Surely he could also tease the redhead just a little bit, seeing as he was perpetually the target of immeasurable teasing every single day they spent together.

 

 _I’m starting to believe that you are just as ‘evil’ as I am, though in a completely different way,_ inwardly mumbled Akashi, leading his face closer to the bluenette’s hand and quickly eating the rest of the mochi. He was starting to reach a pitiful level, if he was already harbouring jealousy towards a small round ball of mochi filled with ice cream.

 

Picking up the leaflet they had taken from the counter of MochiCream’s store, Akashi softly opened the same 3-pages paper and pushed his body closer to the bluenette, so that the both of them could read its contents. “Seeing as we are almost done with our breakfast, shall we start sorting out what exactly we should bring with us to Teikou?”

 

“Okay,” acknowledged Kuroko with a nod of his head, his eyes lowering to the leaflet as he also settled his body closer to the redhead, their distance from one another so short that their clothes lightly rustled against one another.

 

“Let’s do it by sections. First those living in Fuyu with us and their correspondent counterparts, moving then to the Student Council,” started Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes quickly skirting through the contents of the leaflet.

 

“Please don’t try to make me forget about Kagami-kun, Akashi-kun,” added Kuroko, his teal eyes going through the exact same motions as the taller male’s. “Just because you don’t like him, it doesn’t mean that I can’t include him on the list of people that I want to bring a little something with me to.”

 

“Tsk!” Clicking his tongue in frustration at the same time as he scrunched his nose just a tiny bit, Akashi ended up conceding to the smaller male’s words. “Fine, we can also bring something for Kagami Taiga... Just this one time, though! And you will give it to him on school grounds, right in front of my eyes.”

 

“Yes, yes,” acknowledged Kuroko, rolling his eyes around just the slightest. After having heaved a soft sigh, he threw a quick glance to the redhead and then settled his eyes back on the paper. “Then, first will be Kise-kun and... Kasamatsu-san, if I’m not mistaken, Midorima-kun and Takao-kun, Aomine-kun, Murasakibara-kun and... um... Himuro-san?”

 

“Correct,” acknowledged Akashi, not even bothering to give a closer thought over why exactly the bluenette was so well acquainted with the ‘Miracles’ and those who they associated themselves with in their personal lives – he had proved to even be knowledgeable about some sort of secret dealings of Shirogane Eiji, the Prime-Minister of Japan, so he figured that knowing about those inside of Teikou would pose as no big chore to the bluenette. “But it would be useless to bring anything to Tatsuya since he can’t exactly eat anything at the moment.”

 

“Okay?” answered Kuroko, more in the form of a question than of a straight acknowledgment. What exactly did Akashi mean by not be able to eat anything at the moment?

 

“Ryouta isn’t exactly particular about the sweets that he eats so maybe we should go along with Yukio’s tastes, who isn’t all that fond of sweets,” continued Akashi, pointing at one of the less sweet treats that the store sold. “What about this pack of daifuku, one of Shiomame and the other of Yomogi?”

 

“Yes, I believe it would be a good choice,” acknowledged Kuroko, giving a quick nod with his head. “I think Kise-kun will be happy to know he will get to share a treat with Kasamatsu-san, even with a different flavour.”

 

“My thoughts exactly,” said Akashi, giving a quick smile at the bluenette before settling his eyes back on the leaflet. “Shintarou is extremely fond of red beans and Kazunari enjoys more spicy dishes so... Hmm...”

 

“Why not this package of green tea mochi and azuki cream mochi?” suggested Kuroko, pointing with his finger at the photo that displayed that treat. “It’s not exactly a spicy flavour, but green tea doesn’t have the same type of sweet flavour as others when it comes to sweets. It’s more... ah, adult like, maybe?”

 

“What exactly is an ‘adult like’ flavour in the first place?” shortly laughed Akashi, softly bumping his shoulder into the bluenette’s, whose expression had morphed into a slight pout. “It works just fine, though. We’ll bring them this one, then. For Daiki, who doesn’t actually like sweets in the least... What would you recommend?”

 

“Are you seriously asking that to someone who can be called a sugar-addict?” Kuroko forced himself to deadpan, his hands unconsciously closing into tight fists. If Akashi was trying to pull one more of his tests on him, then he would take it head on, not letting anything slip. He cleared his throat softly and his hands returned to their previous relaxed position. “Why not the choco-orange and choco-nuts mochi combo? He could share it with Kagami-kun.”

 

“Hm... That’s actually a quite good idea,” acknowledged Akashi, lifting his eyes from the leaflet and staring away into the distance, a somewhat deadly glint on his mismatched eyes. “I wonder if I could slip inside some sort of poisonous substance while leaving the package seemingly closed...”

 

“Please stop trying to kill people so early in the morning, Akashi-kun,” admonished Kuroko with a completely expressionless demeanour on his features once again. He sighed. “When exactly will you stop being so antagonistic towards the both of them? They haven’t done anything wrong to you, have they?”

 

“As far as I know they haven’t,” answered Akashi, turning his gaze towards the bluenette and intently locking his eyes on the teal ones. “The problem lies on the things that I _don’t_ know of. Such as what happened inside of Kagami Taiga’s apartment when you went to have dinner there, but mostly other older events.”

 

“...I don’t know what exactly you think of said ‘older events’, but I believe you have the wrong idea about them...” softly mumbled Kuroko, a thin, but quite pained, smile on his lips.

 

“Tetsu—“

 

“What about Murasakibara-kun?” interrupted Kuroko, his facial expression back to the same calm demeanour as always. He pointed to the leaflet and then took a glance to the redhead. “Since he’s as much of a sugar-addict as me, I think that Mochido, the mochi donuts, would be the perfect treat to him. I’m not sure if he has tried them before, but it’s a quite interesting innovation in terms of sweets and snacks.”

 

“Let’s bring him the shortcake flavoured Mochido, then...” acknowledged Akashi, a small frown on his brows as he decided to drop that topic of conversation for the hundredth time – Kuroko sure seemed extremely reluctant to talk about that one subject in particular. He didn’t know which was the true reason for such continuous escapist behaviour towards it, however.

 

What was Kuroko trying to protect by running away from the conversation? Was it himself, for that discussion would bring to light some sort of deep, dark secrete he had been keeping silent about? Or was, perhaps, Aomine and Momoi who he was protecting by keeping silent about their shared past and the two ‘Users’’ memories still well closed off in non-existence?

 

If the second question was the correct one... then what exactly did they need to be protected from?

 

“You also want to bring some treats to the Student Council, isn’t that right?” asked Kuroko, tilting his head as he looked over to the redhead and the masked frown on his features. “Does that mean, Momoi-san and... Nijimura-san?”

 

“Yes, I want to bring some treats to them, but also to some other members,” explained Akashi, giving a soft nod of his head. “You have met one of them last Friday, Chihiro, but you haven’t been introduced to the other three, Reo, Kotarou and Eikichi. I think that Reo would really like to meet you, Tetsuya.”

 

“W-What do you want to bring to them, then?” inquired Kuroko, his heart giving a big jump against his ribcage at hearing the redhead’s words. Akashi wanted to introduce him to those that he kept close to him... He wanted him to belong in that exact same circle of closeness and give him the most prestigious place right by his side.

 

“For Satsuki, I believe that the peach yogurt-flavoured Mochido would be the perfect choice since there isn’t any cherry flavoured sweets in the menu,” said Akashi, getting a soft nod in acknowledgment out of the bluenette. “Shuuzou’s next so... Hm... Maybe the juicy mango mochi. As for my own ‘team’, I’ll get them the Cake & Chocolate Mochi Selection box.”

 

“Sounds good to me.” Giving the final acknowledgment on the big ‘shopping’ list towards their second visit to Mochicream, Kuroko got up from the bench they had settled themselves on while eating breakfast. “Shall we go buy the—“

 

“We’re not done with breakfast yet,” announced Akashi, taking a hold of the bluenette’s wrist and pulling him over in his direction, his body softly landing on a sitting position in between his legs. “We still have two more Mochicream Ice to eat. And if we don’t do it now, they will melt. We can’t let such precious treats go to waste, now can we?”

 

“Eh? But there’s only one in the box,” pointed out Kuroko, his head slightly tilted as he took a peek to the cardboard box on top of the bench. When he returned his gaze to the redhead and saw the mischievous smirk on his lips, his whole features were so hot as to release a cloud of steam from his flushed skin. “I-I-I’m not food...!”

 

“Maybe not food, but definitely the most appetizing treat in the whole world,” purred Akashi against the bluenette’s ear, his arms slowly circling his torso as he pulled their bodies closer to one another. Once he was fully satisfied with the non-existence distance between them, he took one of his hands from the smaller male’s torso and picked up the last mochi from the box, leading it right to in front of Kuroko’s face. “Pick one.”

 

“Eh?” interjected Kuroko, completely lost on what the redhead meant by making him choose between two things – in the first place, he didn’t even know what he was supposed to pick. “Pick one what?”

 

“Vanilla-flavoured Mochicream Ice or me, pick one,” repeated himself Akashi one more time, this time adding the details that the bluenette had requested out of him.

 

“T-That’s...” started Kuroko, his eyes slightly open in surprise as he looked over to the taller male placed behind him. He dropped his head down, his cheeks smeared in dark red, and his fingers started playing with the sleeves of his jacket, his heart rhythm maddening against his chest. “T-That’s not... something I can choose...”

 

“Then you just have to choose both, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, lowering the hand holding the mochi and using his other one to pull the bluenette’s face over in his direction with a gentle grip. “Just because you are given two choices, it doesn’t mean that a third one is impossible to put in practice. You simply need to think closely about it and the correct answer will show up. If there’s black and white in the world, there can also exist other colour in between those two shades. Because if there’s a beginning, there surely be an ending at some point, and, likewise, if there was an ending to something, then it had begun at some point.”

 

“...?”

 

“What I want to say is...” continued Akashi, noticing that he was losing the bluenette more and more with his roundabout words. “Just because you are given choices to make, it doesn’t mean that you can’t get your own results out of them, even if they weren’t options given to you in the beginning. You are free to do whatever you want, Tetsuya. Well, sort of since you have quite a lot of restrictions implemented on you, most of them because of me. But you are still _free_.”

 

“Then... I can have both vanilla and you?” asked Kuroko, turning his body slightly towards the redhead while never taking his eyes from the soft red and golden gaze lovingly peering at him.

 

“You can have whatever you want, because I’ll be sure to give it to you,” acknowledged Akashi, softly pressing the mochi against the smaller male’s lips. “You can have vanilla or you can have me. You can have both or you can decide to not have any of the two, if that is what you want.”

 

“...” Slowly, Kuroko parted his lips and took a small bite of the mochi, licking his lips after having swallowed the small sweet and cold chunk to clean them of any remaining dusty particles of the mochi and smudges of the ice cream. “I want both, then. Because I’m greedy.”

 

“I’m all up for greediness,” said Akashi, putting the half eaten mochi back inside of the box and then cupping the bluenette’s features with one of his hands, his other arm remaining wrapped around the other male’s waist. “I’m extremely greedy myself.”

 

“I’m aware of that,” whispered Kuroko against the redhead’s lips before they joined together with his – fleetingly, so very lightly.

 

So very much like two turtle doves gently rubbing their beaks together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Boku no Omoi" by Ono Kenshou (our lovely bluenette~)
> 
> Oh my god... A feel my vision fading away... Is this the initial stages of a sugar rush? XD
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	162. Standing right in the middle of it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> Sorry that it's a day late but... yesterday a relative died so... I needed a break and just sleep away the hurt.
> 
> Enjoy!!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~ (and for surviving it without your life support ;D)]

Tokyo Skytree. With a height of 634 metres, surpassing the 610 metres from the original project, is the tallest broadcasting tower in the world, having been recognized by the Guinness World Records Company years and years ago. It was surprising how it still had managed to keep its title as such after so long. Though the world had changed radically since six ago, its essence remained ever the same.

 

After having bought their tickets to access the two upper decks of the humongous tower, Akashi and Kuroko enjoyed a leisure travel from the ticket area floor to Tembo Deck, placed on the 350th floor of the building. Though the term ‘leisure’ could only be applied to Akashi, for Kuroko spent the entire short minutes that the elevator took to reach their destination with his arms fully wrapped around the taller male’s torso, his features tightly hidden against the nook of his neck due to the high number of visitors travelling together with them in the small – in the bluenette’s opinion – closed area.

 

“Ahahaha... Even though you said you wouldn’t do the same thing ever again, look who just spent the last couple of minutes trembling around while hiding through the means of my body?” teased Akashi in the midst of his amusement, his hand softly ruffling the bluenette’s hair, who had a pouting expression on his face. Seeing such, he couldn’t really help it when he motioned his hands forward and took a hold of the smaller male’s features, delivering a fleeting kiss to his lips. “You’re adorable, Tetsuya. The cutest person in the world.”

 

“...!” His face immediately exploding into every shade of red that could be created or found somewhere in the universe, Kuroko unconsciously motioned his closed fist towards the redhead’s stomach and gave a not-so-gentle punch to his gut, making his upper body double forward and forehead rest on his shoulder. “I-I-I told you to not kiss me in p-public, didn’t I...!?”

 

“Ngh... N-No one was watching... So it doesn’t count...” softly groaned Akashi, one of his hands clutching at the hit area of his stomach. He took a quick peek towards the blushing features of the small male by rubbing his forehead against his shoulder, but he was soon forced to lower his face back again. “T-Tetsuya... Help me to one of those benches over there... I think you hit me too hard this time...”

 

“Eh!? Wait...! Really!?” yelped Kuroko, a panicky demeanour on his face as he took a hold of the redhead’s body so that he could help him in any way that was needed. “A-Are you okay, Akashi-kun? Do you want me to go get you some water or any other thing? There’s a cafe on this floor so I can get you anything you may want to drink to make your stomach feel better?”

 

“Anything?” repeated Akashi, the corner of his lips being unconsciously tugged upwards to form a mischievous smirk. “Anything I want?”

 

“Ah... Um... I-I didn’t really mean anything anything...” started babbling Kuroko, the previous distress over having hurt the taller male more than he had intended to still making his brain work at half speed and making it impossible for him to throw any useful remark in his defence. “I-I just meant... Because you...”

 

“Let me rest in your lap,” interrupted Akashi, turning his head around against the bluenette’s shoulder and leaning his forehead then against the side of his neck, a soft smile on his lips as he took a deep breath and simply relished in the smaller male’s warmth and scent. “You said you would get me anything but I don’t need anything if I have you. That’s why... Let me rest in your lap for a couple of minutes, Tetsuya.”

 

“Ah... O-Okay...” shyly acknowledged Kuroko, his two hands closing around the redhead’s jacket as they slowly walked towards the nearest empty bench to them, one that was coincidentally close to the from-ceiling-to-floor large windows of the deck.

 

After having helped Akashi to sit on the bench, as carefully and softly as he could, Kuroko also took a seat on it, his fingers fiddling with his sleeves as he put himself in a position that gave enough space for the redhead to lay his head on top of his upper legs and use them as a pillow. He didn’t even have enough time to question the taller male if that would really be all that he needed to feel better before a mesh of red flashed before his face and was softly dropped on top of his lap.

 

“Ahh... I’m already starting to feel better...” sighed Akashi with content, snuggling his head against the bluenette’s upper legs, eyes closed to relish even further in this almost paradisiacal situation that he had, somehow, ended up in. “Thank you, Tetsuya.”

 

“I-It’s my fault to begin with so...” mumbled Kuroko, his cheeks painted with a dark shade of pink as he averted looking over to the redhead laid down on his lap and decided to focus his eyes on the window, absentmindedly peering to the outside world behind the thick glass.

 

He was doing such mainly to try to forget about the curious glances that they fell victim to every now and then by passing by visitors in that deck, but Kuroko also felt an itching curiosity in the back of his brain over how exactly the world looked like right now.

 

As a child, his world was limited to his neighbourhood and school area, to run around through countless streets as he tried to hide from his bullying classmates. Later on, when he became a ‘User’, his world was widened... but as if an equivalent exchange was required, he had to throw away his freedom and become nothing but a toy for Jabberwock. No matter how far he travelled or ran to, he still remained as their property. Simply that – an object.

 

A faulty human that could be twisted around and made to do whatever they pleased, whenever they pleased since they knew that on the day he would deny them of such control, he would lose everything he held dear to him.

 

And they were right. They were oh so right.

 

The day he tried to break those shackles, his world crumbled down and, together with it, he dragged hundreds of innocent and completely unrelated people down to the next one. He lost the one person in the world that kept his sanity intact for years to no end with, once again, the equivalent exchange that he would lose his instead. He gained total freedom of those choking shackles and ended up falling inside of a new prison, this one by the names of ‘regret’ and ‘guilt’.

 

So, in a roundabout way, Kuroko had never once in his life had had a moment where he could look to the outside world through his own eyes, as simply Kuroko Tetsuya, now a 15 years old high school student. There was always something around him that would mould his vision and prevented him from having the chance to see the world as it really was, not as what he was told it was.

 

Being with Akashi, however, was different from that time. Although Akashi tried to control his life pretty much 24/7, he had never tried to manipulate him into believing in something that wasn’t the truth – even if he previously thought he was. He always gave him the necessary ground to take his own conclusions on something, throwing a couple of helpful clues every now and then. Inside of his new confinement in Teikou Academy, he was free.

 

“...” Slowly opening his heterochromatic eyes at the soft caresses being done to his red locks of hair, Akashi took a peek at the bluenette from his laid down position on his lap. Though his features were half hidden by his current sitting position and by the sunlight shining on them through the large windows, the redhead could still see one more of his gorgeous smiles present on his lips.

 

He had no idea what exactly had been unlocked the previous day from deep inside of Kuroko’s mind and heart, but he definitely liked and appreciated such change. He loved seeing Kuroko smiling so brightly, his heart strings soaring in happiness every single time he got to observe the sight of such. And he wanted it to continue like that. Akashi wanted to continue to feel the almost maddening beating of his heart and to continue to witness in first person the bluenette’s happiness, especially now that it had been fully exposed for the whole world to see.

 

It was something meant to be protected, now more than ever, with the eminent war between the Japanese government and Teikou Academy and with Hanamiya still running around on the loose.

 

“Tetsuya.”

 

“Hm?” softly hummed Kuroko in acknowledgment, his head slowly turning back towards the redhead. The front of his upper clothes were unexpectedly tugged, however, and his body bent forward against the taller male laid down on his lap. His lips were, out of the blue, sweetly stolen for no more than a fraction of a second – apparently the necessary amount to make his whole face burst into another glorious blush.

 

“No one was watching,” said Akashi, a gentle smile on his face as he leisurely ran his fingers through the blue locks of the embarrassed male. “So I couldn’t control myself any longer.”

 

“Y-You kissed me just a couple of minutes ago...” mumbled Kuroko in a voice so small that his words almost sounded like a whisper and not the admonishment they were intended to be.

 

“My point exactly,” said Akashi, once again tugging the back of the bluenette’s head and shortening the distance between their faces a second time. “One too many minutes have passed by since I last kissed. So I was feeling withdrawal symptoms and needed to make them settle down again as quick as possible. Hence, a new dose of kisses was in need of being injected in my bloodstream.”

 

“You’re speaking like a medical student addicted to some sort of narcotics, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, his gaze as lifeless as that of a dead fish. Soon enough, though, his features softened and started to melt with the heat of the light blush on his cheeks – Akashi definitely made him blush far too many times in a single day... “A-Are you feeling better now?”

 

“No, my withdrawal symptoms haven’t been fully cured yet,” teasingly said Akashi, lightly rubbing the tip of his nose on the bluenette’s. “So I’ll need to kiss you a couple more of time before I revert back to my usual se—“

 

“Yes, I see that you are better now,” quickly cut off Kuroko, propelling his upper body to a new straight position and motioning his hands forward, causing the redhead’s body to roll around against the bench and his lap and fall down on the floor with a muffled thud.

 

“Can’t you be a little bit gentler with me, Tetsuya?” mumbled Akashi, sitting on the floor as he lightly rubbed his back with the pads of his fingers. “How many times have you thrown me down to the floor this last couple of days now?”

 

“Plenty of times,” answered Kuroko, fully getting up from the bench and taking a step forward in the taller male’s direction. A hand outstretched in his direction, he happily smiled at him. “And I’ll continue to do it in the future too. Because I know you will always get back up again after I throw you down to the floor.”

 

“That’s because I’m willing to get back up again if you are there to see me doing it,” pointed out Akashi, wrapping one of his hands around the one being motioned towards him. He didn’t get up once again, however, and simply gave a quick tug to the slim limb connected to his body through their joined hands. The bluenette softly fell on top of him, his arms immediately caging him in his embrace. “I’ll get back up for as long as you need me by your side.”

 

“Um... A-Are you two feeling okay?” asked one of the security guards of that floor, bending his upper body closer to the two males pretty much spread out on the floor. “Do you need me to request a doctor or call an ambulance?”

 

“...”

 

Exchanging a quick glance between themselves, both Kuroko and Akashi burst out laughing, their bodies held close against one another as the guard and visitors around them looked over in their direction with completely flabbergasted expressions.

 

Insane – let the world think they are insane.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MAI BABBBBBBBIUUUUUUUSSSSS! God, they are so cute! They heal a person! They heal themselves! AkaKuro once again shows the world proofs of how perfect they are when together X3
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
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> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	163. The scenery that disappeared before my eyes is more vibrant than any faded colours

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter, the one meant for today~
> 
> If you could please do me a favour, then please go visit my tumblr. I have there a message that I would like to pass to the world. And nothing better as a beginning than to pass it over to those that read my stories and know me considerably well ^^
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter ;3]

After having listened to the admonishments of the security guard for close to 20 minutes, doing their very best to not break out laughing once again right in his face, Kuroko and Akashi idly walked around Tokyo Skytree Tembo Deck for the next half an hour, closely observing the view of the Tokyo area through the large windows, every now and then exchanging quick words over what they saw, and jumping around through the Tokyo Space-Time Navigation System monitors spread around that floor.

 

“Do you want to try stepping on the glass floor displayed on the 340th floor?” suggested Akashi after the both of them had fully walked through the whole deck.

 

“I guess it’s fine by me but... Isn’t it sort of dangerous to step on glass floor when we are standing hundreds of metres from the floor?” pointed out Kuroko, a shudder crawling up his spine at the thought of not having full-fledged flooring underneath his feet – the last time such had happened it wasn’t under very good circumstances. It never had, actually.

 

“That coming from the person who deactivated a bomb with his own two hands,” softly teased Akashi, feeling like rolling his eyes around at the bluenette’s sort of messed up perception of danger. But when he saw the sudden paleness that had installed itself on his features, all of his previous amusement was drained from his whole body. “If you don’t want to, it’s fine. We can just move upwards and finally go see Tokyo’s sight from Tembo Galleria.”

 

“Y-Yes, I think I would prefer it that way,” acknowledged Kuroko, giving a weak nod of his head while swallowing in dry.

 

“Let’s go to the shuttle then,” said Akashi, his hand motioning sideways and gently wrapping itself around one of the bluenette’s, slightly colder than it had previously been when they were messing around on the floor. “There’s no large groups here anymore so I deem that our next elevator trip will be more restful than the previous one.”

 

“I hope so. It’s honestly frightening the way so many people can fit inside of such a small closed space,” deadpanned Kuroko in an almost mechanical fashion, allowing his body to flow forward to accompany the redhead’s motions. “We are supposed to be human beings, not sardines in a can. They should restrict even more the number of people that can get inside of the elevator at the same time. If the trip wasn’t so short, I’m pretty sure that so many people breathing in the same air would end up choking to death due to a large volume of carbon dioxide. Truly frightening...”

 

Chuckling at the panicky words of the smaller male, Akashi remained silent as he led them through the path that gave them access to the doors for the Tembo Shuttle, a more advanced version of an elevator that would put them at higher grounds at an astonishing speed compared to normal elevators. And indeed the ascending trip was done in record time, with them only having to stand by the doors together with a couple more people before they had access to their insides and arrived to 445th floor.

 

“They say that this sloped galleria is supposed to represent the final climb to the summit of a mountain,” suddenly said Akashi as they both leisurely walked through the glass-covered corridor, the entire scenery of Tokyo and even further right before their eyes. “That’s why they didn’t put an elevator until the last floor or even escalators. They wanted the visitors to have the feeling that they were about to reach the summit of Tokyo Skytree by their own two feet.”

 

“After the first elevator trip, there’s no way I would believe in such a thing,” sighed Kuroko, an uncomfortable feeling twisting his stomach around at the memory of the mentioned trip. “I would have gladly climbed millions and millions of stairs, if it meant escaping that one.”

 

“I wouldn’t,” immediately denied Akashi, giving a soft bump with the side of his body into the bluenette’s. “I rather appreciate those rare moments when you rely on me like your life depends on it. For as much as I enjoy your Himalayas-height sense of pride, I also quite enjoy when you show your weak sides. Even if you start pouting after you did so.”

 

“Why would you enjoy seeing a man acting all weak and feeble...?” grudgingly mumbled Kuroko, a pout – just like the redhead had mentioned – showing on his features as he crossed his arms over his chest. “That’s why people say that you have a terrible personality...”

 

“It has nothing to do with my personality, though,” confessed Akashi, turning his head sideways so he could smile at the smaller male. “If you show your weak sides to someone, then that means you trust them enough to do that. There’s no way you would show such weaknesses if you thought that that person would use them against you at some point, would you? That’s what makes me happy about it.”

 

“I wouldn’t go as far as saying that I trust you to such degrees...” shyly mumbled Kuroko once again, cheekbones smeared in pink. “I think it’s a matter that I’ve been lowering my guard around you too much lately...”

 

“That’s the same as trusting, Tetsuya,” pointed out Akashi, once again chuckling softly at the smaller male’s embarrassed mumbles. “Oh, we’re here. 450th floor of Tokyo Skytree.”

 

The view from when they had been in Tembo Deck had been gorgeous – but standing at over 450 metres from ground level and getting to see a completely clear view of their surroundings through the means of the large glass windows was simply breathtaking.

 

For Kuroko, who observed the landscape with utter amazement, the world seemed so small. The people that he could see from their higher position were all but little dots, the vehicles crossing the roads were akin to those seen in detailed scale models, even the buildings looked like doll houses.

 

“This is... beautiful...” unconsciously blurted out Kuroko, his eyes jumping around from place to place as he carefully took in all of their characteristics and details before moving forward to the next one. “If it looks like this during the day alone... Then how exactly would it be like to see this scenery during the night, with all of the lights on the street turned on?”

 

“...!” At hearing such unexpected words, Akashi immediately whipped his head around to look in the bluenette’s direction. His head slightly tilted as he carefully took in Kuroko’s current facial expression and body language, he released a soft sigh of relief and then returned his eyes to the outside world. “Well, I also wonder about that...”

 

_Tetsuya hasn’t figured it out yet... right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "MEMORIES" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> My oh my, Akashi~ What exactly are you plotting behind the scenes~? I would very much like to hear aaaaaaaall about it? *smiles*
> 
> Twitter: https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod  
> Tumblr: http://mafymod.tumblr.com/  
> Website: https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi  
> [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	164. It was a pain that would connect the future

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> If you are up to date with my blog, then you should know that I'm sort of... sick right now. So I'll have to make some changes to my release schedule in order to get better as soon as possible! Please go check it out in the blog to know all about it!
> 
> Anyways~ Oh dear lord, I loved writing this chapter >///< It gave me life, it lifted my spirit, it was just pure HEAVEN! Enjoy it, my children, because the next one won't be as heavenly *sniff*
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

Yokoamicho Park – a public park with an area of around 48 acres in the Yokoami district of Sumida. One of the most well known parks in the Tokyo area, the entirety of its area is bathed in both ashes and blood of those that died in both natural and human disasters.

 

The Earthquake Memorial Hall and its nearby charnel house is the resting place of over 58,000 victims of the Great Kantou earthquake – a completely unexpected strike of nature that reaped the souls of more than 44,000 people by the firestorm that deflagrated in the verdant space alone.

 

The Memorial to the Victims of the Tokyo Air Raids and the Pursuit of Peace is the gravestone and main memorial to the ashes of 105,400 innocents killed during the Bombing of Tokyo in 1944 and 1945, an era from human history now denominated as World War II.

 

A third memorial now stood in the midst of the two previous tragic ones – this one due to the heavy sins of a single ‘User’ and the people who were dragged down to Hell due to their actions.

 

The Memorial to the Bloody Night’s Purge.

 

Though Kuroko had wondered for months to no end what exactly did the memorial look like and how he would feel like if he would have the chance to see it in person someday, now he stood right in front of the large pitch black stone column, its curvy surface covered from top to bottom in its height of 7 meters with white, almost unreadable, scribbles of the names of every single victim of the Bloody Night.

 

He was one hundred percent sure that he would never be able to find the names of those that he killed purposely that night in the memorial. Just like he knew that Ogiwara Shigehiro wasn’t one of the thousands of names written in it.

 

Those that he killed in the initial stages of the Bloody Night were people who had crawled their way inside of Japan and, hence, would forever remain as unknown, now that they were dead and couldn’t bring more fright to his existence.

 

And Ogiwara... He was publicly blamed as one of the perpetuators of the destruction of half of Tokyo and the mass murder of its local population so he would never find a resting place in the gravestone of the innocent ones.

 

“You’re taking our visit here better than I expected, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, his little finger wrapped around the bluenette’s as the sides of their bodies remained stuck to one another. He turned his gaze away from the tall column and took a peek to the smaller male’s expression – he didn’t seem sad or grieving, not even angered or disgusted. Kuroko was simply looking over at the memorial as if he hadn’t been the reason for it being there in the first place. “Have you come here before?”

 

“I told you before, Akashi-kun. This is my first time going outside of Teikou Academy’s grounds after the Bloody Night,” softly reminded Kuroko, his teal eyes never leaving the white scribbles on the black stone. It was good that their current distance from the memorial didn’t enable him to read out the names. It was better if the innocents he and Ogiwara had killed remained nameless strangers, instead of gaining a more human connotation by acquiring a name to be joined to some of the faces that he could still remember seeing during that blood-covered night. “This is my first time coming here and seeing the memorial but... I know that there’s nothing I can say or do that will erase what I did and bring the people I killed back to life.”

 

“...”

 

“And it’s not like I don’t feel anything when I see it,” continued Kuroko, his face remaining with the exact same expression, though a small crease could be found on his brows. “There’s always a price to whatever it is that you do. If not a price, then maybe a consequence. This memorial simply represents that to me. It will remain here and be seen by this and future generations, who will always view it as the biggest reason and cause of hatred towards ‘Users’. And all ‘Users’ will curse over the actions of one of them that condemned their future for as long as they are what they are. As for me... it will be a reminder that wishing for something is... impossible, without having to lose another for the rest of my life.”

 

“I think that you are wrong about a lot of things there, Tetsuya,” interrupted Akashi, walking around the bluenette and stopping right in front of him, blocking his view of the memorial column and locking his red and golden gaze on the teal one. “For starters, even before the Bloody Night, us ‘Users’ were already despised by normal humans. They have blamed us for numerous reasons since we, the ‘Miracles’, have _awoken_ , and they only added more as time went by. The Bloody Night was probably the worst one, yes, but it only served to fully expose the resentment and hatred that we have been victims of since 6 years ago.”

 

“...”

 

“Also, and I can only speak for myself here, though I believe that a lot more of us share the same opinion,” continued Akashi, motioning his hands forward and gently cupping the bluenette’s cheeks, a soft smile present in his lips as he did so. “I have never seen you as the person who condemned my future. Even if you weren’t ‘The Phantom’ and hadn’t caused the Bloody Night, our futures would have been limited from the very beginning. Humans reject what is different or foreign to them or to what they call ‘normal’. From the moment we _awake_ as ‘Users’, we are denied the possibility of standing on their side as equals. But that’s something completely pointless to pursue now. Teikou Academy exists and all ‘Users’ are welcomed there, to stay the rest of their teenage years surrounded by those that are on the same standing as them and then give them more options over what they want to do with their lives after graduation than those that they have when in midst of normal humans.”

 

“...”

 

“And, as for you,” finally added Akashi, leaning his head forward and bumping his forehead against the smaller male’s, his smile stretching even further as he lovingly gazed at him. “That’s a lie. You just said a couple of hours ago that you wanted to have both vanilla and me, didn’t you? Did you lose anything in order to have those two things?”

 

“...I... I didn’t but...” stutteringly mumbled Kuroko, his cheeks burning like a furnace at both the redhead’s close proximity and words, but also at his own shameless automatic thoughts at hearing them. “But you’re... you’re not... m-mine... I-I don’t even want to o-own a person...”

 

“I never meant it in the sense of becoming your possession, though,” corrected Akashi, his thumbs giving soft and leisure caresses to the reddish and extremely hot cheeks of the bluenette. “I’ll still be me and I would still make my own decisions and be free even if I belonged with you, stayed by your side forever and ever and never let go. The same would be applied to you, of course.”

 

“That’s... too unrealistic of a thought to be true...” shyly mumbled Kuroko, lowering his gaze and his head with it, mostly thanks to how gentle the redhead’s hold on his face was.

 

“Is it?” inquired Akashi, his head slightly tilted as he gave a soft squeeze to the bluenette’s cheeks and slowly pulled his head back again, only continuing speaking once again when his eyes met for a second time with his. “If you don’t work towards something, then it really is something unrealistic and unable to become true. And if you fail, then try again. If you fall, get back up again. If you lose, fight harder next time to win. If you get scratched or cut along the way, put a bandage on it and take the next step forward. However... I would never let you fail on something you want to do. I would give you a hand to get back up once again. I would let you taste victory for the rest of your life because losing is not an option in my life. I’ll bandage you up if you get cut in shards once again. And I’ll make a complete being out of the ‘broken monster’ that you view yourself as. Okay?”

 

“Nn...” A fountain of tears rolling down the teal water spring of his eyes, Kuroko gave a small and awkward nod with his head, a thin smile present on his lips. “Y-Ye—“

 

“Not yet,” immediately interrupted Akashi, eliminating the distance between their faces completely and delivering a soft and tender kiss to the smaller male’s trembling lips. “Don’t say ‘yes’ just yet.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "RETURN" by Kamiya Hiroshi (our devilish angel who continues to unconscious cockblock the development of his relationship with his lovely bluenette -.-')
> 
> God, these two are... They are...! >///< Just get married already! Because I sure as hell was hearing church bells as Kuroko was saying yes to Akashi!!! But NOOOOO! Akashi just had to freaking cockblock himself yet again because apparently hearing a simple yes from Kuroko is not good enough for him! *siiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* What am I supposed to do with these two...
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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	165. Even us with our voices that are out of tune

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> To be honest, this chapter is a freaking rollercoaster of emotions! I went "awww" and then "YEEEEEES" and then "NOOOOOO" so many times I feel my head spinning around -.-' So be aware of the feels~
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter and surviving the ending <3]

“How are you feeling?” asked Akashi, motioning a wet handkerchief over to the bluenette, who was sat down on a bench shielded by all the other visitors of the park by the shade of a large tree.

 

“How could you make me cry like that in a public place, Akashi-kun...?” grudgingly mumbled Kuroko, slowly accepting the handkerchief and putting it on top of his puffy and red eyes, due to having cried most likely a small sea of tears. It seemed that crying in front of the redhead was starting to become a trend and, in his most honest opinion, he had to quickly put an end at it. It was simply degrading to break out in tears at the smallest of things that Akashi told him – though they couldn’t really be called all that small and unimportant conversations at the end of the day.

 

“It wasn’t my intention to make you cry, Tetsuya,” apologized Akashi, turning around on his heels and sitting down next to the bluenette, who had his head leaned backwards to sustain the wet fabric well put on his face. He gently adjusted its position on the smaller male’s puffy eyes and then sat straight on the bench again. “I don’t take any enjoyment in seeing you crying. Actually, I far prefer to see you smiling, like you have been doing the whole day. But I just had to say what was running inside of my head at that moment. I would have gone mad if I didn’t.”

 

 _And we all know what happens when Akashi Seijuurou, whichever one it might be, is forced to repress himself or not be able to do something, don’t we?_ , inwardly pointed out Kuroko, for some reason recalling the words that the inner beast had told him in regards of not being able to get a hold of him and how that made his sanity start to slip even more out of him.

 

Though there was also another something that the inner beast had mentioned that popped up in his head.

 

“...” Slowly removing the handkerchief from on top of his eyes just the slightest, Kuroko took a long, half-hidden peek to the redhead, not entirely sure of whether it was a good idea to ask this type of question to him or not. “Um... Akashi-kun?”

 

“Hm?” hummed Akashi in acknowledgment, returning the gaze lost in the far away distance of the park and returning it to the smaller male.

 

“Have we... met before?” ended up asking Kuroko, fully unveiling his face as he took the wet fabric from on top of his eyes and straightened his body on the bench, mostly done due to the immediate surprised reaction that the taller male had had, his heterochromatic eyes gaping wide open and lips parting just the slightest.

 

“To be honest... I don’t know myself,” confessed Akashi, trying to wipe out his surprised expression while he leaned his back on the backrest of the bench. “But... Taking into consideration the words that he... the words that my inner beast told me, I can only think of it as we having met somewhere in the past. Somewhere before we bumped into each other on the first day of this school year. Though I, myself, don’t remember anything like that at all.”

 

“The same for me,” sighed Kuroko, his back sliding down against the backrest just the slightest as he switched his gaze to the blue sky visible from in between the leaves of the tree shading them. “He said that I met you two on the day I granted him his wish. On the day the two of you finally became free. But... Though I knew of you... I mean, of course I knew who Akashi Seijuurou was since I became a ‘User’ myself. There’s no one who doesn’t. Though I knew of you, I never interacted with you once. As far as I remember, that is.”

 

“...” After maintaining his gaze on the bluenette for a couple more seconds, Akashi silently mimicked the same motions that he had gone through, absentmindedly staring into the sky as he recited his next words. “’I’m in your debt for helping my mother. So if you ever stretch your hand again, this time I’ll make sure that someone grabs it. Even if I have to do it myself.’”

 

“Nn...!” Out of the blue, the sky that Kuroko was observing started to spin around, the dark green colour of the leaves blending together with the clear light blue sky above them. Though his eyes couldn’t see anything but the crazy spinning of his vision, two sets of voices were running as clear as a recording inside of his head.

 

_“Why would you try to help others when it’s more than obvious that nobody is doing the same for you?”_

_“It’s exactly because nobody is doing it for me that I feel the need to help others around me. I don’t want to become the same as them. I don’t want to treat others with the same cruelty that they do to me. And ignoring those in need is cruelty, at least when we know that we could do something for them.”_

 

A small piece of paper being ripped from a pamphlet talking about the importance of taking the flu shot during the winter month.

 

A set of 10 digits later written on it and put inside of his palm.

 

“...090-395-1004...” softly mumbled Kuroko when the sky and the leaves returned to their separate, original shapes and the world stopped spinning in such a maddening fashion.

 

“...!!” At hearing that familiar number, Akashi immediately whipped his head sideways and stared completely flabbergasted to the bluenette, his mouth now fully left hanging open as he tried to formulate some sort of coherent words through his vocal cords. “T-That’s... my cell phone number...”

 

“Eh...?”

 

“Not my actual number, but the number that I used to have while I was living in Kyoto before having _awaken_ as a ‘Miracle’,” explained further Akashi, just as much for himself as it was being for the smaller male. “It used to be my cell phone number as a child. How... do you know it?”

 

“No, I just...” started Kuroko, completely lost of what he should tell the redhead. Even he didn’t know how he knew about this number, how exactly could he explain the reason behind such unexpected knowledge? “When you said that sentence... A ripped piece of a pamphlet with that number handwritten in it popped up in my head. It was just... that.”

 

“A pamphlet with my number written on it?” repeated Akashi, an eyebrow getting slightly arched at hearing those words.

 

“Yes... Just that...” acknowledged Kuroko with a soft nod of his head, his eyes fixed on the floor as he tried to avoid making eye contact with the redhead as much as he could. He would not tell him about the short conversation that also popped up inside of his brain. He would _never_ say anything about it out loud, to whoever it might be.

 

Because if what Akashi’s inner beast had told him was the truth and he had indeed met the both of them on the day their wishes had been granted...

 

Then the theoretical words he had refused to believe as many times as he was forced to hear them were the undeniable truth.

 

Then he had absolutely no right to stand by Akashi’s side – with whichever relationship it might be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Can Do" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> TTvTT <\- the only thing I can actually vocalise right now is this emoji...
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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	166. Come on and ‘fess up, you tease of a Cupid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> You know, ever since I wrote this chapter I have been having a very deep rooted craving for a particular dish. A craving that is yet to be quenched and that is slowly driving me mad because I'm too stubborn to actually buy it. What am I supposed to do with my life? -.-'
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter and being hit by a shoe two times for it :P]

“To make up for making you cry, you can choose where we will have lunch, Tetsuya,” announced Akashi as both of them stepped once again in the shopping district of Sumida after having leisurely walked there from Yokoamicho Park.

 

“You’re starting to sound like a distant husband that wants to sooth down the complaints of his wife,” deadpanned Kuroko, giving a quick sideways glance to the redhead before he settled his eyes once again on their surroundings, carefully surveying every single person that passed by them or was in sight.

 

“If I were to get married to you, I don’t think you would be able to get rid of me for more than a couple of hours,” pointed out Akashi, a mischievous smirk on his lips as he slowly circled the bluenette’s waist with one of his arms and tugged his body closer to his own. “I think that a ring on our fingers and a paper in the family registry would be the smallest of things tying me to you.”

 

“T-That was just an analogy... I-I wasn’t talking about s-something like that in the least...” mumbled Kuroko, some of his words coming out with a stutter attached to it at how gloriously his entire face exploded in flames at the thought of being married to the redhead alone. He took a hold of the taller male’s wrist and gave a quick, but strong, tug, freeing himself of the half embrace he had found himself in yet again (Akashi could be so smooth with his approaches that most of time Kuroko didn’t even notice that he was touching or holding him in some sort of way, the perverted lion...).

 

“Humans are free to dream and voice those dreams out loud, right?” added Akashi, giving a quick peck to the bluenette’s cheek before he settled himself back at the same distance that he had previously taken – far too far away from Kuroko, in his opinion, but if he went closer to him, then Kuroko would pull back. That was something that they apparently would have to work on in the near future.

 

“So serious and intellectual Akashi Seijuurou is actually a dreamer,” said Kuroko, his face completely expressionless but voice hinting a certain playfulness. “That’s quite the gap of inner personality and outward appearance or, to be more precise, outward image.”

 

“Chihiro would most likely call that ‘gap moe’,” acknowledged Akashi in his own way, his head slightly tilted as he recalled a one-sided conversation he had once with Mayuzumi about one of the light novels he had been reading at that time.

 

“Pfffft!” started laughing Kuroko, immediately covering his mouth with his hands to not actually start burst laughing out loud in a highly crowded area. “You, Akashi-kun? Gap moe? Ahahaha! T-That’s... too creepy to even think about. Ahaha!”

 

“Why would you say something like that, Tetsuya?” inquired Akashi, a small pout appearing in his features. There was even a slight puffing on his cheeks. “Are you saying that I’m someone that not only can’t dream or express those dreams, but I can’t have a gap between my personality and appearance?”

 

“Well, if we were to analyse you in literary terms, more precisely in the manga and anime genres, then you are already a ‘gap moe’ character, Akashi-kun,” started thinking Kuroko out loud, his eyes glancing at the redhead in a masked way, whose current expression indicated that his words had already somewhat piqued his interest. “You always think about business before emotions or personal feelings, you have the habit of working other people to the bone and of abusing of your high standing position to not give them an opportunity to rebuke your orders, you never listen to what other people have to say and you always have to come out in first place in whatever it is that you do.”

 

“...”

 

“But, on the other hand, you always pay extremely close attention to your surroundings and only force people to do something that you are aware that they are able to do in the first place,” continued Kuroko, a soft smile on his lips. “You always certify yourself that everyone around you is in good health, like the way you were worrying about Aomine-kun’s health on the day we all officially moved in to Fuyu. Though you sometimes seem extremely blunt and cold, you do it with the other person’s best interests in mind. Hm... No, wait... Maybe it’s not actually ‘gap moe’, but you simply don’t want other people to know the real you. That would actually explain quite a—“

 

All of a sudden, one of his arms was grabbed and his body was immediately led around through the crowd. Only when his back met with the wall of an empty side street of the main artery that they were crossing did Kuroko catch another glimpse of Akashi – one that lasted less than a second for his lips came crashing against his almost as soon as they got to the side street.

 

“Mmnh! Ngh... Haa... Haa...” After an intense and long deep kiss, Kuroko was finally able to catch his breath once again when Akashi softly parted their lips once again. The redhead’s hand readily climbed up in the air and gently cupped his flushed features – he couldn’t even stop himself from leaning in to such a loving gesture. “Nn...”

 

“You’ve been doing this for a while now, Tetsuya,” softly whispered Akashi, shortening the distance between their bodies at the same time as he leaned his forehead on the bluenette’s, his free arm wrapping around his waist. “Are you saying these things on purpose or are you really that clueless of the effect that they have on me?”

 

“Eh...? I’m not—“ started denying Kuroko, but now that the redhead was inquiring him about it in such a way, he couldn’t help but give a second, better thought about it. He had at some point settled paying Akashi back for all the teasing he had been a victim of up until then as one of his future goals. “Ah... The first one... maybe...?”

 

“You are a demon with the face of an angel...” sighed Akashi, slowly releasing the bluenette and taking a step backwards, one of his hands running through his red locks as he avoided looking directly at the almost innocent semblance of the smaller male, the way he was looking at him with his head slightly tilted, a curious glint on his teal eyes.

 

_The fact that you actually really do all of these things in a completely unconscious way, for the most part, only makes it harder for me to hold back..._

 

Releasing another long sigh as he dropped his arm back to the side of his body, Akashi decided that now wouldn’t be the best of times to delve in conflicted thoughts over eating or not eating, and simply go find some distraction over it with some actual food.

 

“Let’s resume with what we were planning on doing, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, softly running his fingers through the bluenette’s hair before he took a hold of his hand, their fingers immediately entwining around one another as they once again entered the ‘real world’ and started losing themselves in the middle of the crowd. “I don’t think that hearing your stomach grumbling for food right now would be a good idea since your blushing expression when that happens is so adorable...”

 

“Eh? I’m sorry, Akashi-kun, but I couldn’t hear what you just said,” said Kuroko, quickening his pace just a little bit in order to catch up with the redhead’s walking rhythm. “Could you please repeat it?”

 

“I asked if you had already decided where you want to go have lunch,” lied Akashi, continuing to look to what was in front of him, trying to keep the already noticed soft blush on his cheeks once again concealed from the bluenette.

 

“I already told you that I don’t know enough about Sumida or social locations as a whole to choose where to go...” pointed out Kuroko, an expression of regret popping up on his face as he downcast his gaze to the ground he was stepping on. Really, for as much as isolation came as a comfort in order to become frozen in time and not get damaged even further, it came as a big roadblock the moment he decided to leave it all behind and put the clock ticking once again while beside another.

 

“Then just choose a place where you can eat whatever it is that you are having a craving for,” simply added Akashi, chuckling softly at the smaller male’s indecisiveness. “No more sugar, though.”

 

“Uhh...” groaned Kuroko while rolling his eyes around. The redhead sure knew how to cut things off before they could even start to grow, didn’t he? He quickly scavenged his surroundings with his eyes, taking notice of all the restaurants and places that served food that were in sight on the bustling street. “Ah! What about that one?”

 

“Hm? Pizza? You want to go eat pizza for lunch?” asked Akashi as he took a peek at the restaurant where the bluenette was pointing at – a small fast food joint which featured pizzas of different varieties and sizes as their main selling point. He was about to question the smaller male further over his choice, but the moment he saw an unusually accentuated glint of enthusiasm on his teal eyes, he knew right away that there was a reason other than hunger that had lead him to take such a pick. “Tetsuya... Are you perhaps thinking that I have never eaten pizza before in my whole life?”

 

“Well, have you?” asked back Kuroko, a mischievous small smirk on his lips as he looked over to the redhead with an amused expression.

 

“I will let you know that I have ate pizza before,” acknowledged Akashi, a prideful expression on his features as the both of them came to a stop on their walking through the street, so as to not lose track of the location of their possible eating location. He softly cleared his throat and added, “Once. Because Daiki made.”

 

“Then it’s my turn to make you eat pizza now,” said Kuroko as he tried to control himself and not start laughing once again in the redhead’s face. He tightened his hold on their entwined hands and started leading them both towards the fast food joint, even though the taller male was feeling such an obvious reluctance of such.

 

“Why don’t you choose a more appropriate place to have our lunch?” asked Akashi, still analysing the restaurant from their still far away distance from it. Even if he understood that the bluenette had chosen it as a mean to turn the game in his favour, in a roundabout way, he could put an end to it now that he had managed to score a couple of points.

 

“What do you mean by ‘more appropriate’? We’re high school students, Akashi-kun, and high school students spend their free time inside of fast food joints, right?” pointed out Kuroko, turning his head around and looking over to the redhead, a bright smile on his features. “Whether on a date or not, that’s what’s normal for people of our age to do, isn’t it?”

 

“You really are...” sighed Akashi, a soft smile on his features as he lovingly gazed to the heart-warming happiness oozing out of the bluenette’s smiling expression. “There’s no way I can say no to it if you put it like that.”

 

_It’s your win, Tetsuya – again._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Hengen Jizai no Magical Star" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Well, now you know that my current food craving is pizza. I have so many restaurant and take aways that sell pizza around me but I still refuse to go inside and just eat the heck out of them. Is this what can be called self imposed masochism? *thinks about it*
> 
> Anyways, these two cuties are reaching levels of cuteness that are off the charts!!! >///< But no! It doesn't stop here! Akashi and Kuroko will only be satisfied when they reach god-like levels of cuteness overload and wipe out all fujoshis from Earth!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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	167. It’s always better to think beforehand when in front of simple passions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> It's a quite release from my side so I will only say, enjoy!!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~ Here's my shoe since Kuroko can't give it to you ;3]

Kuroko had never thought in his whole life that going through the menu of a fast food joint featuring pizzas could be so entertaining and, in its own way, endearing. Though it was obvious that Akashi had heard and knew of the existence of fast food, it was also more than obvious that he hadn’t really gotten all that many first person experiences with it. Maybe this was the same unbearable feeling that Akashi was overcome with 24/7 but Kuroko sure felt like teasing him – just a little bit – over such a fact.

 

“For one of the cheapest and more affordable choices to get unhealthy food, the seats on the restaurants aren’t as uncomfortable as I would peg them to be,” said Akashi as he took a seat on one of the sides of a small two-seated table by the window of the fast food joint.

 

“Especially after standing in front of a menu for half an hour,” added Kuroko, taking a seat on the cushioned chair on the opposite side of the square table where the redhead had already taken a rest on. “Maybe you have even more hardships making a choice than me, Akashi-kun.”

 

“I believe the fault doesn’t lie on me but on the fact that the menu in here was written in a hard to understand way for those that are newcomers to the restaurant,” simply pointed out Akashi as he took a small gulp of the glass with fresh water that a waitress had just put on the table surface before moving on to the next table and customers.

 

“Am I actually hearing you giving an excuse for not being able to do something well or, at the very least, quickly and swiftly, Akashi-kun?” asked Kuroko, a small mischievous smirk hidden behind the glass of fresh water left for him.

 

“I’m simply stating things as they are,” said Akashi, softly clearing his throat before he took another sip to the water, later settling the glass back on the table. A small pout showing on his features, the redhead sideways glanced to the bluenette. “Why are acting so mean to me, Tetsuya? This is supposed to be a date, not a competition between the two of us.”

 

“M-My intention is not to be mean to you...” mumbled Kuroko, feeling that maybe, just maybe, he had pushed it too far with his teasing towards the redhead. Nobody liked to be humiliated on their mistakes or faults, much less during a situation that they were extremely unfamiliar with – actually, only an extreme masochist would take enjoyment in such a nasty game and he knew for a fact that Akashi was anything but that. He could only be called the opposite of an extreme masochist, actually. “I’m sorry if I was rude to you. Like I said, it wasn’t my intention to be mean. But—“

 

“Excuse me, dear customers. Your order is ready!” called all of a sudden one of the staff members of the open kitchen section of the fast food joint. When Kuroko and Akashi look over in their direction, they saw two individual sized pizza boxes and two plastic cups with drinks on top of a tray, ready for them to collect it.

 

“I’ll go get it, you can just stay sat down on the table,” Akashi volunteered himself, swiftly getting up from his seat and leisurely walking to the front counter, where their piping hot pizzas and fresh drinks were awaiting them.

 

In less than five minutes, both Kuroko and Akashi had their individual sized pizzas’s hot steam tickling their features, as well as teasing their stomachs with the mouth-watering smell of melted cheese, bitter-sweet tomato paste and the remaining ingredients that each one had ended up picking for their pizzas.

 

“Seeing as you earlier picked sweet potato as one of the flavours for the Mochi ice cream, I thought that you would choose once again some weird ingredient, like pineapple,” pointed out Akashi, observing the pizza in front of the bluenette – it was as simple as only having the two basic ingredients (tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese) with the addition of minced beef, sliced black olives and small pieces of caramelized onion. “But your pizza seems almost... ordinary.”

 

“I don’t really know how to answer you when you put it like that, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, taking a hold of the crust of one of the slices and carefully separating it from the whole pizza by the cut lines. “Besides, your own pizza is also what I would call ordinary. It’s actually the most basic pizza that exists in the whole menu: tomato sauce, ham, extra cheese and sliced black olives.”

 

“You should always begin from the basics, Tetsuya, otherwise your growth on the subject will come out crooked,” leisurely said Akashi, his eyes intently studying the movements that the bluenette was taking towards his meal so that he could learn and apply them to his own. Though a little bit hesitantly at first at the prospect of having to eat with his bare hands, he delicately picked up the crust of his pizza and tore the slice in the exact same way as the smaller male had. His hands, as a result, slowly became a greasy mess of tomato sauce and the warm juices of the toppings. It seemed that eating pizza in a human way was trickier than expected.

 

“Why are you applying such a scientific approach towards pizza?” deadpanned Kuroko once again, taking a small bite to the first slice and delightfully munching on it afterwards. “It’s just junk food. You don’t need a degree to eat it. You grab it, put it in your mouth, chew it and then swallow it. Maybe, I don’t know... Like every other food that you have eaten before?”

 

Also taking a small bite to the tip of the pizza slice, Akashi slowly munched and then swallowed the little chunk, a pout on his features as he settled down the slice on the plate and picked up a paper napkin, cautiously cleaning his greasy hands as much as he could. He picked up the plastic cup with his carbonated drink and put the straw in his mouth, his back leaning over the backrest of his seat as he stared out of the window, pouting more and more over the constant teasing he was falling victim to. He would actually say (even if only inwardly) that he would start controlling himself on his teasing towards Kuroko from now on but... Akashi knew he would be lying if he did such because he just loved to see the adorable reactions that Kuroko had at it.

 

“You’re being mean to me once again, Tetsuya...” sighed Akashi, feigning having come out hurt due to the words that were spoken by the bluenette.

 

“Sometimes you just have this uncontrollable urge to tease the person you like,” unconsciously blurted out Kuroko as he motioned the slice forward to take another bite of it... just that it never reached its landing target and fell topping-side down on his plate.

 

“...!” At hearing those words, Akashi immediately chocked on the carbonated drink he had been leisurely sipping from, coughing softly to try to take the little bits of the cold beverage that had went down the wrong tube. “T-Tetsuya...?”

 

“N-No...! T-T-That’s not what I-I meant...!” readily denied Kuroko, covering his bright red features with one of his arms as he motioned his other hand forward and shook it around. “I-I just meant that— It was just— I— Time out, please!”

 

“Wait!!” readily interrupted Akashi, motioning his hands forward and taking a hold of the bluenette’s wrist. He had a very strong feeling that Kuroko was about to use his ability to nullify his presence and he had to avoid such from happening at all costs. “Tetsuya, wait! Don’t get invisible now of all times!”

 

“P-P-Please let me g-go, Akashi-kun,” stutteringly requested Kuroko, his arm still covering his features as his other arm wrestled around against the redhead’s hold on his wrist. “J-Just give me a couple of h-hours for me to c-calm down and not d-die...!”

 

“Then nullify my presence at the same time as you do yours,” insisted Akashi, getting up from his seat and taking a better hold of the bluenette’s arm so that he couldn’t escape in any way – he knew very well how much Kuroko avoided using his ability if he was being touched by anyone, especially when it came to him (most likely, it was due to the burn Akashi had gotten when Kuroko lost control of his ability in the first week of that school year).

 

“W-Wouldn’t that be c-counterproductive for m-me?” pointed out Kuroko, averting looking over to the redhead even with his arm covering his face and pulling his body backwards so he could try to set his other wrist free from those warm hands. “B-Besides, if I nullified your p-presence, worst case scenario, I would get you k-killed.”

 

“I’m willing to take the risk because I know you would never kill me, even if by accident,” said Akashi, using his free hand to push the table out from in front of him with a sideway motion and then stepped closer to the bluenette, leaning his upper body forward so he could see his extremely red facial expression closer. “So do it. Do it and then take your arm out of in front of your face. I want to see you right now. I want you to look at me right now.”

 

“I-I d-don’t—“ stutteringly tried to refuse Kuroko, but the redhead’s next words cut his sentence short.

 

“If you don’t do it right this instant, then I will pull your arm out of the way by myself and just kiss you right in front of all of these people,” said Akashi, his facial expression dead set on what he was saying even though he was more amused over what sort of reaction they would cause in the bluenette than actually intending to put these little ‘threats’ in motion. “And kissing would probably be the least that the customers and workers of this restaurant would witness.”

 

“...uh...” softly groaned Kuroko, his voice muffled due to the limb covering his features.

 

“...!” Out of the blue, a stronger version of the prickling sensation that he was feeling due to being in direct contact with Kuroko started to course through all of Akashi’s body, making a small shudder run down his spine at it. The world around him slowly started to lose its colours and soon enough everything around him was represented in different shades of black, grey and white.

 

 _Is this what Tetsuya sees every time he nullifies his presence?,_ asked Akashi in the back of his head, his eyes closely analyzing the colourless universe around him. _Has he been living in a world without any colour while hidden in the shadows?_

 

“A-Are you satisfied now?” mumbled Kuroko, still trying his best to keep his current expression very well hidden from the taller male.

 

“...No, not at all,” shortly answered Akashi, giving a quick tug to the bluenette’s sleeve and swiftly putting his beet red features out in the world – which, at the moment, meant only the bluenette and him. A conflicted frown was displayed in the redhead’s expression as he softly cupped Kuroko’s rosy cheeks with his hands and brought their faces even closer to one another. “I’m not satisfied in the least.”

 

The more Akashi ended up discovering about Kuroko, whether his past or his ability, the more he ended up thinking to himself of how precious and frail his existence in this world was. He ended up thinking how much he needed to improve himself as a person and as someone who detained a fundamental role in every ‘User’s’ life in order to keep his so very precious other half always by his side, with a gorgeous happy smile on his lips.

 

And whether those discoveries were positive or negative, Akashi couldn’t help but fall even more in love with Kuroko at getting to know them. He was simply, helplessly, stupidly head over heels with his lovable turtle dove.

 

“Tetsuya... I wasn’t counting on it going like this, inside of a fast food restaurant, but well, that apparently is a trend when anything concerns you: my plans just never seem to go the way I want them to,” started Akashi, a soft smile on his lips as he lovingly stared deep into the teal eyes of the smaller male, his features feeling so hot against the palm of his hands that they seemed to make his heart melt even further. “But listen closely to what I’m going to tell you now, okay? I—“

 

“Why is the table out of its usual place?” mumbled one of the waitresses as she passed by that area of the fast food restaurant and noticed the unusual position of the empty table, though the food on top of its surface seemed barely touched. She gave a quick glance around but saw no sign of any customer giving any attention those two seats in particular. As it was required from her job and position, she returned the table back to its correct place, albeit with some resistance of an unknown object.

 

“Ack!” yelped Akashi, when all of a sudden the corner of the table was painfully jabbed on the side of his torso, right  below his ribcage, and knocked all of the air from inside of his lungs.

 

“A-Akashi-kun...?” hesitantly called Kuroko, trying to take a peek at the redhead as he hid his pained expression against his shoulder, his body squirming around just the slightest at the strong impact on a sensitive area of the human body. “A-Are you... okay?”

 

“Ngh... No... Not okay...” softly groaned Akashi, inwardly cursing again and again at the almost ironic interruption that once again befell them. “I swear that if I get interrupted by someone or something ever again, I will destroy it until nothing is left to be mourned...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?!?!?!?!?!? *slams face against the desk - extremely hard*
> 
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	168. My bluffed weaknesses start to recognize my strong points

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with an update!! About time, right?
> 
> First of all, congratulations to Shattered Miracles!!! It has reached yet another milestone by surpassing 2,000 kudos!!! XD That means that more than 2k people have given this story at try, hasn't it? Woah!!! I'm happy right now! Thank you for all the support you have been giving me throughout the last year where I started writing fics! It really means a lot to me *bows down*
> 
> As we have reached this stage, you have UNLOCKED something quite... let's just call it, maybe expected by you? If you go to my website (see the third link in the end notes), you will find there available the prologue and 1st chapter of Fragmented Gifts, the original adaptation of Shattered Miracles!! But I'm sure you would like to read more than those two, right? So you need to do a little bit of work on your side to help me out bringing more chapters, more stories and more yaoi out to everybody's enjoyment! *winks* Please go check it what I mean since I can't write it here straight out due to Ao3 rules -.-'
> 
> Meanwhile, enjoy~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

“This is the worst... A nightmare...” weakly mumbled Kuroko as he remained crouched down in front of the small pizza joint, his bright red face buried in between his knees and his arms. Right now, he truly felt like crawling into a hole and simply staying there for the rest of his life. “How could I have said something like that, even if accidentally...?”

 

No matter how Kuroko looked at it, what he had said had been a plain love confession. He had admitted, right in front of Akashi’s face, that he was in love with him, by the words of ‘not being able to help it but tease the person he liked’.

 

What was he supposed to do now? How was Kuroko supposed to face and interact and deal with Akashi, now that the redhead was most likely aware of his feelings?

 

“This is not good... Not good at all...” mumbled Kuroko, his voice sounding extremely muffled by his face’s hiding place and the dead embarrassment that he felt. He lifted one of his arms just the slightest and took a quick peek to the inside of the fast food joint, catching a glimpse of Akashi, who was talking on the phone (most likely with someone from Teikou Academy). He didn’t seem even a tiny little bit fazed over what had been said or what was about to be said before they were interrupted by the waitress. “Ugh... This is the worst... The absolute wor—“

 

All of a sudden, Kuroko fully straightens his head, his teal eyes immediately being directed to the back alley right next to the building where the pizza restaurant they just had lunch in had been placed. He threw one last glance to the redhead still inside of the fast food joint and then slowly picked himself up, carefully and silently approaching the back alley, where he too disappeared in the shadowy ambience.

 

-.-

 

“Really, now...” sighed Akashi, pressing the end call button from the phone and giving it back to the waitress of the fast food joint where they apparently couldn’t even have a decent meal at without being interrupted by a million things. “I will have a nice and long conversation with Shuzou once I return to Teikou, in order to highlight when and when _not_ to spy on his allies and then disturb the situation even further!”

 

 _Though after the stern lecturing that I just gave him, he won’t do it again any time soon if he wants to keep on living,_ inwardly added Akashi as he did his best to control his anger towards the older black haired male and not blow up with anything inside of the restaurant. More pressing matters, much more important than what the necessity of that phone call or what was revolving around Teikou Academy at the moment, were in need to be solved. He could easily deal with the rest after the objective of this day had been successfully accomplished and he and Kuroko finally put a name to their nameless and undefined relationship.

 

Akashi felt like that towards this date more now than when he suggested it the previous night – he had now clear and undeniable indications that the changes revolving around the bluenette were a straight out warning that most of the pieces had clicked together and only one more little push would put the machine working properly once again.

 

He could finally tell Kuroko what he has been trying to convey to him all this time. Akashi could finally say out loud, right in front of his beloved turtle dove, how much he meant to him and how much he loved him.

 

 _And I swear that Hell will be the least of their worries if anybody tries to interrupt this date one more time_ , inwardly warned Akashi, a menacing aura around him as he crossed the fast food joint (putting a couple of customers and workers trembling like dead leaves in his pathway) and motioned towards the entrance, where he instructed the bluenette to wait for him while he attended to the unexpected phone call.

 

“Tetsuya, I’m sorry to keep you wait—“ apologized Akashi as soon as he stepped outside of the fast food joint and positioned himself in front of the spot where the bluenette had been crouched down on during pretty much his entire phone call with Nijimura. However, he now found that area completely empty, no traces of Kuroko left behind. “...Tetsuya?”

 

“Yes, Akashi-kun?” answered back Kuroko’s voice. When Akashi turned around on his heels, he saw the bluenette staring at him, his usual expressionless demeanour back to its normal operational level.

 

“Don’t scare me like that...” sighed Akashi, giving  a short run towards the smaller male and readily entwining their fingers together at the same time as he held his hand. He gently caressed his features and then gave a playful pinch to his still extremely warm cheek. “When I didn’t see you there, I thought someone really had kidnap you while I wasn’t watching. Will I have to teach you on how not to make my heart stop, Tetsuya?”

 

“T-That wasn’t my intention,” apologized Kuroko, puffing his cheeks just the slightest as he used his free hand to pull the fingers pinching his face away. He then used the exact same hand to leisurely point at a nearby street trash can. “I noticed that I was still holding one of the dirty napkins from when we were eating pizza, so I simply went to throw it away. Please stop creating complicated matter where there are none, Akashi-kun.”

 

“We can never be too sure, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, softly clearing his throat due to the soft admonishment of the bluenette. “With the direction that certain things are going, it wouldn’t really surprise me if someone tried to snatch you away while we are outside of Teikou’s territory. It definitely wouldn’t happen during my watch, though, since I told you that I would keep my eyes permanently on you during the entirety of this date.”

 

“After everything that happened, are you still under the impression that I’m some sort of defenceless, sheltered princess?” deadpanned Kuroko, though his teal eyes showed a small tinge of indignation. “I can save myself very well, thank you very much. Just as much I wouldn’t let myself be kidnapped that easily.”

 

“I really want to believe in your words, Tetsuya. I swear I do,” said Akashi, looking over to the bluenette with an extremely grave and worried expression on his features. “But we are dealing with Shirogane Eiji and Hanamiya Makoto here, and at the same time, if I may add. Even if they aren’t working together, like Shirogane Eiji said, they are still two extremely troublesome problems that we will have to eventually deal with.”

 

“...What did Nijimura-san say?” inquired Kuroko, after brief seconds of silence on both sides.

 

“Nothing concrete, unfortunately,” answered Akashi, releasing a tired sigh. He gave a soft tug to the bluenette’s hand and both resumed with the designed route for this date. “He said that no one had any contact with Shirogane Eiji since the phone call they received yesterday after what happened in the Triphony Hall. Hanamiya Makoto obviously also went into hiding once again. However... both of them being so silent is something that I honestly worry about. Both of them aren’t the type to stay put for a long period of time, and they also have the tendency to take things to the extreme in order to get what they want. Hanamiya Makoto especially.”

 

“You sound very familiar with them...” unconsciously blurted out Kuroko, feeling sort of uncomfortable over having this kind of conversation with the redhead. It was extremely weird to be able to talk about being protect by someone that he viewed for years as his most fearful enemy.

 

“I have been dealing with Shirogane Eiji for quite a while now, since even before Teikou was found,” confessed Akashi, his mismatched gaze getting slightly downcast as they continued to walk through the packed with people street. “Due to my family’s connections with the Japanese government, his presence has been constant throughout my life. Not that we ever got along with each other, even before I _awoke_ as a ‘User’. Before I was a pawn that he could groom to have the future possibility of having me play according to his tune, after I _awoke_ I became a target of hatred from his behalf, since he’s probably one of the most prejudiced people on Earth when it comes to ‘Users’ and Teikou Academy. He ended up consenting to Teikou’s creation because he views it as an opportunity to lock all of us up in a single place and then just patiently wait for the right time to ‘exterminate’ us all in one go. Not that I will ever allow him to do something like that.”

 

“...”

 

“Hanamiya Makoto used to be a student from Teikou,” continued Akashi, straightening his walking stance and now looking right to what was in front of him. “He was inserted in the ‘Uncrowned Kings’ group and was called ‘Bad Boy’ due to his... unethical ways of doing certain things. He was an extremely good researcher and made quite a lot of discoveries in certain particularities of ‘Users’ and their abilities. However...”

 

“However?” repeated Kuroko, his head slightly tilted as he deeply observed the redhead, who had suddenly stopped in midsentence and was now completely silent, a deep frown creasing his brows.

 

“However, he started using his ability in the wrong way,” explained Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes momentarily flickering in anger at the numerous possibilities that the black haired male’s past evil deeds could resume once again in the near future. “His ability is sort of similar to mind control, though it also involves some other factors that are extremely disturbing. Behind everyone’s backs, he created his own organization, one made up of unregistered ‘Users’. It was similar to a black market – he kidnapped ‘Users’, whether registered and affiliated with Teikou or unregistered, and then sold them off to those that paid the highest amount. The abilities that the ‘Users’ detained were the main aspect to which he made his choices. And we discovered all this after Hanamiya Makoto attempted to kidnap Kazunari.”

 

“Hanamiya tried to kidnap Takao-kun?” inquired Kuroko, slightly taken aback by such a past event, one that he had absolutely no knowledge of. Most likely because, at that time, Shirogane Kouzou was still the Headmaster of Teikou Academy, not him.

 

“Yes, he indeed did,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a sharp nod of his head as his frown darkened even further. “When Kazunari entered Teikou in his second year of middle school, Hanamiya Makoto was one of the first few of the Student Council to read his file and, apparently, he took a liking to his ability almost right away. Not even half a year later, he tried to kidnap Kazunari during the night while he was going out shopping, but luckily Shintarou was there and stopped everything without anyone getting hurt. Well, the ones that tried to kidnap Kazunari are now well six feet underneath the ground, if you know what I mean, but Kazunari was considerably unharmed.”

 

“...”

 

“Shortly after the investigation about that case started, we discovered that the mastermind behind all this was Hanamiya Makoto and the process towards his punishment due to his vile actions was started,” continued Akashi, sighing deeply at how regretful he now felt over how things ended up going at that time. “But he suddenly disappeared from the map and was announced as a wanted criminal on every criminal, military and security channel directly related with Japan and ‘Users’. And now, after close to two years have passed, he has decided to show his face to us once again.”

 

“Because he now has another ‘User’ and his ability in his sight... right?” added Kuroko, now being his turn to sigh deeply at his own words. Truly... His life was truly nothing but problems and trouble, since the very beginning. What made it even worse was that most of the time his problems ended up adding innocent people to the mixture.

 

“Yes. If it really is something as simple as that,” acknowledged Akashi, tightening his grip on the bluenette’s hand. “Hanamiya Makoto is pretty much a genius on what he does, whether on his researches or on the evil schemes that he cocoons in his head. So who knows what sort of reasons he really has to show up after so much time has passed.”

 

“Pffft!” started laughing Kuroko, covering his mouth with his free hand. “I don’t think you are the ideal person to comment on both geniuses and their evil schemes.”

 

“I’m not a genius that creates evil schemes, Tetsuya...” mumbled Akashi, pouting slightly at the amusement showing in the smaller male’s features. He was once again teasing him, even though they were having a serious conversation at that moment. Was Kuroko truly trying to pay him back with the same coin all the teasing that he had made him go through or was this really related to what he had unconsciously blurted out previously when they were having lunch?

 

“If you don’t want to be seen as one, Akashi-kun, then I advise you to take caution of what you do and say in front of other people,” warned Kuroko in between soft chuckles. “There are already plenty of people who compare you to an evil mastermind. One that will apparently conquer Japan now, too.”

 

“I simply said that as a follow up to what you and Shirogane Eiji were talking about,” defended himself Akashi, his pouting now clearly showing on his face. “I have no intentions of conquering Japan, though expanding Teikou’s territory wouldn’t be such a bad idea. Especially with this whole animosity that we will have to face from the Japanese government.”

 

“...” All of a sudden, Kuroko came to a halt on his walking through the street, causing the redhead attached to him by their entwined hands to also stop. When Akashi looked over his shoulder in his direction, he found the bluenette staring down to the floor, his face twisted in pain. “Do you think... that a war between Teikou and Japan will really happen?”

 

“Most likely it will,” said Akashi, turning his body fully around and closing the distance between the two of them. “There’s no such thing as one sided aggression. If someone attacks, you defend yourself, possibly by hurting those on the other side. And that is called war, even if not revolving around a battlefield.”

 

“...”

 

“Don’t blame yourself for it, Tetsuya,” reassured Akashi, releasing the bluenette’s hand and taking a gentle hold of his features, which he pulled up in order to talk with him while looking directly into his gorgeous teal eyes. “Even if you weren’t involved in it, things would end up like this eventually. You simply hastened the process. Teikou may not be exactly prepared to face a full-fledge war, if that is what Shirogane Eiji is aiming at, but it’s not like we never saw this as a future possibility. Everyone working alongside the Student Council was very well aware of how strained the relationship between us and the Japanese government was – we have pretty much been tugging at a strained fishing line for years, so now there was a sudden, stronger pull to it and it burst. It can’t be fixed, obviously, but we can always get a new one. One stronger, more long-lasting and safer for both sides. Wouldn’t that be the ideal result?”

 

“But... Things aren’t that easy, Akashi-kun...” breathed Kuroko, taking a hold of the redhead’s forearms and tightly grabbing into them – the prickling sensation that he felt coming from Akashi was now possibly one of the most comforting sensation of his life, even with its meaning attached to it. “There’s just so, so much... that is not as simple as fixing a ‘fishing line’...”

 

“Because I don’t know your past?” asked Akashi, a small frown on his brows as he took a step forward and shortened their distance once again. He felt a pained stab on his chest when he saw the bluenette awkwardly nod his head. Just how much had Kuroko... “Does that have anything to do with those dates that you said out loud to Shirogane Eiji?”

 

“...” Twisting his nose a little bit at the redhead’s words, Kuroko first shook his head in denial but his movements soon morphed into another awkward nod. “Not exactly... But... Too many similarities to not be somewhat related...”

 

“I will not ask you anything more about this subject other than this,” softly said Akashi, giving light caresses to the bluenette’s cheeks through his hold on his face. “Whatever it was that you were doing in the past... are you still doing it?”

 

“...” Kuroko opened his mouth to answer but... What kind of answer was the safest to give? Which words would guarantee that he, Akashi and everyone else around him would continue to be far away from some of the numerous chains keeping his locked down in his troubled past? “I... 75%... I’m not doing it anymore... But... the other 25% is... something that I _can’t_ let undone...”

 

“And are those 25% related to those dates that you enumerated while talking with Shirogane?” inquired further Akashi, seriousness written all over his face as he tried to keep the bluenette telling him things, even if only in a roundabout way. Kuroko quickly shook his head around at the question. “Is it related to Teikou then?”

 

Akashi didn’t need to hear a single word from Kuroko to know that it was, the way he unconsciously averted his gaze almost as soon as their school’s name was put in that sentence.

 

“Okay,” acknowledged Akashi, softly releasing the bluenette’s features and getting a new hold of his cold hand, resuming straight away to their walking through the street. “Let’s move on then. We still have quite a lot of places to visit before the end of our date. And if we don’t hurry up, we won’t be able to do everything on time.”

 

“Ah... Um...” started babbling Kuroko, completely lost over the fact that the only reaction he had obtained from Akashi was... no reaction at all?

 

“You don’t have to worry about anything, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, taking a peek at the uncertain bluenette and sending him a quick smile. “If it’s related with Teikou, then I have nothing to worry about. There’s no way that anything ‘evil’ could be going around in it right now. It’s totally under my control, after all.”

 

“...”

 

“Also, I know for a fact that you definitely would never hurt anyone, much less a student,” added Akashi, his smile stretching even further as he lovingly gazed to the bluenette. “Because you, just as much as me, want to keep Teikou a safe and welcoming place for every ‘User’. Right?”

 

“Ah... Yes, I do...” acknowledged Kuroko, part of him slightly speechless over these follow up words of the taller male. However, his free hand unconsciously curled up on his upper clothes as his brain was filled with one single thought about this matter in particular.

 

_I do as a way to pay back all the harm I did to everyone there previously._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Can Do" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Akashi and Kuroko get closer and closer to each other, Akashi is more decided to finish their date successfully or blood will rain down, and a bit more about Shirogane and Hanamiya is exposed. But I think that what everyone is truly wondering about right now is... WHERE THE HECK DID YOU DISAPPEAR TO AND WHAT DID YOU DO IN THE BACK ALLEY, KUROKO!?!?!?!
> 
> (Please don't forget to check the website out~ You will like what you see there *winks*)
> 
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>  [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	169. A dazzling love – truth in the modern age

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AKASHI SEIJUUROU!!!!!!! XD My devilish angel is celebrating yet another birthday, growing bigger and bigger in our hearts with each year that passes by~ So, that's why I decided to give you, Akashi, several presents this year ^^  
> The first one being, of course, a double release for Shattered Miracles~ Two chapters in the same day, something that didn't happen for quite a while in this fic :3
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

“Taking into consideration that it’s a Monday and that this museum in particular is closed on such days...” started Kuroko, curiously eyeing the glass entrance door of Ryogoku Fireworks Museum while standing right in front of the building. “Why did you choose to bring us here today of all days?”

 

“If I said that it was because it was closed and that nobody would be there, you wouldn’t believe me, would you?” said Akashi, sideways glancing to the bluenette. When he saw an expressionless face that could be read as the sentence ‘obviously’, he couldn’t help but chuckle at it. “Well, it isn’t. I just felt like coming here since I’ve never visited this museum in particular. So, in a way, I was killing two birds with one stone.”

 

“Ah...” acknowledged Kuroko, his head tilting just the slightest as a part of him was telling him that there was more to it than the redhead was letting on. He could only feel extremely reluctant over that background flickering suspicion but the fact that he could enjoy a visit to a museum without anyone around him settled it down considerably – mostly since he could be together with Akashi in such an environment.

 

“Shall we go in, then? I’m pretty sure they are already waiting for us since it’s well past the time I had arranged with them,” suggested Akashi, giving a quick jerk to his chin in order to point at the museum’s building.

 

“Y-Yes, of course,” acknowledged Kuroko with an awkward nod of his head – it still feel somewhat embarrassing to interact with Akashi after the earlier blunder during lunch time. Though since he hadn’t said anything at all in that regard, the bluenette figured that, most likely, the taller male hadn’t taken his words in their true meaning, but maybe as some other word expression.

 

Kuroko wasn’t really sure if he should feel relieved at such... or if he wanted to beat some sense into Akashi until he understood what he meant by it.

 

“Contradictions again, huh...” softly mumbled Kuroko as he began to walk towards the front door of the museum while beside the redhead. In his features remained a soft blush, going as far as the back of his neck and the tips of his ears.

 

-.-

 

“Who would have thought that the Japanese firework history ran in such a way?” blurted out Kuroko as they reached the entrance area of Ryogoku Fireworks Museum a second time, now in order to leave after having crossed the entire museum from one side to another. “It’s really amazing how the human beings of that time were able to create this sort of amazing thing with such limited knowledge and advancement in science. It simply makes me wonder what would have happened if we still had the same mentality as back then but with the technology of today.”

 

“That’s a very good question,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a satisfied nod of his head as he felt once again over the moon. Having the bluenette all to himself for close to three hours, absolutely no one else around them during the entire visit to this museum, had that sort of effect on him, apparently. “But I think that such isn’t a possible scenario, unfortunately. Our mentality has changed because of the advancement in technology that we gradually acquired. I don’t think the humans of that era would be able to function properly with cell phones, much less with weapons of mass destruction.”

 

“I-If you put things like that...” mumbled Kuroko, feeling that he had been somewhat defeated with that last sentence alone. Though the Edo period has the sentence ‘no more wars’ deeply running in it, it wasn’t a very peaceful period, with the strict social structure and the isolation imposed to the whole country due to the arrival of foreigners to Japan by the means of the sea. If they had such military potency as Japan had now, most likely the 1st World War would have happened somewhere around the 18th or 19th century, not in the 20th.

 

Isolation was always something akin to be called a double-edged sword, to either sides of the game board.

 

“It’s not bad to think like that but... humans are humans,” added Akashi, already very well resigned over the words that he was about to utter. “Whatever period we were to live in, war, discord and social problems would be there. It’s simply impossible for humans to live peacefully for long periods of time. Even I wonder why that sort of thing seems to be the norm to our existence but I guess it’s some sort of reminder for every single one of us.”

 

“A reminder?” repeated Kuroko, completely lost on what sort of meaning that held in this type of conversation.

 

“A reminder that humans will never achieve perfection, no matter how much time passes or how much physical, technological and worldly evolution happens,” simply explained Akashi, with a quick shrug of his shoulder. “I mean, look at what is happening right now. Us ‘Users’ can be called superior in so many aspects when compared to humans. However, we are all kept separated from society by the means of Teikou Academy, are constantly victims of attacks and kidnapping attempts not only from humans but from our own, and are seen as nothing more than freaks of nature or failures of human experimentations. Our own mentality is the humongous roadblock to reach a perfect and idyllic society and world. We were limited from the very start to only reach this far.”

 

“That’s just... so sad...” said Kuroko, his eyes slightly downcast as he stopped in his track, the redhead quickly mimicking the latter. “Not the fact that we can’t be perfect or the fact that ‘Users’ are discriminated in every single sense of the word... But why would it be impossible for humans to reach a common ground in order to co-exist as a unified society? If that’s how far we can get... then why do we share so much with one another? Why are we all called ‘human beings’ if we can never see eye to eye with each other? This is... being worse than wild animals... They have a far more ‘human’ society than we will ever have.”

 

“It’s the reality we live in, Tetsuya,” sighed Akashi, motioning his hand forward and softly ruffling the bluenette’s hair. “Whatever changes we may try to make at it, whatever measures we take to fix problems... If what is inside remains the same, then everything will just return to the beginning at some point, no matter how much we try. It’s unfair, cruel and so very messed up... But that’s reality. That’s life. The best we can do it accept it and find out own strategies to somehow deal with it. Just like you do with me.”

 

“I think that dealing with you if far easier than dealing with reality at this point, then,” deadpanned Kuroko, feeling like rolling his eyes around at the almost leisure (and egocentric) way that the redhead had put himself on the same level as reality itself.

 

“You couldn’t have made me happier in such topic of conversation,” acknowledged Akashi, brightly smiling at the bluenette before leaning his upper body forward and delivering a sweet peck to his soft lips. “Could you wait here for a couple of minutes? There’s something that I need to check at the reception desk of the museum. It’ll just take me a couple of minutes so just find a place to sit down and I’ll go meet with you there.”

 

“Okay...” agreed Kuroko with a small nod of his head, his cheeks fully flushed in red as he averted looking directly to the heterochromatic eyes of the taller male while not fully looking away. He adjusted his hold to his bag, the one _supposedly_ meant for the treats to everyone back in Teikou, and made a bee line to the entrance door of the museum.

 

“God, he’s adorable,” softly sighed Akashi, a content small smile present on his features as he lovingly observed the bluenette step outside of the building. Releasing another sigh to try to shake off the obvious goofy expression that he most likely had at the moment, he turned around on his heels and also started walking towards his own objective, a smirk slowly substituting the previous love-struck expression. “One final confirmation and everything will be set in motion. Ahh... But I really can barely wait to see Tetsuya’s reaction when the curtain is finally lifted.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Punky Funky Love" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> My oh my *v* Their lovey-dovey day sure continues and continues, even with strange conversations in between the love~
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	170. Kick about without discarding the drawing of the present

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with the 2nd chapter of the double release~
> 
> I think I didn't get fully sated with the previous lovey-doveyness so... here some more~ Much more accentuated and emotional than the previous one >///<
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter *v*]

“Wai— Please just continue to stay still, okay...? I don’t want to use my ability more than it’s necessary...” softly whispered Kuroko, his hands carefully fiddling around with the contents of the bag he had been carrying since they left the Mochicream store.

 

“Tetsuya, are you ready to move on to the next location?” suddenly asked Akashi, stopping right behind the sitting bluenette, who was curiously playing around with the gift’s carrier bag while mumbling to himself.

 

“Y-Yes, I am, A-Akashu-kun!” yelped Kuroko, getting up from the street bench as quick as lightning, at the same time as he took a new hold of the bag and held it tight against his chest.

 

“Were you perhaps thinking of secretly eating some of the sweets that we are taking back to Teikou Academy?” mischievously inquired Akashi, a knowing smirk on his lips as he glanced straight at the bluenette. Seeing as he, for some reason, didn’t obtain more than a soundless blabbing from the smaller male, Akashi couldn’t help but chuckle at the cuteness that he was witnessing in first person once again. “Don’t worry, we will soon get to eat dinner. Though I’m sorry but it will have to be an early one since we have to go to another location afterwards and we can’t really afford to be late to that one.”

 

“I-I thought that going to Chanko Tomoegata was our last stop for the day,” said Kuroko, softly clearing his throat and lightening his hold to the bag before. “Where are we going after dinner?”

 

“That’s for me to know and for you to figure out once we get there,” enigmatically answered Akashi, a knowing smirk tugging the corner of his lips upwards. “Instead of going to the restaurant by public transportation or by taxi, I was thinking of walking there. It’s not that far away from here and it may serve to open up your appetite even further. Though it’s more than obvious that the dessert section there is far smaller than the one you are holding pnto.”

 

“I do eat normal food, Akashi-kun,” deadpanned Kuroko, feeling like rolling his eyes around at the half admonishment, half teasing that the redhead had thrown his way. “I do not know what sort of image you have of my eating habits, but I can eat just as normally as every human being on Earth, as I have proved you countless times throughout all the meals we have shared so far. You, on the contrary, were someone who had yet to know to taste of pizza until a couple of hours ago.”

 

“Oh please do forgive my rudeness but I believe I have indeed tried pizza before this day,” corrected Akashi, mimicking the same type of wording that the bluenette had chosen in order to potentially tease him one more time. He quickly motioned his head forward and delivered a soft but long kiss to the other male’s lips, a mischievous smirk painted on his once he parted them. “But I never got to try it in my beloved turtle dove’s presence so indeed, it counts as one of the countless first times that I have delivered to you on a silver platter, Tetsuya. I wonder how many of your firsts I have already stolen from you and how many more are meant for me only in the future?”

 

“...!” Face immediately exploding in a myriad of shades of red, Kuroko readily tried to hide his features by motioning his hands upwards and place the bag right in front of him but his wrists were taken hostage and swiftly kept around his waist level.

 

“Don’t hide yourself from me, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, a serious demeanour popping up on his face out of the blue. “I told you that I wouldn’t take my eyes off of you for the whole day. And I won’t allow even you to get in my way to accomplish such. You accepted to go on a date with me so your everything is mine to see and crave deep in my brain until the day is over. Good or bad – no matter what it may be.”

 

“Gh...” Kuroko let his gaze drop to the floor, trying to hide his magnanimous blushing expression from the redhead, even with the words that he had just declared. No, it was exactly _because_ of those words that he was doing his utmost to try to keep himself concealed from him, even taking their current positions into account. It was frightening, being seen by another person. More so when that other person was Akashi Seijuurou.

 

Because... what if Akashi became completely disillusioned with what he saw? What if he grew to hate him with what he discovered? What if Akashi decided to throw him away due to what he truly was and sent him over to Shirogane and the Japanese government in order to get rid of him by the means of a public execution?

 

“What exactly did I say that put you on the verge of tears, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, lowering his body slightly so that he could take a peek from below to the bluenette’s face. “Are you really that happy to know that I’m accepting you unconditionally?”

 

“......Eh?” softly interjected Kuroko, slowly raising his head a fraction of a millimetre and looking over at the smiling expression in the redhead’s features.

 

“You dummy, were you starting to have idiotic thoughts that this whole day was happening as a means to get more information out of you?” asked Akashi, straightening his body once again and taking a hold of the bluenette’s features, the pads of his thumbs softly rubbing out the tears that had gathered in the corner of Kuroko’s eyes. “Or were you thinking that this was a ‘farewell gift’ before I sent you over to Shirogane to be executed?”

 

“Ah... Wai— Akashi-kun, that hur—“

 

“I swear... The moment I leave you alone for a single minute, this happens...” sighed Akashi, rolling his eyes around just the slightest. He took a better hold of the bluenette’s features and pulled them over closer to his own face, bumping their foreheads together and staring deep into that gorgeous teal with his red and golden eyes. “Just because I haven’t been declaring such in the latest times, don’t go thinking that you no longer belong to me, Tetsuya!”

 

“...!”

 

“You may not have been mine before but the moment you bumped into me in the opening ceremony of this school year, you became mine and no one else’s,” confessed Akashi, a serious demeanour on his face that contrasted with how lovingly he gazed at the smaller male’s eyes. “Not as ‘The Phantom’. Not as a prisoner. Not as a possession or a play toy. But as my one and only turtle dove. I’ve told you time and time again. No one will ever take your place and I will surely not allow anyone to steal you from me or the end of the world will be the least of everyone’s concerns. You’re mine for the rest of your life, no matter who’s against it or opposes it. No matter what sort of wrong doings you did, who or how many you killed or what kind of secrets you still keep very well locked up in you. You belong to me so all of those sins belong to me too.”

 

“Akashi-kun, I— Mmhn,” started Kuroko but his voice was swiftly swallowed by a hungry and needy kiss, both of their lips seeking each other with the same affliction and passion. “Haa... Mnn... Haaa... Why... do you insist in... haa... interrupting me all the time...?”

 

“It’s payback for all the times you did the same to me,” huffed Akashi, leisurely licking the remnants of their heated kiss off of the bluenette’s lips afterwards. “It wouldn’t be fair any other way, would it now?”

 

“You’re the last person I want to hear preaching about fairness and paybacks,” mumbled Kuroko, leaning his weight slightly against the taller male’s body – it was pitiful how a single kiss (plus the prickling sensation version 3.0) could make him so weak in the knees.

 

“That’s true,” acknowledged Akashi, resting his chin on the bluenette’s shoulder at the same time as his arms gently surrounded his waist and softly held onto him.

 

Second after second passed by, their bodies ever so in the same position.

 

“Um... Akashi-kun?” hesitantly called Kuroko, which gained him nothing but a small grunt of acknowledgment from the redhead pretty much stuck to his body. “Weren’t we supposed to start our walk to Chanko Tomoegata?”

 

“We were,” acknowledged Akashi once again, this time using words. “Heh... But you’re probably too weak on the knees to walk right now, aren— Ugh!!”

 

“I think you are the one too weak in the knees to walk right now, Akashi-kun,” grudgingly spewed Kuroko after having sent a powerful gut punch to the redhead’s stomach. He turned around on his heels after having unglued the ‘damaged’ male from his body and leisurely started walking towards the main street of that area. “I’ll get a taxi for us since you seem to not be in any condition to walk. Just please do not hope to use my lap as a pillow once again because you won’t be getting any of that right now. Or ever again, most likely.”

 

“Ugh... And I’m... the evil one...” muttered Akashi, a deep frown on his face as a means to conceal his pained expression, his upper body bent forward as he used his knees as a support to not fall face down on the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> God... Can't I just... forget all the things of the past and put these two adorable turtle doves being like with each other at all times? ...I can't, can I...? TTvTT Well, at least let us enjoy it while it lasts, right?
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	171. The conclusion we should aim for is of a different emotion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with a new chapter~
> 
> And Mafy's also here to request for your help -.-' I... have a TON of KnB doujinshis that I want to translate. AkaKuro, AoKuro, KagaKuro, KiKuro, KiKasa, MidoTaka, MidoKuro, MuraKuro, MuraHimu, you name it and I most likely have that pairing in my possession (well... there are some exceptions, of course). I also have HQ!! and SnK djs in stock~  
> I can easily translate them and get a friend of mine to proofread them... but I have ZERO skills in cleaning and typesetting TTvTT So... would anyone be interested in helping me share more of all of these lovable cuties with the world? *v* If you could... maybe some rewards from my side could be unlocked? *wiggles eyebrows*  
> [You can find in my last Tumblr post the djs that are all translated and ready to be moved to the next stage XD]
> 
> Anyways~ While we wait for that buttload (no pun intended, if you know what I mean X3) of doujinshis to be released, why don't we enjoy one more chapter featuring our favourite pair of turtle doves? Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

“Welcome, Akashi-sama,” greeted a woman in her mid-thirties as soon as both Akashi and Kuroko stepped outside of the taxi that drove them to Chanko Tomoegata, a sumo restaurant in the Tokyo area that featured the exact same type of food that is given to sumo wrestlers to help them take on the weight needed for their profession. The woman was clad in a white shirt and black pants, a dark red apron placed over the pristine clothes. “I’ll be attending to you throughout your meal. If you could please follow me, I’ll lead you to your table.”

 

“Um... Akashi-kun...?” hesitantly called Kuroko as the both of them followed after the employee of the restaurant, swiftly stepping inside of the building that almost resembled a museum dedicated to sumo, with all the informational pamphlets and pictures in its entrance. “Why exactly did you choose this type of restaurant...? You know that I don’t have a big stomach...”

 

“Don’t worry, Tetsuya,” chuckled Akashi, one of his hands motioning sideways and taking a hold of the bluenette’s pinkie finger with his own. “I’m not going to force you to eat more than you can. You could take on some more weight, that’s for sure, but I quite like your slender body. It’s easy to carry around and pinning you down it’s like pushing a pillow against the bed.”

 

“Is that so? Then maybe I should go out of my way too and eat like a horse, with hopes to become overweight and prevent you from doing those two things for the rest of your life,” deadpanned Kuroko, expressionlessly staring at the redhead.

 

“I think your stomach would burst before you managed to pull such a feat,” pointed out Akashi, once again chuckling in amusement. “I don’t think your body was built with the ability to put on weight. Much like muscle, even though you can pack quite the punch when in a certain mood.”

 

“I’m starting to get the inkling that you want to experience yet another punch, Akashi-kun,” grudgingly mumbled Kuroko, sideways glaring at the redhead while his cheeks puffed out in indignation.

 

“I’m shutting up now,” conceded Akashi, a shudder actually crawling up his spine at such a thought. He had said it more on the joking side but the bluenette’s gut punchs truly were damaging, mainly because they always seemed to come out of nowhere. He was certain that he could easily stop them if he knew they were coming but if done as a surprise attack... Akashi had absolutely no way of defending himself against those painful punches since he always lowered his defences to the bare minimum whenever he was alone with Kuroko.

 

“Y-You don’t actually have to take my half-hearted threats so seriously...” shyly said Kuroko, feeling somewhat regretful of the way he was acting towards the taller male. He was doing and saying all of these things with good intentions, even if adding a little bit of teasing to the mixture. Kuroko couldn’t really grow to hate this side of him, though he could very well go without the teasing side of it. It felt warming and extremely soothing to be cared for in such ways, mainly because it was this person in particular that was taking this sort of actions towards him. “I only gut punch you under certain extreme circumstances. Or when you really piss me off...”

 

“So I’ve actually seen you pissed off several times now, huh...” acknowledged Akashi, softly nodding his head as he registered this piece of information inside of his brain and stored it with everything he already got to know about the bluenette. “Though you always look so calm, serene and expressionless, you are unexpectedly someone who blows a fuse very quickly.”

 

“Okay, so maybe not pissed off but extremely irked,” conceded Kuroko, rolling his eyes around in a masked way. “It’s something that you almost seem to be genius level at too – getting me to feel like gut punching you due to the words that come out of your perverted mouth. I don’t think I have ever hit someone so many times in such a short period of time, even taking Ao— all of my other acquaintances into consideration...”

 

“I can only say that I have mixed feelings over hearing such, Tetsuya,” sighed Akashi, pretending to not have noticed the little blunder that the bluenette had made while admonishing him. This was not the time nor the place to go back to that topic of discussion so he would allow to let it slip past him – for now, at least. He had a certain uneasiness running deep inside of his chest that led him to believe that soon something was going to shatter the dam keeping Kuroko’s and Aomine’s secret past relationship under lock and key. Part of him wanted to know... the other feared over what sort of things he would discover when everything came to light. “Then again, I feel somewhat proud over being able to annoy you.”

 

“Why would you feel proud over such a thing?” incredulously inquired Kuroko, a small frown on his brows as he switched his gaze back to the redhead, both of them reaching the table that would be used as their own throughout the meal.

 

“Because I just love to break that expressionless mask of yours and get to see the emotions that you truly feel behind it,” confessed Akashi, a bright smile on his lips as he purred those words, his heterochromatic eyes lovingly staring at his most beloved turtle dove.

 

“Uh...” softly groaned Kuroko, his whole face exploding in a myriad of shades of red at how easily the word ‘love’ seemed to have slipped out of the taller male’s tongue – even though he knew that such wasn’t what he felt towards him. He was sure of it. No, it had to be like that. “You’re really cunning sometimes, Akashi-kun...”

 

“It’s payback,” acknowledged Akashi, taking a hold of the backrest of one of the chairs and pulling it over in his direction, making way for the bluenette to take a seat on it. “Shall we start our meal? I don’t think I would be able to resist taking a bite if I started hearing your stomach growling in the same adorable way as always. And we do have a schedule to keep an eye on this time around so we better hurry up and dig in.”

 

“...” A little bit reticent, Kuroko did as he was told and sat down on the chair, his eyes suspiciously following after the redhead as he walked around the table and sat on the seat in front of him. “Now I’m the one who doesn’t know how to feel about what you just said... Where exactly are you taking us next?”

 

“You’ll find out if you are patient enough and eat your meal like you should,” teasingly announced Akashi, crossing his fingers on top of the table. “It’s not one of my ‘evil schemes’ so you don’t need to feel so nervous over it. I believe you will enjoy it much more than I will, even if I’m quite excited for it myself.”

 

“Coming from you, what more can I expect other than the worst?” sighed Kuroko, his features growing completely expressionless as he mumbled his next words. “I think you conditioned me to always be fearful of the unknown whenever it concerns you in any way.”

 

“That’s extremely interesting to hear from you,” acknowledged Akashi, his demeanour suddenly changing to a more serious and severe one. “I wonder if I can condition you in other things too... To make you unable to sleep unless I’m beside you or get you to kiss me every morning after we wake up... No, my priority should be to condition you to not pass out every single time things start to get steamier between u— Ouch!”

 

“Gut punching you is impossible right now but kicking you isn’t so please be mindful of what you say in the presence of other people, Akashi-kun,” grudgingly warned Kuroko, his teal eyes with a small fiery glint to them as he looked straight at the redhead.

 

“The food is already ready for the both of you,” informed the waitress, a soft and impartial smile on her features. “Would you like me to bring them over to you right now or would you prefer to wait a little while longer?”

 

“We’ll start now,” acknowledged Akashi, flashing a quick upturn of the corner of his lips to the waitress while giving an affirmative nod.

 

The waitress quickly bowed her head and elegantly turned around on her wheels, returning to the kitchen area to gather all of the dishes that were arranged to be served to the two unusual and unexpected customers. Twenty minutes later, the entirety of the surface of the table was filled with a diverse range of dishes, from main dishes to small plates with side ones.

 

“T-This is... more food than I can eat, even with two people...” said Kuroko, his shoulders slumping down as his eyes took in the huge amount of food right in front of him.

 

“It seems a lot but as soon as you start eating it, it will quickly disappear,” reassured Akashi, picking up his chopsticks and positioning them on his hand. “What would you like to try first?”

 

“Um... the dashimaki tamago... please,” hesitantly said Kuroko, slowly motioning his hand for his own set of chopsticks. However, the redhead was faster than him and used his own chopsticks to snatch one of the slices of the savoury rolled omelette from the small plate, lunging it forward in the smaller male’s mouth’s direction almost immediately. “Mmph!!”

 

“Good?” asked Akashi, a soft smile on his lips as he observed the bluenette munching on the sliced omelette more as a last minute reflex than as something purposely done.

 

After having swallowed the food in his mouth, Kuroko couldn’t help but sigh at the direction things were taking – _again_. “Akashi-kun, please tell me that you don’t want me to handfeed you once again, you handfeeding me too in return...”

 

“Would that be a bad thing?” asked Akashi, his head tilted to the left as he stared at the bluenette with beckoning puppy heterochromatic eyes.

 

“Uh... Not a bad thing per se but...” started babbling Kuroko, his heart hammering inside of his chest as his eyes carefully scavenged his surroundings. “But... it’s embarrassing... to do something like that... in this type of place...”

 

“Why?” asked further Akashi, tilting his head even further as he continuously stared to the smaller male, never breaking eye contact with him and preventing Kuroko from doing such himself with its intensity.

 

“Because... this is a public place...” mumbled Kuroko, his body unconsciously closing on itself in order to make himself seem smaller than he already was.

 

“There’s just the two of us here right now seeing as this restaurant was supposedly closed today,” pointed out Akashi, motioning his chopsticks to another dish and grabbing a round chicken tsukune, which he leisurely put right in front of the bluenette’s pursed lips.

 

“The waitress and the chefs in the kitchen...” added Kuroko, withdrawing his face a couple of inches to put some distance between his mouth and the deliciously scented meatball.

 

“I can send them away if you want,” said Akashi, shortening the forced out distance between his chopsticks and the smaller male’s lips once again. “It’s not like we will need any of them anymore until dessert time. If you want dessert, that is.”

 

“N-No, you don’t need to go that fa—“

 

“Then stop throwing half-assed excuses at me and simply enjoy your meal, Tetsuya,” interrupted Akashi, once again stuffing his chopsticks and the round piece of chicken meat inside of the bluenette’s mouth. “You told me to not hold back last week. Now it’s my turn to tell you the same thing. Stop holding yourself back and enjoy the time that you spend together with me. Stop thinking about other people or the way they will look at you. Stop thinking about what may happen in the future if you choose to do this or that. You overthink too much for your own good and sometimes that’s what comes to bite at you later in the game.”

 

“Doing things mindlessly isn’t a good solution either, Akashi-kun,” pointed out Kuroko after having swallowed the tsukune, a small frown on his brows at the half admonishment, half advice that the redhead was giving him.

 

“There’s a big different between not thinking at all and allowing your brain a small break,” pointed out Akashi in reverse, this time picking up a slice of tuna sashimi from the sashimi assortment in the middle of the table. “I can admit that I’m a workaholic very easily. Everybody knows that and I’m also aware of that side of myself. However, even I have moments when I take a break and stop thinking about everything around me, simply enjoying myself by doing something that I like or spending my time with someone that is dear to me. Previously, I used the time spent with my mother and, subsequently, my frequent visits to Kyoto to obtain such. But now I have you by my side. And I would like you to think about the time we spend together in the same way as I think about it.”

 

“Unfair... You’re being unfair once again...” whispered Kuroko, his eyes tightly closed as he tried to control the growing blush spread all over his features. After taking a deep breath, he picked up his chopsticks once again and lunged them towards one of the small round and deeper dishes, picking up a piece of the agedashi tofu with them and silently motioning it towards the redhead afterwards.

 

“See? It’s not that hard, is it?” acknowledged Akashi, fondly smiling at the bluenette as he leaned his face closer to his chopsticks and ate the tofu being handfed to him.

 

“It’s so hard that I feel like I’m going to die any moment now...” grudgingly muttered Kuroko, finally breaking his eye contact with the taller male and covering his bright red features with his free hand. “And I’ll kill you if you try to make any attempts of teasing me by using what I just said against me...”

 

“Such thought never crossed my mind,” chuckled Akashi after having delightfully swallowed the small squishy and savoury piece of tofu. “What did cross my mind, however, was how much I would like you to handfeed me every single day from this day on, much like sleeping in the same bed as you or bathing together.

 

“I-I think that would kill me at some point...” tried to deadpan Kuroko but he felt too bashful over those soft and leisure purrs to be able to succeed at it.

 

“There’s no way something like that could kill you, Tetsuya,” outright laughed Akashi this time around. A smile on his face he fully motioned the slice of tuna sashimi towards the bluenette and happily observed him eating and savouring it – even he was savouring this almost domestic atmosphere around the both of them. “Don’t they say that ‘what doesn’t kill you will only makes you stronger’? It’s impossible to apply that saying in physical terms but psychologically... I’m sure that all of those things would make the both of us much stronger than what we currently are.”

 

“What makes you think like that?” asked Kuroko, surprised and lost at the same time at hearing the redhead say something like that. Akashi was already considered the strongest ‘User’ in Japan and he held the title of Student Council President and Head of the ‘Miracles’, so why would he need to grow even stronger than he already was? And why with such actions? “It’s impossible that eating together with me or sleeping in the same bed as me or bathing together with me will get you any stronger than you already are.”

 

“Is that so?” said Akashi, his gaze lowering to the next dish in order to pick up a small piece of sunomono. “I think I have become much stronger since I’ve met you, Tetsuya. You would actually be surprised at how simple the reason for such is, but I think I will leave it for a later time.”

 

_Love makes a person grow stronger each day that they spend together with their other half. Hehehe... I wonder how strong I will be if I truly can keep Tetsuya with me for the rest of our lives... Maybe immortality could be an easy feat to achieve if I get to love him more than I already do._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "DOUBLE CORE" by Kamiya Hiroshi - our devilish redhead~
> 
> Ahh... Mealtime with Akashi and Kuroko sounds heavenly~ I wish I could join them and witness all of that bickering/flirting with my own eyes XD Something that I may be able to bring to reality in the near future after I spend my whole salary (more like a big chunk of it...) to buy all 7 life size tapestries of Kuroko + GoM + Kagami and declare to the world that I have gone broke :P Who needs food if I can drool at those hot hunks for the rest of my life? *shrugs shoulders* (jk)
> 
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	172. Each and every one of your passions exchanged to me are etched in my heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> Technically speaking, it's already tomorrow and Christmas' Eve so~ Here's my Christmas gift for everybody!!!
> 
> However! I must warn you of the following... This chapter is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS! Be cautious of your surroundings~
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this heavenly chapter X3]

“The taxi is finally here!” announced Akashi, taking a hold of the bluenette’s hand as soon as he noticed the parking of a yellow car right in front of the restaurant. Hauling Kuroko with him, they hurried across the dark street, only illuminated by the street lamps and the moon shining well above their heads, and readily stepped inside of the vehicle. “To Tokyo Skytree, the quickest you can!”

 

“R-Right away,” acknowledged the taxi driver, immediately putting the vehicle working once again at the urgency in the younger male’s voice.

 

“Um...” tentatively tried to call Kuroko, a question mark floating around his head as he tried to finally make head or tails on what exactly was to happen next. Akashi had just indicated Tokyo Skytree as the end point of the taxi ride but... Hadn’t they spent a long period of time during the morning there? Why did he want to go there again, more so since it was well past its closing hour?

 

“Honestly... We both got too caught up with our heavenly dinner,” heavily sighed Akashi, leaning his back on the backrest of the backseat of the taxi. He pushed one of his sleeves slightly up and took a quick peek to his wristwatch, softly clicking his tongue at what he saw in the screen. “There are times where it’s convenient to arrive a little late but this day is certainly not one of them...”

 

“Ah... Akashi-kun?” called Kuroko, still feeling hesitant towards what was occurring at that moment, mainly because he had _no idea_ of what exactly was happening. “Where are we going now?”

 

“Tokyo Skytree,” shortly answered Akashi, releasing another half exasperated sigh. “You just heard me say so to the driver, didn’t you? But now I’m starting to wonder if we’ll get there on time or not, taking the distance, traffic and the long path we have to take until our destination into consideration.”

 

“Why are we going back there?” asked Kuroko the million dollar question to the redhead, an eyebrow slightly arched in curiosity over such a recurrent destination they were about to find themselves in.

 

“Hm? So you still haven’t figure it out, after all,” acknowledged Akashi, a sudden satisfied smile popping up in his earlier frowning features. “Then I will keep the whole thing secret until the moment the curtain is pulled.”

 

“You’re starting to scare me, with all this secrecy over this final, I take it, visiting place of our date...” mumbled Kuroko, down casting slightly his gaze while staring to the seat in front of him. “It’s not that I’m starting to doubt you once again about you giving me up to the Japanese government or anything along those lines but... It’s nerve-wracking to be led into somewhere where you have no idea of what is about to happen to you, even if you do trust the person leading you to some extent.”

 

“It makes me happy – really happy – to hear you saying that you trust me, Tetsuya, but why would you need to feel nervous or reluctant about our date with everything that I’ve been telling you so far?” pointed out Akashi, rolling his eyes around at the bluenette’s uneasiness while inwardly chuckling at it. “If it helps you feel more relaxed then I’ll give you my word and permission to gut punch me all you want if you find something there that’s suspicious or that you dislike. Whether I get even more bruises on my stomach or whether you knock me out once again, go for it whenever something doesn’t feel right for you.”

 

“Can I gut punch you now and save myself the trouble of doing it later on?” deadpanned Kuroko, his teal eyes as dead as of a fish as he sideways glanced at the redhead. When he heard the taller male simply laugh at his words, he couldn’t help but be the one sighing this time around. “Just do whatever you want... I won’t say anything anymore. But please bear in mind that I really will gut punch you if you start taking things too far, Akashi-kun. Also, keep in mind every single warning that I have given you throughout this day.”

 

“You sure are keeping your defences high, this time around,” chuckled Akashi, leaning his elbow on the car’s door and letting the side of his head rest there while still keeping the bluenette under his constant gaze. “The worst that can happen to you is me going down on you for the hundredth time since we arrived to Sumida.”

 

“Wha—!?” yelped Kuroko, abruptly turning his head towards the redhead and looking over at him with a completely flabbergasted expression on his face. When the soft coughing of the driver reached his ears, he pulled his body further apart from Akashi and tried to make his body invisible by curling himself up slightly, even if just enough to not be seen by the older man in front side of the car. “I-I’m so done with you...”

 

“Yes, of course you are,” teasingly acknowledged Akashi, trying his very best to control his amusement and keep it well locked inside of him. He somehow managed to succeed at such, for the rest of the taxi ride was done in mutual silence, until they reached the nearest road to Tokyo Skytree and the initial rush started all over again. “Okay, we have to run now.”

 

“Wai— Akashi-kun!” yelped Kuroko, his arm once again being tugged by the redhead as he started to run towards the main entrance of Tokyo Skytree, all of its indoor lights turned off due to the late hour of the evening. His gaze constantly switching between Akashi and the closed main doors, panic once again started flustering his brain as they grew closer and closer and the door nearer and nearer, even though they remained very well locked. “A-Akashi-kun, wait! We’re going to— Ngh!”

 

Instinctively closing his eyes tight at the moment both of them were about to come crashing against the closed automatic door, Kuroko never felt anything being run into by the two of them, only the sudden change in the consistency of the floor he was quickly crossing. Once he opened them again, all he saw was the ticket counter area of the large tower.

 

“It’s well past 10pm so _supposedly_ Tokyo Skytree should be closed,” explained Akashi, still pulling the bluenette along with him until they reached the elevator that would take them to floor 350, where they would need to take a second elevator in order to reach floor 445 as quickly as possible. Once the two of them stopped right in front of the elevator and the redhead pressed the button to open its door, he released a soft breath and looked over to the smaller male with a mischievous smirk painted on his lips. “However, I pulled a few strings and managed to keep the doors open for a while longer after closing hours. This way, once again, we’ll have another dating spot all to ourselves.”

 

“How many... haa... strings exactly... haa... can you pull in a single day?” asked Kuroko, trying to catch his breath once again after the fast paced sprint they had to do to get to the insides of the tower.

 

“Well... In this world, if you have the right connections and are willing to pay the right amount of money, you can even put the sun rising from the west,” said Akashi, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders as he started motioning forward to get inside of the elevator, its doors having slid open as soon as it reached their floor.

 

“I take back my words. I’m definitely going to gut punch you the next chance I get,” declared Kuroko, feeling like facepalming himself at the redhead’s confession on how they had managed to visit half of the places that they had gone to throughout that day. “There are things far more important to spend your money in than in a simple date...”

 

“A simple date?” repeated Akashi, a serious expression on his features as he intently locked his eyes on the bluenette’s. “If you want to think of this day like that, I can’t stop you, Tetsuya, but for me, this is not ‘a simple date’. I’ve never had this much fun in my whole life, just as much as I’ve never gone on a date before. I gave you these two firsts of mine. And it was exactly because they were given to you that I decided to make the most out of it to the best of my capabilities. Maybe that way you would be willing to go out on a date with me once again. Maybe that way you would finally understand what I can’t tell you through words. I have both the connections and the money. Why can’t I use them to make us both happy? Why can’t I use them to make _you_ happy?”

 

“Ah...” As Kuroko was about to speak, the soft chime of the elevator announcing that it had reached its final destination echoed inside of the metal-clad square division and the door softly slid open once again. For the first time in his whole life, the bluenette cursed over how quick the elevator ride had been.

 

“Let’s continue. We still need one more elevator trip until we reach our final destination,” said Akashi, giving a quick soft smile to the bluenette at the same time as he pulled the two of them outside of the division. They quickly strode through the dark floor, this time completely void of visitors as it is expected to happen at this time of the night, until they reached the door that would connect them once again to the Tembo Galleria.

 

“Um... I’m sorry, Akashi-kun,” apologized Kuroko once the two of them got inside of the Tembo Shuttle and the doors closed. “I-It’s not like I’m making light of our d-date or something along those lines... It’s just... It’s a waste of your money to use it towards someone like me...”

 

“Your lack of self-worth appals me from time to time,” sighed Akashi, turning his body around and positioning himself right in front of the bluenette, who he softly, so very gently and lightly, kissed on the lips, his mismatched eyes always staring deep into the teal ones. “It’s my money so I will spend it the way I want or for whoever I want. If I deem you worthy to use my money on, then that’s an indication that the rest of the world should start considering doing the same. You should start to realise just how important and fundamental your existence is for my life, Tetsuya, and I’m the type of person that will use every and any resource around me to keep that existence permanent.”

 

Heart fluttering and beating a hundred miles an hour inside of his chest, Kuroko pretty much felt his whole body melt at those words. Other people, and even himself a couple of months back, would have heard those sentences as the words of a spoiled brat that wanted to keep something solemnly for the sake of being able to say that they possessed such. But now, there was nothing more that Kuroko yearned for than to have concrete proofs that he was someone worthy enough to stand by Akashi’s side, someone that could remain together with him in Teikou.

 

If those proofs were to take the shape of fleeting kisses while hidden from everyone, handfeeding him in the middle of a packed restaurant or sharing the same bed for the rest of his days... Kuroko wasn’t unwilling of any of it in the least. They were all very much welcomed, in fact.

 

“We’re here...” announced Akashi as soon as the door of the shuttle started opening once again. As he got outside of the elevator  with the smaller male, he took a quick glance to his wristwatch once again, clicking his tongue a second time at what he saw in the screen. “...and we will be cutting it quite close. We’re in for one final sprint, Tetsuya.”

 

“Again...?” softly whined Kuroko as his arm was pulled all of a sudden once again, this time almost making him drop the bag he had been carefully carrying the whole day. Good thing he didn’t, for its contents would be revealed if it was dropped or thrown to the floor.

 

By the time the two of them arrived to the last floor accessible in Tokyo Skytree, Kuroko was panting hard as if he had just ran a whole marathon without taking a break or drinking any liquids at all. Once they stopped right in front of the column signalising the highest point of the humongous tower, he couldn’t help but let his knees give in under the exhaustion he felt for the continuous running around.

 

“Please... haa... just give me... haa... a couple of minutes... then I’ll get up... haaa... once again...” panted Kuroko, wiping the sweat accumulated on his forehead with the back of his free hand.

 

“Don’t worry, we’re here,” announced Akashi, lowering his body and circling the bluenette’s waist with his arms. He gave him a gentle pull and picked him up from the floor, bring the two of them deeper inside of the Sorakara Point, their reflection showing in the mirrored walls of the cubic division.

 

“We’re... here?” repeated Kuroko, an eyebrow slightly arched as he observed the redhead laying his body back down to the floor.

 

“Yes, we’re here. And just at the right time,” acknowledged Akashi, a bright and angelical smile tugging the corner of his lips up as he motioned sideways and sat down right next to the bluenette.

 

All of a sudden, Kuroko’s whole world burst into an explosion made of hundreds and hundreds of different colours, the night turning into day momentarily every time that one more firework flew high in the sky and then detonated in different shades of yellow, green, red, purple, blue, white, every single basic colour that was known to the human specie.

 

Around them, the mirrors in the walls mimicked the show happening directly in front of them and filled their surroundings with a rainbow coloured ambience, so full of light and life that anyone would have mistaken it as the path leading to Heaven.

 

“...” An astonished smile on his features, Kuroko observed fixedly the show happening right in front of their eyes, the two of them surely being the ones with the best front row seats to the awe-inspiring firework display which he had heard nothing of throughout the whole day. Then again, much like Akashi had indicated at some point, their whole day and the places they had visited had been programmed for the arrangement of this final dating spot to be successfully concluded. Every single time that Akashi had disappeared and broken his word on maintainining the bluenette under his gaze at all moments, it had been most likely to make all the necessary preparations for it, using the mentioned connections and money to do such. “Did you...?”

 

“It may have been purely a coincidence that I discovered about it when you nullified my presence together with yours during lunch time but...” started Akashi, a soft smile on his lips as he observed the fruits of all of his hard secret work throughout that whole day. Slowly, he motioned his hand sideways and placed it on top of the bluenette’s, his thumb gently caressing his skin. “If you live in a world without colours, I will return them to you. If you are nothing more than a broken monster, then I will make you whole again and return humanity to you. If you need to pay back the world for all the sins you have previously committed, give them all to me and I will erase them from our lives. Whatever it is that you want – a house, a country, world-wide peace, my life – I’ll give it to you. The only thing that I want in exchange for all of those things... is for you to continue to smile by my side for the rest of our lives.”

 

A smile stretching his lips like it had never happened in his whole life, Kuroko dropped his head sideways and leaned his cheek on the redhead’s shoulder, remaining in absolute silence as he heard the continuous explosions happening right outside of the windows.

 

“You won’t be able to enjoy the fireworks with your eyes closed, Tetsuya,” pointed out Akashi, taking a peek at the bluenette’s expression while wondering why exactly hadn’t he said anything at all after he made such an appealing life-time offer to him.

 

“There are some things that you can enjoy even if you don’t see them,” said Kuroko, his eyes softly closed as he relished in the presence right next to his body, the familiar augmented prickling sensation almost screaming at him who’s the person whispering all of those sweet and melting words. “Just like some answers aren’t needed to be said out loud for the other person to know it.”

 

 _And knowing that is more than enough for now,_ acknowledged Akashi in the back of his head, his smile widening even further as he grabbed onto the bluenette’s hand. He softly leaned his face closer to Kuroko’s and landed a gentle and chaste kiss on his smiling lips. When he parted from those soft and warm fleshy bits of the human body, Akashi found Kuroko’s teal eyes open once again, lovingly staring in his direction. “I’m sorry... I broke one of your warnings about kissing you in public places.”

 

“We’re not exactly surrounded by spectators right now, though,” pointed out Kuroko, chuckling softly at the puppy eyes that the redhead was displaying on his handsome features.

 

“That’s true,” acknowledged Akashi, both of them shifting their hands at the same time and slowly entwining their fingers together, so tightly and closely to one another that nothing – not even fate itself – would have enough strength or audacity to separate them once again. He leaned his face closer once again, the tip of his nose softly rubbing against the bluenette’s before he gently pressed his lips once again on the other male’s, the kiss growing more passionate as their lips continued working against one another.

 

“Mmhn!” With his small yelp muffled by the mouth closed down against him, Kuroko had absolutely no time to react when his body was tugged towards Akashi’s and his back landed right on top of his upper legs, the kiss growing even further in intensity and desire as he got fully surrounded by the slightly larger body of the redhead. When their lips finally came apart, a thin string of saliva shining in several different shades as the fireworks continued to colourfully illuminate their paradisiacal escapade maintaining their previous connection intact. “Haa... You’re starting to take things too far, Akashi-kun.”

 

“I’m sorry, Tetsuya, but given the circumstances and this type of setting, I thought I would use a more movie-like approach this time around,” explained Akashi, chuckling softly as he absentmindedly played with the smaller male’s blue locks of hair with the pads of his fingers, his eyes staring at Kuroko’s red-stained cheeks with adoration.

 

“That was unexpectedly cheesy of you,” laughed Kuroko, shifting his head around while on top of the redhead’s lap and bringing it closer to his torso. “But somehow... Since it was you who said and did it, it doesn’t come out as such as much as it would if it had been any other person doing it.”

 

“Really, now?” acknowledged Akashi, this time him being the one laughing at the other’s words. He dropped his hand further and softly traced the bluenette’s features with his fingers, taking great relish on how relaxed he had managed to make Kuroko and at the fact he was so easily leaning in towards his touch, seeking to grab a hold of more of his warmth by his own initiative.

 

“Yes, really,” affirmed Kuroko, softly smiling at the redhead while motioning his hand upwards and rustling his fingers through the silky red locks of the taller male, a ticklish sensation coursing through his skin at how fleeting the touches were. “It was actually sort of cute.”

 

“Cute? Me?” inquired Akashi, extremely surprised and taken aback by being called such. Never once, in his whole life, had anyone called him such. ‘Evil’, ‘manipulative’ and ‘cold’ were pretty much daily occurrences, just like the frequent ‘handsome’ and ‘hot’ – but never such a loving purr of ‘cute’.

 

“Yes, cute,” acknowledged Kuroko, lowering his hand one more time and settling it on top of the redhead’s one that had been left over his chest. “But in a devilish type of cute.”

 

“Your definition of cute is weird,” laughed Akashi, smiling satisfactorily at the bluenette from above. He leaned his face in his direction and gave a fleeting peck to his forehead, another one to the bridge of his nose soon following.

 

“Just as much as yours,” pointed out Kuroko, this time him being the one that enlaced his fingers on the redhead’s, allowing their connected hands to remain on top of his laid down body.

 

“I’m totally fine with it being weird,” purred Akashi against the bluenette’s lips, so close to one another that they softly brushed against one another as he spoke.

 

“And who says I’m not?” whispered Kuroko also against the redhead’s lips, giving a final jerk with his head to finally fully close the distance between their lips and get to kiss someone else on his own – simply because he wanted to kiss the other person – for the first time ever.

 

Akashi, obviously, didn’t have enough self-restraint on his being to be able to resist the so yearned for advances coming from the bluenette’s side, hungrily devouring those sweet petal-like lips as if they would quench all of his insatiable desires.

 

“Mmhn... Haa... Akashi-kun...” softly whimpered Kuroko in between an endless exchange of kisses and entwined tongues, his free hand motioned up and circling the redhead’s head in order to bring their bodies even closer to one another. His fingers leisurely ran though the refreshing red locks, breathing rhythm growing wilder and heavier in arousal. “Ngh... Akashi...kun... Mmnh...!”

 

“You really like touching my hair, don’t you...?” said Akashi, his breathing also dishevelled after the long and passionate kiss. He gave one more peck to the bluenette’s lips and then simply relished on the soft touch of the fingers running through his hair.

 

“Nn, I do...” acknowledged Kuroko, still breathless as he softly smiled at the redhead. His hand motioned through his hair and fell down to his features, gently cupping one of his cheeks and delivering soft caresses with his thumb to the feverish skin underneath. “I don’t usually like red things since they bring back too many bad memories from the past. But... I like your hair and I really like to touch it. I also like your eyes. Like I said the other day... I think that they are beautiful, even if they represent the fact that you are not one, but two – one belongs to you, in a gorgeous and gentle red colouring, the other is meant for your other self, in an indomitable golden shade.”

 

“...!” Extremely taken aback by the bluenette’s words, Akashi simply stared at his smiling features with a completely flabbergasted expression on his, his mismatched eyes open wide and lips slightly parted. Another gentle caress to his cheek was the reason why he managed to wake up from his stupefaction, another angelic smile surfacing on his lips as he carefully cupped the bluenette’s features in return and brought their faces closer to one another. “I also like your blue hair. I like your teal eyes, with a depth more intense than the ocean. I like the way you admonish me when I do something bad or step over the line. I like your adorable unhealthy addiction to vanilla and sweets in general. I like your unpredictability and how you always ruin my plans with it. I like your stubbornness and how you hate to lose against me or any other person. I like how you put your life on the line if it means you get to help someone else, even if complete strangers to you.”

 

“...” Cheeks softly painted in a pink shade, Kuroko silently listened to the redhead’s voice, a smile always present on his lips as he lovingly stared deep to his eyes and relished in the warmth developed around them.

 

“I like all that and so many other things about you, big or small,” continued Akashi. He softly shook his head and then bumped his forehead against the bluenette’s. “No... ‘Like’ is not the correct word to describe it. I lo—“

 

“Woof!”

 

“...!” Suddenly interrupted by an out of nowhere bark, both Akashi and Kuroko looked over in the direction where the sound had come, the area around them now more shadowy than before due to the ending of the firework show.

 

Right in front of them was a small black and white dog, its eyes just as teal as the bluenette’s. Its tongue was sticking out as it panted and tail quickly wagged around in excitement while it remained sat down and closely observed the two humans in front of its eyes.

 

“And where did you come from...?” inquired Akashi to no one in particular, straightening his back and sitting position as he curiously observed this unexpected presence in the off hours and closed tower. When he felt the bluenette half on top of his upper leg twitch just a fraction at his question, he just had a terrible bad feeling about it. “Tetsuya... Did you perhaps bring this dog with you?”

 

“Um... Maybe...?” hesitantly answered Kuroko, inwardly cringing over the terrible timing with which his cover was blown.

 

“Where did you even find this dog?” sighed Akashi, softly rubbing his temples with the pads of his fingers.

 

“H-He was inside of a cardboard box in the alley next to the fast food joint where we had lunch...” explained Kuroko, motioning his upper body up and coming to a sitting position on the floor beside the redhead once again. The small dog immediately trotted in his direction, lovingly nestling his head against one of his legs, and the bluenette couldn’t help but softly pat his head and scratch behind his ears. “I just... couldn’t leave him there... He’s nothing but a puppy!”

 

“And you were going to keep him hidden until...?” asked further Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched on his brows as he crossed his arms over his chest and sent a judging stare at the smaller male.

 

“Until we returned to Teikou Academy and I left him in Kagami-kun’s care back in Seirin Dorm?” hesitantly answered Kuroko, feeling that he was about to be heavily admonished by the redhead any moment now.

 

“Are you an idiot?” said Akashi in the shape of a heavy sigh, hearing the bluenette softly groan at his harsh words. “It’s too late to do it tonight but tomorrow morning we’ll take him to an animal shelter before going back to Teikou.”

 

“Akashi-kun!” yelped Kuroko almost as soon as the redhead finished his sentence. He picked the little puppy from the floor and protectively held it in his arms, pressing it against his chest as he beckoned to the taller male with his teal eyes – much like the small animal was doing with the same set of teal eyes that it possessed. “Do you have any idea of how terrible it would be to put him in an animal shelter? Not only was he separated from his mother and father, he was put inside of a cardboard box and abandoned in a back alley where I doubt a lot of people pass by. If I hadn’t found him today, he would have probably starved to death or died from the cold weather and rain! I will most certainly not put him in an animal shelter where I don’t know in which conditions he will be living in!”

 

“Tetsuya, we can’t take him with us,” sighed Akashi, averting looking at the two sets of teal puppy eyes looking over in his direction. At this point, he was speaking as much for the bluenette as he was trying to remind himself to not succumb to Kuroko’s begging. “Our hotel room doesn’t allow pets and Teikou is not an animal shelter either. You can’t just suddenly show up there once again with a dog hidden inside of a bag and drop it at Kagami Taiga’s door as if a souvenir from your trip with me to Sumida.”

 

“Then please use your string pulling skills to find a way to allow us permission to keep him with us in the hotel room just for tonight,” simply said Kuroko, hugging more tightly into the small dog as if fearing that the redhead would snatch it away from him and put him back in the same place where he had found him. He knew that Akashi wasn’t as cruel and coldhearted to do such a thing but... if he knew better than that... “Once we return to Teikou, I’ll do my best to try to find a loving new house and owner for him. So... Please let me take him back with us, Akashi-kun. Please...”

 

“..............................................................................................................Fine...”

 

_It’s your undeniable victory this time, Tetsuya..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Return" by Kamiya Hiroshi - Akashi fucking Seijuurou XD
> 
> FINALLY! Just... fucking finally! I know, I know, they got cockblocked again, this time by a new adorable character that will show up a lot of times from now on, but... still... I cried... I cried so much while writing this chapter that I feel tears threatening to come out once again as I write this end note TTvTT I'm just so whole heartily happy for Kuroko and Akashi that I just... Oh god... Just give me a moment please... *goes search for tissues to wipe the waterfalls*
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Hiejima Mutsumi Website](https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi)   
>  [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	173. Even though I meant to be able to laugh and see it, the long distance seems so far away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with the last release of this year!
> 
> 2017 has reached its ending and, together with it, we have reached the last chapter of the pastry competition mini arc~ From now on, we are back to the main story line and, unfortunately... the so feared earthquakes will start striking once again TTvTT But 2018 is almost, almost here and so we should make one of its yearly resolutions to give a happy ending to every single character featured in Shattered Miracles, right? ^.^
> 
> Also~ Luckily, I have managed to find a wonderful, wonderful cleaner to help me with the doujinshis! Now all that is needed is a wonderful, wonderful typesetter to finish the job~ But if another cleaner were to volunteer to give us a hand, I would be much appreciated since I translate around 1-2 doujinshis per week and I don't want to overwork my wonderful, wonderful cleaner -.-' So if there would be anyone interested in helping us out, please give me a shout! :D
> 
> Moving on~ Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter ^^]

“Yes, we’ll be returning to Teikou tomorrow with 100% assurance,” sighed Akashi, closing the door behind himself after having allowed space for Kuroko to step inside of their hotel room with the new ‘addition’ to their trip. “Though I don’t know exactly at what time we will be arriving due to some... uncalled for changes.”

 

 _“Uncalled for changes?”_ repeated Nijimura, his voice sounding extremely distrustful over what the redhead was saying. _“What exactly happened during your so called ‘date’ with Kuroko?”_

 

“You’ll meet the annoyance tomorrow,” grudgingly mumbled Akashi, a glare on his eyes as he continuously observed the growing friendly relationship between the bluenette and the small dog, which was walking around the room smelling and exploring everything, always accompanied by the smiling smaller male. When the little puppy came running towards Kuroko, who readily picked him up, and then gave a couple of loving licks to his cheeks, Akashi couldn’t help but feel a sudden rage attack at how cutely Kuroko giggled at the action. “If he survives until then...”

 

 _“Ah...”_ hesitantly acknowledged Nijimura, not really understanding what exactly the redhead was feeling so displeased about. If someone there had reasons to feel irked or even wrathful, it was him, who had not slept for over 48 hours due to the work that a certain _someone_ was ignoring in order to have fun with his boyfriend or whatever incredulous relationship they had. _“Anyway, just give me a call when you are almost arriving to Teikou. We need to give permission for the security guards to let the car you come in get inside of our area, since you were ingenious enough to proclaim right in front of Shirogane-san that all humans were banned from Teikou Academy and he took your word on the matter to the extreme, it seems.”_

 

“You saying that only makes the idea of returning to Teikou less appealing, you know?” pointed out Akashi, fully walking inside of the room while taking off his coat.

 

 _“As usual you suck at telling jokes,”_ sighed Nijimura, rolling his eyes around from the other side of the phone call. _“But if lying makes you come back, then... Teikou Academy is a wonderful and peaceful institution, you know~ You hear birds singing all day long and at night there’s not a single mosquito flying around~ The food is delicious and the rooms aren’t that bad, for student accommodation! Come now and get a discount of 10% per night!”_

 

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then, Shuuzou,” said Akashi after having ignored all the fake propaganda that the older male was spewing about their school. He pressed the end call button and settled the electronic device on top of a small side table next to the place where he had dropped his coat. A dissatisfied expression on his features, he walked over to the bluenette and picked the small dog from his arms.

 

“Ah! Wai—“ readily complained Kuroko when the little and adorable animal was snatched from his grasp. But his words were cut off when the redhead started pushing him towards the bedroom through the means of one of his hands tightly pressed against his lower back.

 

“It’s very late already so all children should put their pajamas on, brush their teeth and get in bed,” announced Akashi, stepping inside of the master bedroom right behind the bluenette. As soon as he achieved such, he put the little puppy back on the floor, outside of the room, and slammed the door close. “So let’s hurry and go to bed, the two of us, okay?”

 

“At least you admit that you are behaving in a quite childish way,” deadpanned Kuroko, his arms crossed over his chest. He turned around and walked back to the door once again, motioning his hand to the knob to open it.

 

“Give me some attention and I’ll stop being childish,” declared Akashi, taking a hold of the bluenette by grabbing him by the waist and pulling him apart from the door. When he saw Kuroko open his mouth to throw some more complaints at him, he quickly shut him up by the means of a quick kiss. “You promised me this whole day exclusively. Since you have been continuously paying attention to that dog for an hour now, the time limit has been extended in a 1:10 portion. For each minute you spent petting and being licked by him, you now owe me ten more minutes of extension period of our date.”

 

“Akashi-kun... Have you hit your head somewhere or am I starting to have hearing problems?” blurted out Kuroko, motioning one of his hands up and softly pressing it against the redhead’s forehead in order to measure his temperature. “Because you almost sound jealous of a puppy right now.”

 

“...” Twisting his nose at the bluenette’s words, Akashi quickly averted the smaller male’s curious gaze. “Would there be any problem if I was?”

 

“Yes, there would be a major problem if you were,” acknowledged Kuroko, softly giggling at this unexpected situation he had found himself in. “That’s too cute of a behaviour for your usually smug and confident self.”

 

“He’s not going to sleep in our room, no matter how much you sugar-coat your words, Tetsuya,” mumbled Akashi, pouting as his cheeks gained a slightly pinkish shade on them. “He’s definitely _not_ going to sleep here! I’ve claimed that spot and you know it. No matter how much you beg me or stare at me with puppy eyes, that dog will _not_ sleep in our room!”

 

_Ten minutes later..._

 

“There, much better than what you previously had, right?” softly said Kuroko, gently ruffling behind the small dog’s ears after having built a make-shift dog bed with pillows and blankets on the floor, right next to the feet of the bed. “And I’m sure that when we return to Teikou and find a good owner for you, they will give you a much better sleeping place than this one.”

 

“Woof!” barked the dog in acknowledgment, its tail happily wagging around as it allowed itself to be warmly snuggled against a soft and paradisiacal bed.

 

“I’ll try to get you some food in the morning so please be patient until then, okay?” added Kuroko, carefully straightening the blanket wrapped around the little puppy’s torso and then giving one more caress to its fluffy head. He got up from his crouched position and looked over to the bed placed right next to him. “Akashi-kun, we can go to... bed... now...”

 

“Metal phosphides are the best chemicals to kill rats... But it’s not an immediate death...” mumbled Akashi, sat down on the bed with his elbows pressed against his knees and fingers entwining in order to rest his chin on them. “It may take one up to three days for it to have effect... That’s too long... Something faster and even more permanent is in need...”

 

“A-Akashi-kun... You’re starting to scare me...” hesitantly said Kuroko, taking a couple of steps backwards as he intently kept his eyes on the wrathful and vengeful glare of the redhead. “M-Maybe... it would be better if I... took him with me outside and... we slept in the living room...”

 

“Jest not, Tetsuya,” started Akashi, getting up from his sitting position on the bed and predatorily walking over in the bluenette’s direction, a smile on his face that seemed more threatening than a demon ready to slaughter humanity. “It seems that you have paid a small favour to this little thing pestering you continuously. So why don’t you pay me a small favour too? Fairness is one of the things that you like to preach the most, isn’t it?”

 

“Ah... Um...” started babbling Kuroko, trying to keep a fair distance between him and the redhead at the extremely bad feeling he was having at that moment. “Um... W-What is it that you want, Akashi-kun...?”

 

Stopping right in front of the bluenette that got cornered between him and the wall behind them, Akashi mischievously smiled – a smile far more evil than mischievous, as far as it concerned the smaller male. He motioned his hand forward and gave a soft tug at Kuroko’s clothes. “First of all... why don’t you take your clothes off? All. Of. Them.”

 

“—!” With a silent scream stuck in his throat and a magnanimous blush covering the entirety of his features, Kuroko awkwardly pulled the redhead’s hand out of his clothes and tried to escape from his grasp – useless attempts, he knew, but trying was better than outright surrendering. “A-As I thought... I-I’m going to sleep in the l-living room... Please have a n-nice rest...”

 

“I’m not letting you escape, Tetsuya,” declared Akashi, lunging both of his hands forward against the wall and cutting all of the bluenette’s available escape routes. “So... Will you take them off or shall I do such myself?”

 

_30 minutes later..._

 

“Ugh... This is too cruel...” softly sobbed Kuroko, his naked body protectively wrapped around the blankets of the bed as he remained well crouched up over himself in order to defend himself and his exposed body at the best of his ability. “Better yet... This is too humiliating for me to sleep like this... Akashi-kun, p-please let me put my clothes back on...”

 

“No,” readily denied Akashi, adjusting the leftover blankets over his laid down (clothed) body and putting some more also on top of the bluenette. “If you want to blame someone, then blame that dog, not me.”

 

“You’re not making any sense again...” sighed Kuroko, his voice slightly muffled due to his hidden position in the middle of the bed sheets. “Just let me put my clothes on... I really won’t be able to sleep like this... I don’t even understand how there are people who can.”

 

“It’s not like I’ve never seen you naked, Tetsuya,” mischievously said Akashi, hugging the bluenette from behind and tightly holding him against his chest. Sighing softly in relish, he leaned his chin over the smaller male’s half hidden head and snuggled himself against the warm and bashful body.

 

“Case by case... Again, have you never heard of that expression?” deadpanned Kuroko, hiding himself even better in the midst of the mountains of fabric around them. “This t-type of circumstance... is completely d-different from what happened before...”

 

“Hm... That’s true,” acknowledged Akashi, trying to think of a way to make the bluenette just as relaxed as all the previous nights where they shared the same bed. This night seemed that such a task could come out as slightly more difficult than all the others. “But if I remember correctly, the last time I saw you naked it was while we were taking a bath together and I had my fingers inside of you.”

 

“Wha—!?”

 

“Then I carried your unconscious body back to bed, completely naked and fully at my other self’s mercy,” added Akashi, snuggling closer to the bluenette, who was retracting his body more and more. Chuckling softly, he continued. “My point is... did I do anything that you disliked at those times?”

 

“The list would be far too big for me to start, at this point...” grudgingly mumbled Kuroko, giving a powerful pinch to one of the arms tightly around his waist.

 

“And it will most likely only continue to grow in the future,” acknowledged Akashi, delivering a soft kiss to the back of the bluenette’s head. “I’m sorry, Tetsuya. Did I take it too far, just now?”

 

“Yes, you most certainly did,” sternly declared Kuroko, pinching even more tightly the redhead’s flesh. “Now, if you are truly regretful, let go of me and let me dress in my clothes once again. I can’t say that my body is getting cold but my soul is definitely dying a little bit more every second that I spend in such a humiliating display...”

 

“Then... sleep with my clothes on,” lovingly purred Akashi on the bluenette’s ear, feeling his body trembling just the slightest against his chest. “Will you put my clothes on and sleep right next to me with them covering your body, Tetsuya?”

 

“Y-You really are acting even more weird than usual...” mumbled Kuroko, his features about to explode with the temperatures that his blush had taken. All of a sudden, he turned his body around and quickly nestled directly against the redhead’s body, his hands awkwardly grabbing into his clothes in the middle of the messy bundle of bed sheets. “You were definitely lying when you said that you weren’t trying to s-seduce me...”

 

“I can throw those words right back at you,” sighed Akashi, inwardly starting to chant the same calming mantra which he would wind up resorting to when he had to keep himself in check and the bluenette was pretty much tempting him to take a bite in every single sense of the word. He gave one more soft peck to the crown of the smaller male’s head and let his cheek rest against it. “Have a good night, Tetsuya.”

 

“Nn. You too, Akashi-kun,” softly said Kuroko, burying his features even more strongly against the redhead’s chest.

 

 _I honestly don’t know if I should call this a God send or a trial by the Devil,_ inwardly sighed Akashi, trying to forget certain details of their current circumstances and focus solemnly on the fact that they were yet again sharing the same bed. Breathing in Kuroko’s wonderful sweet scent, he silently remained laid down next to his beloved turtle dove, so very grateful that the most important person in his life was still right there, at the grasp of his hand, and that his body held the same warmth, his lungs the exact same breathing rhythm as every night and his heartbeat thundered against his ribcage and the chest it was leaning over. _Ahh... Tetsuya is alive. He’s really alive._

 

“...” Slowly opening his eyes and switching his gaze to the ceiling, Akashi focused his heterochromatic eyes on the lamp and...

 

“Ngh... Is something the matter, Akashi-kun?” sleepily mumbled Kuroko, having been startled just the slightest when the lights were turned on out of the blue.

 

“It’s nothing. Just sleep,” reassured Akashi, once again commanding the lights to turn off in the back of his mind and resuming with his initial nestling against the bluenette’s body.

 

_I’m still a ‘User’. I still have a place beside Tetsuya and inside of Teikou’s territory. Then... what exactly happened yesterday? Why couldn’t I use my ability when I needed it the most?_

 

-.-

 

“Haaaaaa...” sighed Nijimura, throwing a thick bundle of pages to on top of his messy desk and leaning the back of his head against the backrest of his cushioned chair. He allowed his eyes to close momentarily and rubbed them softly with the pads of his fingers.

 

“That was a loud and long sigh, Nijimura-san,” chuckled Momoi, sat down on another desk in the same office as the black haired male. “Why don’t you take a short nap, now that you know that Akashi-kun and Tetsu-kun will be back tomorrow?”

 

“Nah, I’m okay. I can still go,” said Nijimura, straightening his sitting position once again and picking up the next documents that needed to be read. When he noticed the monumental thickness that it also had, he couldn’t help but groan. “But I think I will get myself another coffee before.”

 

“I think that caffeine is the only thing keeping you going at this point,” noted Momoi, getting up from her chair and walking over to the electric kettle placed on top of a side table, turning it on after having refilled it with tap water.

 

“You bet it is!” acknowledged Nijimura, groaning exasperatedly once again as he leaned his back against the backrest. “My sleeping schedule was blown array ever since I became a ‘User’ and came to Teikou, but this is the first time that, thanks to a certain couple whose names I shall not mention for my life’s safety purpose, I have yet to get a single wink of sleep for more than it should be allowed to a human being, ‘User’ or not! Geez, just thinking about it I feel like beating those two to a pulp!!”

 

“I-I wouldn’t advise you on it, Nijimura-san,” hesitantly said Momoi, feeling a shudder crawl up her spine at such a terrifying image. “If you really want to protect your life, that is.”

 

“I know, I know,” sighed Nijimura, rolling his eyes around just the slightest. “But really... What exactly do those two think they are doing? First they cause a huge uproar with the Japanese Prime Minister and then they have the nerve to go on a date, not minding at all the mess that they had caused the previous day...”

 

“I can only say that such behaviour is something more than expected from Akashi,” interrupted Midorima, who had been so focused on his own document reading that he had momentarily switched off his hearing ability and fully ignored the conversations going around inside of that office. “He’s not a slacker, much less someone who can be called irresponsible, but we all know that his priority always lays on his heart’s wishes and on those that are there. How many times has he left his job to us in order to visit Shiori-san’s grave in Kyoto now?”

 

“That’s true,” acknowledged Nijimura in the form of a long sigh as he leisurely stretched his body.

 

“Do you think... that Tetsu-kun knows about her...?” hesitantly asked Momoi while she stirred the powdered coffee in the hot water placed inside of a mug. “I mean... That Akashi-kun’s mother... was one of the victims of the ‘Bloody Night’...?”

 

“...” Both Nijimura and Midorima exchanged a quick glance between themselves, silence now ruling the office completely. Sluggishly, Nijimura got up from his chair and walked over towards the pink haired girl, taking a hold of the coffee mug while he gently patted her head. “I wouldn’t know that, Satsuki. But... Even if Kuroko knows or gets to know about it, it wouldn’t change anything. We can’t bring back the dead, ‘Users’ or not.”

 

Getting up from his seat on the sofa, Midorima settled the documents in his hands back on the table placed right in front of his sitting location and started walking towards the office’s door. “Please excuse me for a couple of minutes.”

 

As soon as he closed the office’s door behind himself, Midorima continued to cross the corridor as he took his cell phone from his pants’ pocket and dialled the number that he had known by heart for years now.

 

He pressed the call button and the electronic device started to ring against his ear. It rang and rang, again and again – never connecting to the person he wanted to talk with the most right now.

 

“Tsk!” Clicking his tongue, Midorima ripped his cell phone from his ear once his connection reached Takao’s voice mail for the hundredth time. “Just how long are you going to continue to sulk at me because I couldn’t go there yesterday like I had promised...!”

 

“My... This is the first time that I see you this angry, Midorima,” whistled Miyaji, coincidentally walking through that same corridor due to the mission of delivering some reports from Shuutoku Dorm to the temporary Student Council Office during the Student Council President’s absence. “Did something worse than what is going around right now happen?”

 

“No, it’s nothing,” answered Midorima, quickly adjusting his glasses and averting looking over to his senior. Painfully swallowing his pride, he once again redirected his gaze back to the blonde male, his hand tightly gripping at his cell phone. “Miyaji-san... Do you think you could... go check on Takao tomorrow? He’s sulking at me right now and doesn’t pick up any of my calls. I’m sure that if I went there, I would spend the rest of the day speaking to a closed door.”

 

“Oh, so it’s actually love problems, huh~” teasingly said Miyaji, a mischievous smirk on his lips as he walked closer to the green haired male. He gave a quick slap on his back and then put his arm around his shoulders, happily grinning at the younger male. “Don’t worry, Romeo. I have some food that I want to give to Takao so I was actually planning to visit him tomorrow.”

 

“Is that another excuse to run away from Hayama-san like the other day?” inquired Midorima, once again adjusting his glasses as he smartly escaped the older male’s arm.

 

“Shut up!” yelped Miyaji, his features slightly smeared in pink as he angrily started storming through the corridor once again. “It’s just a temporary thing! That annoying guy will soon enough understand that when I say no, it’s a no for the rest of my life!”

 

“Good luck with it, Miyaji-san,” added Midorima, receiving from the older male a loud and pained groan. Releasing a sigh, the green haired male unlocked his cell phone once again and dialled the same number as a couple of minutes ago.

 

It rang and rang, again and again – the connection never reaching the most important person in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Memories" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> My oh my~ Akashi-kun, you can be so savage when jealous XD But please do continue *drools* But... TAKAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Hiejima Mutsumi Website](https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi)   
>  [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	174. I’ve only got eyes for this salty ecstasy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with the first chapter of 2018~
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed the passage from the old to the new ^.^ I actually don't celebrate... well, any sort of celebration, to be honest, but I guess I do break a little bit of my usual routine~ So I binge-drunk 2 litres of Cherry Coca-Cola all by myself :P (I don't drink any alcohol so I had to get something which is equivalent in terms of unhealthiness, right? Hehehe)
> 
> To start 2018 with the right foot, shall we enjoy some fluff as well as officially open the beginning of the end? (of the 2nd act only, fear not!) Enjoy :D
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

Mornings together with Kuroko had become characteristic of a sense of leisure and peacefulness that couldn’t be described with words, Akashi had come to notice. However, that morning, he truly could not describe nor how to feel over it or what he should do about it. If he wanted to blame someone, he actually only had himself to blame it for, even if he had previously thrown it over towards the small puppy that had become another temporary occupant of that hotel room. He had indeed asked (more like, coerced) Kuroko into sleeping stark naked, more due to intense jealousy than any other reason... but he had definitely not expected _this_!

 

_Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen..._

 

“T-Tetsuya, it’s morning already so wake up,” called Akashi, his body frozen stiff as he tried to not cause any friction between his already half-aroused body and the bluenette sleeping completely naked on top of him. Yes, completely naked exactly on top of him, not even a tiny little bit of his body laid down on top of the mattress or covered by the bed sheets or blankets messily spread around him.

 

“Nn... ‘Don’t wanna...” mumbled Kuroko in the midst of his sleep, his naked chest leisurely inflating and deflating against the redhead’s torso.

 

_Oxygen, fluorine, neon, sodium, magnesium, aluminium, silicon..._

 

“Whether you want to or not, you have to,” said Akashi, strongly sinking the back of his head on the pillow as he continuously chanted the periodic table inwardly. “We have to find a method to go back to Teikou while transporting an animal with us. And you know just as well as me that those waiting for us there are quite anxious for our arrival already.”

 

“’Don’t wanna... Sleep... now...” mumbled Kuroko in a quite broken speech, grabbing more tightly into the redhead’s clothes in order to get stuck to the source of so much comforting warmth.

 

_Phosphorus, sulphur, chlorine, argon, potassium, calcium, scandium..._

 

“Tetsuya, now is definitely not the right time to act stubborn, much less to act towards me like _this_ ,” warned Akashi, tightly closing his eyes as he tried to keep his hands to himself and not touch the bluenette on top of him. “Wake up now and get dressed so we can have breakfast downstairs and then leave.”

 

“’Don’t need breakfast...” mumbled Kuroko, slowly spreading his arms forward and circling the redhead’s neck with them. A soft smile lingered on his lips. “This is... enough... Sleep... is enough...”

 

_Titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel..._

 

“Then stay sleeping for a little bit longer while I go have breakfast myself,” conceded Akashi, desperate at this point to take the naked bluenette from on top of his body. This was starting to near dangerous grounds, with every single word being purred and movement made against his body turning him on more and more. “Now get off from on top of me, Tetsuya, before it’s too late.”

 

“Nn...” Kuroko leisurely rubbed his sleepy teal eyes for a couple of seconds, groaning lightly while sluggishly pushing his body up. Hands pressed against the redhead’s chest and sitting down on top of his waist, the bluenette tilted his head while looking over to the laid down male with half lidded eyes. “Why are you... being so hard... on me this early in the morning... Seijuurou?”

 

“Ngh! You’re the one to blame for that, Tets—“ said Akashi, readily also motioning his body to a sitting position at the same time as he circled the waist of the bluenette sat down on top of him. However...

 

“Woof!” loudly barked the small puppy, first jumping to the soft mattress of the bed and then immediately lunging his furry body against the taller male’s head.

 

“...” A vein popping up on his forehead, Akashi let himself remain sat down on the bed, the once again sleeping bluenette’s naked body pressed against his chest as the small puppy strongly gnawed at his head while using his shoulders as a ladder. “Yes... Venom for rats really isn’t the ideal solution... I need something more painful than that...”

 

“Hehe... hehehe...” softly laughed Kuroko as he remained motionless against the redhead’s warm body, absorbing every little ounce of it that he could. “You two... get along... so well... You should... become... his owner... Seijuurou...”

 

“I already have a mischievous and seductive cat to fill my agenda plenty,” sighed Akashi, picking the small puppy up by the back of his neck and ripping him apart from his head, wincing slightly as the animal’s sharp nails dug into his skin as it fought to keep in place. “I’m definitely not keeping this thing unless he can be used as a sacrifice for a greater purpose.”

 

“Don’t be... like that...” mumbled Kuroko, yawning softly against the redhead’s chest as he started rubbing his eyes once again. “I quite like to have... him around... It’s almost as if... we were... a family...”

 

“...Eh...?” interjected Akashi, his body halting once again just as he was about to drop the small puppy back to the floor. “Tetsuya... Just now...”

 

“Zzzzzzzzzzz...”

 

“No, wait! Don’t go back to sleep now!” said Akashi, gently releasing the dog on top of the bed and taking a hold of the sleeping features of the bluenette. “Tetsuya, wake up! Wake up and say that once again! Tetsuya! Hurry up and wake up!”

 

“Hehe... ‘ood night... Seijuurou...” mumbled Kuroko, tightly nestling against the taller male’s body and simply turning off his brain functionalities once again.

 

“Tetsuya...!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Punky Funky Love" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Kuroko... *sigh* Sometimes I wished you would sleep talk all the time, even when awake... But, on the other hand... I think that Akashi would suffer needlessly even more if that was to happen, ahahahaha! God, just get married, my lovable fools, and become a true family XD
> 
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	175. If it’s an argument made on emotion, there’s nothing I can do about it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> You know... Sometimes I feel really torn... I mean... Since I bought Kuroko's and Akashi's life sized tapestries, wouldn't it be unfair of me if I leave the other cuties without a home? But... If I buy all other cuties, I may be the one who ends up dying from hunger before they even arrive... What to do, what to do? *sniff*
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

_“Aominecchi~ Morning~”_

 

“Uuuuuuuugh...” loudly groaned Aomine at the bright and cheerful voice coming from the other side of the phone call that he accidentally picked up instead of turning off in the midst of trying to get rid of the annoying noise trying to wake him up. He didn’t hesitate even a second to quickly press the end call button and drop the electronic device back on the nightstand beside his bed.

 

And it seemed that the annoying blonde also didn’t hesitate a single second to call him again, the way his cell phone started ringing once again not even half a second after he had dropped it on the wooden surface.

 

“For fucks sake... I should have turned off this damn fucking thing!!” roared Aomine as he tossed his blankets from on top of his body and got a new hold of his cell phone, picking up the call once again and yelling to the blonde on the other side. “What do you fucking want, Kise!?!?”

 

 _“God, you sure are in a good mood this morning, huh...”_ said not the blonde, but Nijimura, a deep frown clearly showing in his voice. _“It’s almost 2 in the afternoon, how long do you think you can stay lazing around and sleeping like a log. Huh!?”_

 

“N-Nijimura...san...” stutteringly called Aomine, a shudder running down his spine at how annoyed the older male sounded at him. He knew better than to anger Akashi, but a furious Nijimura was also a strength to renown. “A-Am I... late for anything...?”

 

 _“You’re not but you will be if you continue sleeping, you lazy ass!”_ admonished Nijimura with no hesitation, his loud voice ringing against the tanned male’s eardrums. _“Akashi and Kuroko just returned to Teikou Academy so we’re gathering everyone in the Student Council building so we can have a meeting to discuss what should be our next actions towards a buttload of problems, present ones and possible future ones. So get up and dressed ASAP!”_

 

“I-I’m on it!” readily acknowledged Aomine, jumping out of his bed and running towards the wardrobe as soon as the phone call disconnected. He hurriedly dressed in his school uniform, not bothering with washing his face or adjusting his dishevelled bedhair, immediately darting out of his bedroom and down the stairs to exit Fuyu.

 

A sound – a voice –, however, made him become static by the end of the staircase.

 

“Ahahahaha!” suddenly laughed a voice coming from the living room that he had come to easily recognize in the latest times. “Please tell me you’re joking, Akashi-kun.”

 

“You know that I have absolutely no skills in telling jokes, Tetsuya,” said another extremely well known voice, also coming from the same location as the previous one, that seemed just as amused at the other.

 

It was weird. Aomine had woken up perfectly fine that morning (or well, afternoon) so why was his chest feeling such strange stabs inside? Why was anger starting to bubble inside of the pits of his stomach and intertwining with another set of emotions that could only be called jealousy and loneliness?

 

“Gh...!” When Aomine walked closer to the door that gave access to the living and peeked inside, he was forced to clutch at his aching heart at how much pain he currently felt due to what he was seeing inside of that division. Akashi and Kuroko were sat down beside one another on the sofa, a soft smile present on the redhead’s lips as he playfully bumped his index finger on the bluenette’s forehead, who wore a stunning happy smile on his features, his teal eyes sparkling with joy.

 

_What... is this...? Just... what the fuck is this...!?_

 

“Amazing, isn’t it...?” sluggishly said Murasakibara, munching on a banana flavoured pocky stick, stopping right next to the tanned male while half hidden behind the edges of the door much like the other ‘User’ was doing. “Who would have thought that four days with just the two of them would make them change so much?”

 

“I’m going ahead to the Student Council building,” announced Aomine, quickly turning around on his heels and making a rushed bee line to the entrance door of the building.

 

“Sure thing~ I’ll go too after I figure out what to do about the little guy’s food~” acknowledged Murasakibara, waving at the tanned male with one of the pocky sticks, motioning it over to his mouth and noisily breaking it between his teeth afterwards.

 

“Nn...” shortly groaned Aomine in acknowledgment, slamming the front door right behind himself as soon as his two feet were outside of the building. As he continued to walk towards the front gate placed in the short wall that surrounded the total area of Fuyu, the tanned male lifted one of his fists in the air and slammed it against the stone wall, partially blowing with it as if it was made of cards. “Ngh... So four days together with Akashi is all that takes to put Kuroko smiling and laughing, huh... How many did he spend with me and didn’t change absolutely nothing at all...?”

 

Releasing a long and loud sigh, Aomine scratched the back of his head, his knuckles slightly scratched at the impact against the wall. He cracked his neck a couple of times and then resumed with his path towards the Student Council building.

 

“This is bullshit...” grumbled Aomine, taking his cell phone from his pants’ pocket and selecting a number from his contact list. He put it on his ear and waited for the other person to pick up the call. As soon as they did, he said, “Hey, Kagami! Your buddy just returned from Sumida. Wanna come meet with him?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "UNSTOPPABLE" by Suwabe Junichi (our jealous(?) Aomine~).
> 
> Well... I, too, wonder what exactly is wrong with you, Aomine? Not about your pain chest, no no no. I'm talking about WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING TO PUT KAGAMI IN THE SAME FREAKING ROOM AS AKASHI WHEN YOU KNOW THAT OUR DEVILISH ANGEL IS TRYING TO KILL THE HECK OUT OF HIM!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
> 
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	176. Ah, don’t start with the puppy eyes – I can’t! I can’t! I can’t!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> As you can guess by the title, this chapter is nothing but pure crack, even though there is some seriousness in the beginning. Please enjoy during this short moment where we can happily laugh~ *evil smirk*
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

“Oh~ You brought Kagamicchi along, Aominecchi?” inquired Kise, his head slightly tilted as he observed not only Aomine but also Kagami stepping inside of the main office of the Student Council building – room which usually only allowed entrance to those in the highest positions of those directly affiliated with the student organization.

 

“Hey, Aomine... I didn’t hear of any of this,” said Kagami, his eyes closing into tight slits as he observed the contents of the room and found there most of the ‘Miracles’, also Momoi, the tanned male’s childhood friend, and one more male that he had never seen before. “I thought you were going to let me meet with Kuroko, not with them.”

 

“Kuroko will be here in a little while, don’t worry,” sighed Aomine, walking over to his reserved spot against the wall while picking on his ear.

 

“Aomine, I remember telling you to come but I didn’t mention anything about you bringing some friends along,” sternly said Nijimura, a deep frown on his brows as he sideways glanced to the tanned male. He softly cleared his throat and looked over to the redhead. “I’m sorry, Kagami, but you need to leave. Try to meet with Kuroko on another ti—“

 

“This guy has information about the group which Kuroko is or used to be together with,” interrupted Aomine, stifling a big yawn with his hand. When he dropped it to the side of his body, a knowing smirk came into view. “Do you still want to kick him out now?”

 

Eyes wide open, everyone inside of the office exchanged uncertain glances between themselves, returning their curious stares afterwards to Kagami.

 

“Um... Kagamin... What exactly does Dai-chan mean with... that?” hesitantly asked Momoi, she certainly being the one more taken aback by such a revelation. She had spent day after day, night after night, digging everywhere for information on the bluenette and his unknown and extremely secretive past, yet her research had bore very little fruits up until then. To discover that someone right next to her knew more about something that she didn’t know was... plainly shocking.

 

“...” Readily sending a deep glare towards the smirking tanned male at how he was being manipulated and twisted around his little finger, Kagami crossed his arms over his chest and released a tired sigh, inwardly swearing that Aomine would get to hear a long preaching session after this troublesome mess he had been pushed into would end. “From what _Aho_ mine claims, the same group that Kuroko used to be with is the same one that I’ve been trying to find for a couple of years now.”

 

“Why are you trying to find them?” inquired Nijimura, the previous deep frown growing even more intense at the unexpected direction that this conversation was taking.

 

“Because they’re the ones responsible for my parents’ death,” breathed Kagami, his red eyes almost setting the whole room aflame with their furious glare. “My brother’s parents too. Just as well as another hundred something people only on the same day. I don’t know about other days, though.”

 

“Who are t—“ started yelling Murasakibara, extremely angry at the mention of his lover’s deceased parents, but he quickly settled down when Momoi gave him a  strong slap on his lower back and shook her head in denial, readily reminding the purple haired male of Himuro’s request to keep his presence in Teikou a secret from Kagami.

 

“Okay, let’s all calm down for now, okay?” intervened this time Nijimura, walking to the middle of the room to try to sooth down everyone that was present and starting to run around on a rampage. “First of all, let’s wait for Akashi and Kuroko to arrive before we continue with this conversation. If everyone is present and about, I think it will be much easier for everyone to explain their side of things.”

 

“No, I’m leaving,” declared Kagami, turning around on his heels and starting to walk towards the closed door while adding, “Kuroko already has a lot of troubles on him. I will not add more mess to his life by putting my own problems together with his.”

 

“W-Wait, Kagami!” called Aomine, immediately parting his back from the wall and running towards the redhead at the same time as the other male was opening the door. It seemed, however, that he didn’t need to do much to prevent Kagami from leaving the office as a certain sound came to prove.

 

“ _GyaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!_ ” screamed Kagami out of the blue as soon as he opened the door, his body clumsily darting inside of the office and dragging everything he bumped with him as he tried to run away from that location as quickly as possible.

 

“K-Kagami...?” hesitantly called Aomine once again, completely unsure of what he was seeing right now – a huge teenage male all hunched over in the corner of the office, his arms protectively covering his head while his big frame teetered around in what seemed like... fear.

 

“Um... Did I do something wrong?” asked Kuroko, softly scratching his cheek as he came inside of the room beside the heterochromatic redhead. A small puppy with teal eyes was being held against his chest, its tiny pink tongue showing as it lovingly nestled in the bluenette’s arms.

 

“Tetsu-kun<3 is holding<3 a dog<3 that looks<3 just like<3 Tetsu-kyun<3” shrieked Momoi all of a sudden, her pink eyes turned heart shaped in the short minutes that she remained awake before passing out on the spot.

 

“M-Momoicchi...!?” yelped Kise, quickly catching the pink haired girl’s body before it hit the floor. “Geez~ Just what the hell is going on right now~!?”

 

“That’s what I really would like to know,” said Akashi, closely eyeing the straight out mess inside of the main office of the Student Council building while having an eyebrow arched. “First of all, what is _he_ doing here?”

 

“Kagami-kun? Are you feeling okay?” asked Kuroko, a worried expression on his face as he walked over to the trembling taller male and crouched down next to him.

 

“K-Kuro— _GeT aWaY fRoM mE...!!_ ” shrieked Kagami once again after he took another peek at the bluenette, his body strongly crashing against the wall as it trembled even more fervently. “ _Get that thing away from me...!!!!!!_ ”

 

“Oh? Is Kagami Taiga... perhaps scared of dogs?” inquired Akashi, his head slightly tilted to the left as he observed the pitiful show happening right in front of his eyes. A mischievous (aka evil) smirk appeared on his lips, his heterochromatic eyes momentarily flickering. “We are definitely going to keep him now. Tetsuya’s personal guard dog.”

 

“Kagami-kun... Are you really scared of him?” asked Kuroko, a sad demeanour appearing on his features as his shoulders slumped down just a fraction in disappointment. He adjusted his hold on the little puppy, whose expression seemed to mimic the bluenette’s, and motioned it closer to the redhead. “Even though he’s so cute?”

 

“Don’t look at me with those eyes and get that dog away from me...!” almost wept Kagami, the corner of his ruby eyes smeared with tears.

 

 _We’re starting to think that Kuroko and Akashi both have the same level of sadism in them, just that Akashi is more open about it than Kuroko,_ inwardly mumbled all the spectators of the incredulous show – a tiger defeated and put against the corner by a small puppy and a small ghost.

 

“Now that we have had our fun, Tetsuya, let’s allow Kagami Taiga to take his leave and disappear from our lives with this wonderful goodbye scene, shall we?” declared Akashi, walking over to the bluenette and then leading him further away from the trembling taller male. “You can keep this dog for company for as long as you like so let’s forget about Kagami Taiga, yes?”

 

“But...” said Kuroko, throwing a glance over his shoulder towards the taller redhead. “I want Kagami-kun and him to be friends too, like I am with Kagami-kun.”

 

“Tetsuya, I can only welcome one annoyance into my life,” started Akashi, a smile on his features even though his eyes were all but happy at the thought of saying those words. “Pick one and let me get rid of the other for the rest of our lives.”

 

“...” Kuroko said nothing. He simply looked straight at the heterochromatic redhead’s eyes, his shoulders fully slumped down and a sad expression on his features.

 

“Kagami Taiga, go sit over there in that seat with your back turned to us so that you won’t have to look at the dog and can keep your eyes _far away_ from Tetsuya,” announced Akashi after having clicked his tongue and averted the two sets of teal puppy eyes intently looking over in his direction.

 

“Thank you, Akashi-kun,” said Kuroko, smiling brightly to the heterochromatic redhead as he let himself be guided to their own seats in the office.

 

 _Akashi was utterly defeated in less than ten seconds with simply a single stare!?!?!?!?!? And... did Kuroko smile just now!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?_ , inwardly interjected the rest of the group, their jaws left wide open as they stared completely flabbergasted to the two males leisurely sitting down on one of the sofas of the office.

 

“So... Shall we start this meeting once and for all?” inquired Akashi, comfortably sat down on the sofa with his hands crossed over his lap, the bluenette right beside him with the small puppy sat down on top of his upper legs. “I believe that it’s good to have some little fun intermissions... but we are not under the ideal circumstances to let such intermissions needlessly stretch in time... or are we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Seirin One-One Strife" by Ono Kenshou, Ono Yuuki and Nojima Hirofumi (aka our sadistic lovely bluenette, our scaredy cat tiger and the one and only Nigou XD).
> 
> Pfft... Kagami, seriously... I'm also scared of dogs due to a childhood trauma but it's definitely not a cute and adorable puppy like Nigou that will put me running away like the Devil from the cross, ahahahahahahaha!
> 
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	177. Shatter that image of overpowering strength, change of pace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> After the 'total annihilation' due to Christmas and New Year time... I NEED HOLIDAYS!!!! Ugh... I'm tired... I'm sleepy... I want to rest but can't... Today I was so desperate that I just swallowed a HUGE CUP OF COFFEE, even though I despise coffee! (okay, it was vanilla latte but it still tasted like coffee so, in my dictionary, it's the same thing!) I've been working since last Thursday non-stop and my next day off is only this upcoming Thursday... IT'S 62 FUCKING HOURS OF WORK SPREAD BETWEEN 7 DAYS WITHOUT ANY DAYS OFF BETWEEN THEM!!! I'M LITERALLY GOING INSANE HERE!!! O.o
> 
> *deep breath* Ahh... Now I feel much better. Enjoy the chapter~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter and sorry for killing you with it :3 Good thing you can just revive yourself whenever you want~]

“Now that we have all settled down, I believe that the first topic of discussion will be about what happened in these last couple of days while Tetsuya and I were in Sumida, correct?” inquired Akashi, searching for everyone’s consent on the matter as the meeting was given as open.

 

“We can go without the details of the last minute so-called ‘date’, though,” interrupted Nijimura, still feeling a slight grudge over the unexpected delay on the two males’ return to Teikou Academy and how much work had to befall not only on him, but quite a lot more other students from the institution, thanks to it.

 

“I didn’t even consider doing that in the first place,” said Akashi, a glare on his eyes as he cautiously eyed the black haired male. “Things between me and Tetsuya are meant for the two of us alone. No one else is called on it and I would appreciate it if others shared the same way of thinking as me. Or I will have to take _certain measures_ in order to convince them of it.”

 

“Akashi-kun, please stop threatening your friends,” softly admonished Kuroko, his cheeks slightly smeared with a pinkish shade as he distracted himself of the embarrassing words coming out of the redhead’s mouth by leisurely petting the small puppy resting on his lap.

 

“This is hardly a threat, Tetsuya, it’s merely friendly advice,” explained Akashi, a small pout showing on his features in a masked way at having been told off by the bluenette. He cleared his throat and shifted his gaze back to the group. “To summarize what happened in Sumida... Our arrival there went about as normal and planned, much like the first day of the pastry competition. The second day was following the exact same scheme as the previous ones until Hanamiya Makoto appeared out of nowhere, locked everyone up and threatened to kill us all by exploding with the building if ‘The Phantom’ wasn’t given to him.”

 

“Why show up again now after going MIA for years?” asked Midorima, a deep frown on his brows and an ever deeper glare behind his spectacles. “Yes, it’s within his nature to go after ‘Users’ that catch his interest or serve whatever deviant purposes he has, but it’s too much of a coincidence that he decided to return to the Tokyo area and went right after Kuroko when we didn’t announce his capture to anyone except those directly associated with us and the Japanese Government.”

 

“Hold onto that thought because we will return there shortly, Shintarou,” acknowledged Akashi, exchanging a quick and masked glance with the bluenette as he talked. Most likely, Kuroko knew what that meant, given the conversation they had during the first day of the event. “Two of the bombs that Hanamiya Makoto was threatening us with went off but the remaining three were safely deactivated by Tetsuya, causing absolutely no casualties or injured in this incident.”

 

“Wait... Kurokocchi deactivated the bombs!? HOW!?” yelped Kise, his golden eyes almost popping out of their sockets as he looked over to the bluenette and the heterochromatic redhead with a completely flabbergasted expression.

 

“I simply dabbled in the process of building and eliminating those types of devices in the past,” answered Kuroko, shrinking his body slightly to avert all of the curious and shocked glances being sent his way. “Not something to be proud of but I guess it came in handy this time around...”

 

“...” Slowly, Aomine tore his gaze from the bluenette and switched it to the redhead sat down with his back turned towards them in a further location of the office. _Oh crap..._

 

“You used your ability to deactivate two hidden ones and then manually deactivated the last bomb, which was strapped around a child, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, softly ruffling the bluenette’s hair with a soft smile present on his lips. “I think you can be a little bit proud of that. We were all saved thanks to that skill of yours, after all.”

 

“...”

 

“By the time the bomb situation had been settled, Hanamiya Makoto had already conveniently disappeared into thin air once again,” continued Akashi, releasing a soft sigh. A frown, however, soon appeared in his features at the next words he was about to grudgingly spew. “But trouble didn’t stop there. Coincidence or not, and I will tell you right away that it surely _wasn’t_ one, Shirogane Eiji decided to attend this last day of the pastry competition, to show his support as the Japanese Prime Minister towards such joyous event, supposedly. We had a phone call conversation a couple of days before Tetsuya and I left for Sumida regarding me taking ‘The Phantom’ with me to the event. He was more than dissatisfied with the fact that I was going to take Tetsuya out of Teikou and put him with other people. And he sternly warned me that if something were to happen while Tetsuya was outside of his ‘confinement’ here in Teikou, he would readily collect him and give him the appropriate treatment – imprisonment, interrogation and execution.”

 

“That’s horrible...” softly yelped Momoi, covering her mouth with her hands as she sadly glanced to the bluenette.

 

“’Things won’t keep going the way you want them to, Akashi. And yes, this is a warning. Not from my behalf, but a warning nevertheless,’ said Shirogane Eiji during the phone call,” repeated Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes flickering for a fraction of a second. “This is why I can’t bring myself to believe in this ‘coincidental appearance’ of his to the pastry competition, one that matched so well with Hanamiya Makoto’s kidnapping attempt.”

 

“You think that they are both in it together?” asked Nijimura, his arms crossed over his chest as he cautiously listened to everything being said. “Well, I wouldn’t put it past Hanamiya to join hands with others if he gets to have what he wants but... Shirogane-san is...”

 

“I know what you want to say, Shuuzou, but I wouldn’t discard this partnership as a possibility,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a soft nod with his head. “When desperate, humans will sometimes do deals with demons, even if they fear God’s wrath. And I would say that Shirogane Eiji is pretty desperate at this point. More now than before the pastry competition, I must add.”

 

“How did the two of you solve that whole mess, then?” asked Midorima, quickly adjusting his glasses. “From what I understood, Shirogane-san had all the rights to apprehend Kuroko and take him with him since... Indirectly speaking, Kuroko caused some sort of incident while outside of Teikou.”

 

“He said the exact same thing as you, Shintarou,” acknowledged Akashi, a mischievous smirk slowly starting to shape his lips. “However, Tetsuya convinced him on otherwise.”

 

“What...!?” interjected all of them at the same time, even Kagami turning around to look over in the two smaller males’ direction but quickly returning his body to the previous position due to the sighting of the small puppy on the bluenette’s lap.

 

“I think it would be better if Tetsuya was the one explaining it, since not even I’m sure of some of that discussion’s details,” announced Akashi, turning his body around a little bit so he could see the bluenette sitting beside him even better. “Could you, Tetsuya?”

 

“Um... There’s not much to it...” hesitantly started Kuroko, shrinking his body even further as his heart thundering against his ribcage at all the eyes currently on him. “I... have memorized the contents of all the contracts and agreements between Teikou Academy and the Japanese government so... I used the fact that Shirogane-san was the one who signed them all against him... I am an official student of this school so everything written on them obviously can be applied to me.”

 

“You are not in the student’s database, though?” pointed out Momoi, her head slightly tilted as she tried to consider all the possibilities in regards to what the bluenette was saying. “You also don’t show up in any ‘User’ database... or more like... _any_ database, for that matter...”

 

“Um... That’s because... I asked the Headmaster to take the files out of the database... and keep them somewhere else...” hesitantly confessed Kuroko, now straight out avoiding making eye contact with everyone inside of the office by switching his gaze to the floor.

 

“You’ve met Kouzou-san?” asked Akashi, extremely taken aback by what he was hearing right now. Because... how come the previous Headmaster knew of ‘The Phantom’s’ presence there in Teikou Academy and yet... he knew nothing of it?

 

“N-Not that Headmaster...” answered Kuroko, swallowing in dry before formulating those words. He shouldn’t be revealing all this – it was dangerous to do it. But did he have any other choices at the moment? ...Yes, he did. He simply opted to not notice them.

 

“You know who the current Headmaster of Teikou Academy is!?” yelped Nijimura, almost stumbling down as he got up from his seat and walked over to the sofa where the bluenette and the heterochromatic redhead were sat down. “Who i—“

 

“I know who they are but I can’t say any more than this about them!” interrupted Kuroko right away before this conversation was pushed forward even more. “They told me that their existence in Teikou and Teikou Academy itself would be jeopardised if their identity was revealed to anyone. They were the ones who gave me the dates and locations that I also used against Shirogane-san too, telling me that if I said them out loud right in front of the Japanese Prime Minister, then he wouldn’t be able to apprehend me, even though I don’t know what they mean myself. So... I can’t say more than this. I owe them that.”

 

“Shuuzou, let’s drop this matter for now,” said Akashi, giving a soft nod of acknowledgment to the bluenette and then turning his gaze to the black haired male. “Do you understand?”

 

“But— Tsk!” Clicking his tongue in exasperation, Nijimura turned around on his heels and returned to the place where he had been sitting throughout the meeting.

 

“However, Tetsuya, I hope that you also understand that this will only be a temporary closure of it,” added Akashi, a serious demeanour of his features as he spoke now solemnly to the bluenette. “I understand that this said person is trying to protect both themselves and Teikou, but the fact that the seat of Headmaster has no name attached to it right now tilts all the decisions regarding Teikou more to the Japanese government’s side than to our own because most of the time they only take my side of things as valid and completely ignore the unidentified Headmaster’s. It’s not a favourable position to be in and it may cause severe damages in the future, especially since Shirogane Eiji is so vehement in trying to take you out of here and execute you. And I don’t think your execution would be the last one from then onwards.”

 

“I don’t know how much value my words hold on this matter, since I’m saying nothing but my own opinion on it,” started Kuroko, also serious as he spoke directly to the redhead. “But the Headmaster would never let any student from Teikou pay for the fact that they wish to remain unknown. Just like you, they want the students, every ‘User’, to be able to live here in tranquillity since they won’t be able to get such if they step outside. The Headmaster thinks of Teikou Academy just as much of a safe haven for ‘Users’ as you do, Akashi-kun. ...Or so it seems to me...”

 

“That puts me somewhat at rest but I still want to eliminate all unnecessary dangers to your well being, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, gently cupping the bluenette’s cheek and lightly caressing it with his thumb. “The Headmaster’s safety is a small price to pay for yours.”

 

“That would be extremely unfair for them,” deadpanned Kuroko in order to hide the small irking stab that those words had caused in him. Mainly because _he_ was the unknown Headmaster. So, technically speaking, the redhead was currently contracting himself without even knowing it – something that would remain as such for as long as Kuroko could keep that role of his hidden from everyone.

 

“You should know by now how unfair I am from time to time,” mischievously purred Akashi, a knowing smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.

 

“Ahem!” interrupted Nijimura, clearing his throat as loudly as he could to cut off the lovey-dovey atmosphere that was starting to show up in the middle of all the flirting between the two smaller males. “We all know what happened during the pastry competition, so now we must find countermeasures to prevent anything similar to this kidnapping attempt in the future and figure out how the heck we are going to deal with Shirogane-san and the Japanese government, taking that lovely ultimatum that they have sent us into consideration.”

 

“Before moving on to that, there’s one last thing that I must add regarding the discoveries made during the pastry competition,” interrupted Akashi, dropping his hand back to on top of his legs and returning his gaze to the group. “As to why Hanamiya Makoto has shown up once again in such a timely manner... he has a ‘mole’ in Teikou.”

 

“A ‘mole’?” repeated Midorima, an eyebrow slightly arched as he closed his eyes into tight slits.

 

“Someone in Teikou is giving Hanamiya Makoto information of what is going on around inside, be it what is discussed in here or what sorts of progresses are made about a lot of things,” continued Akashi, a passive expression on his features as he cautiously ran his eyes through every single ‘User’ inside of the office and tried to read what was going on inside of their heads at that moment. “I don’t know who this ‘mole’ is nor how they operate in terms of communication with Hanamiya Makoto, but I have managed to somewhat restrict the number of people that may hold that paper.”

 

“What process of elimination did you use to restrict the number of possibilities?” asked Nijimura further, not exactly liking the way this conversation was going all of a sudden.

 

“I announced to every single student in Teikou Academy of my absence to attend this event in Sumida, as you may know,” explained Akashi as he slowly lifted his hand and gestured towards the bluenette beside him. “However, I only announced to those directly affiliated with the Student Council and organizations related with it that the person I would be taking with me was Kuroko Tetsuya, ‘The Phantom’.”

 

“...”

 

“That means... Hanamiya Makoto’s ‘mole’ is someone that has been working side by side with us in the Student Council or the Department of ‘Users’ and Abilities,” finally dropped Akashi, voicing the words that all of them were already fearing at the information that the redhead was disclosing. “One of our ‘friends’ sold Teikou Academy and Tetsuya off to Hanamiya Makoto. That’s something that _I will never forgive, much less allow to continue_.”

 

“...!” A massive shudder immediately ran down everyone’s spines as they motionlessly observed the raging heterochromatic eyes of the redhead threatening glowing as he carefully kept every single one of them under his gaze.

 

“Kagami Taiga,” called Akashi, his eyes returning to their usual red and gold tonality as he switched them to the back of the taller redhead. “You don’t belong to the Student Council or to the Department of ‘Users’ and Abilities... So what are you doing here? Why do you insist in continuing to approach Tetsuya?”

 

“Akashi-k—“ called Kuroko, shocked over the fact that the heterochromatic redhead would have thought of his friend in such an accusatory way regarding this dangerous and uncertain situation, but his voice was cut off when Kagami got up from his seat and turned around to face them.

 

“Sorry to disappoint your nasty expectations, Akashi, but like hell I would be a ‘mole’,” said Kagami, a deep frown on his features as he spoke to the heterochromatic redhead. “Good intentions and friendship may be foreign words in your dictionary but they aren’t in mine. Kuroko is my friend and I would never sell him over to whoever it may be. First of all, I don’t even know who this Hanamiya Makoto you’ve been talking about is. How would I give information to someone who I don’t know?”

 

“...” Akashi simply continued to stare at the taller redhead, a silent glare on his eyes as he cautiously observed him.

 

“If I wanted to screw Kuroko over, I could have done it during this meeting whenever it pleased me the most,” added Kagami, a frown appearing on his features. “Aomine can vouch for that one. The fact that I have not should come to prove a little bit that I’m someone trustworthy enough to be his friend, does it not? Not that I’m seeking your approval on it or anything! Kuroko is free to choose his friends and who he hangs out with. Or are you that much of a possessive and controlling son of a bitch to force your decisions on Kuroko? Go find another puppet to play around with and try to brainwash!”

 

“’A possessive and controlling son of a bitch’, was it?” repeated Akashi, his voice as cold as dry ice as he expressionlessly stared at the taller male. “Who do you think you are talking with?”

 

“Grrrrrrrrrrr...!” started growing the small puppy laid down on the bluenette’s lap, its fur standing as it took an attacking position and showed its small white fangs to the heterochromatic redhead.

 

“It seems that you are yet to feel thankful over the fact that you are still alive, Kagami Taiga, for I would have you dead by now if it wasn’t for Tetsuya’s words on not to,” slowly said Akashi, simply staring to the frozen stiff taller redhead. “Possessive? Controlling? Yes, I am both. Very much so, at that. Playing around or brain washing Tetsuya, though? You could have both my eyes served to you in a silver platter before I would do any of them! Should I offer them to you right now?”

 

“A-Akashi-kun!” called Kuroko right away, readily grabbing the redhead’s hand that was already motioning towards his blood red orb. “W-What do you think you’re doing!?”

 

“Don’t interfere, Tetsuya, for this is a matter between me and Kagami Taiga only,” said Akashi, continuing to lead his hand towards his eyes even with all the resistance that the bluenette was offering to prevent it. “It doesn’t concern you.”

 

“It does concern me!” said Kuroko right away, pulling more strongly at the redhead’s arm. “Why would you give to Kagami-kun one of the many things that I said that I like about you!?”

 

“I would never give anything to Kagami Taiga, much less what belongs to you, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, lunging both of his hands sideways and tightly hugging the bluenette, a satisfied smile on his lips as he cradled Kuroko in his embrace. The small puppy was forced to jump out of the smaller male’s lap in order to escape the crushing embrance. “See, Kagami Taiga? Tetsuya and I are very much happy with one another and like each other very, very, _very_ much. So kindly give up on him and get out of my way.”

 

 _What are you, an elementary school brat...?,_ inwardly sighed Kagami, facepalming himself as he saw the babbling and beet red bluenette being tightly hugged and showered with little pecks everywhere by the heterochromatic redhead. _Besides, what do you even mean by give up on him...!?_

 

“Yes, yes,” dismissed Kagami while rolling his eyes around, waving his hand as he turned on his heels to return to his seat. “Whatever you say, Akashi.”

 

“I-I don’t really get any of what just happened but... Ah... Congratulations?” said Kise, his head slightly tilted as he curiously observed the two smaller males acting all lovey-dovey and sickly sweet with one another on the sofa.

 

“W-What do you even mean by ‘congratulations’, Kise-kun...?” asked Kuroko, finally able to break free from the heterochromatic redhead’s embrace and pushing his body further away from his.

 

“Eh? Of course it’s for starting to d—“

 

“We’re not,” immediately cut off Kuroko, giving one final push and fully managing to unglue the heterochromatic redhead from his body. “Never will be.”

 

“Tetsuya...” softly called Akashi, a sad expression on his face as he let his shoulders slump down and stared at the bluenette with beckoning eyes. “After everything we have done while in the confinements of the bedroom... After calling us a family this morning... So you are this type of man...”

 

“Wha—“

 

“Even though I gave you so much of myself and so many of my first were wholeheartedly offered to you yesterday,” continued Akashi, his puppy eyes growing in intensity as he continued to speak with a weakened voice. “You have seen all of me and I have seen all of you, accepting one another unconditionally in a tight embrace...”

 

“Wai—“

 

“And now you are going to pretend that nothing has happened?” asked Akashi, shaking his head in disbelief. “It seems that I have been caught by a bad man...”

 

“Wh—“ His face burning with the intensity of his dark red blush, Kuroko awkwardly switched his gaze between the puppy-eyed heterochromatic redhead and the rest of the occupants of the room.

 

“I’m not hearing anything, I’m not hearing anything...” repeatedly chanted Momoi with a tiny voice, her hands covering her bright red features. Both Nijimura and Midorima, sitting near the pink haired female, averted any eye contact with the two of them, the latter hiding his expression by continuously adjusting his glasses.

 

“This is better than a late night drama~ Do you have any popcorns on you, Murasakibaracchi?” said Kise, an excited glint on his eyes as he attentively listened to the conversation.

 

“I don’t...” sluggishly answered Murasakibara, chewing into a candy stick with a disinterested demeanour.

 

“I could have gone without knowing all of this...” softly sobbed Kagami, his features just as red as the pink haired girl’s but still not reaching the same brightness as the bluenette’s.

 

“It’s okay, Kagami,” said Aomine, leisurely picking on his ear as he averted looking over to the two smaller males. “Sex is a natural occurrence in life and we all already knew how much of a pervert Kuroko is.”

 

“J-Just what sort of l-lies are you feeding them with, Akashi-kun!?” yelped Kuroko, grabbing onto the redhead’s clothes with one of his closed fists and pointing with his outstretched index finger to the group. “Please clear this humongous misunderstanding right now! Tell them the truth right this moment!!”

 

“The truth? Very well,” acknowledged Akashi, a mischievous smirk on his lips as he got a hold of the hand grabbing onto his clothes and slowly started motioning his body forward in the bluenette’s direction. “I have left my marks on your body several times, in several different places. I made you soil your underwear when we were moving your things from Seirin to Fuyu. I tied you up, made you cum and you made me cum all over you. I made you pass out with just kissing and lightly touching you.”

 

“Wai—“

 

“There’s not a single inch of your mouth that hasn’t been explored by my tongue with the numerous times we have kissed,” continued Akashi, taking great relish on the glorious blush covering the entirety of the bluenette’s features as he continued to grow closer and closer to him. “Our make-out session in our little secret spot grew so intense that you accidentally unleashed your ability and partially nullified that area. We were caught red handed, half naked already, by Ryouta in the gym.”

 

“You sure were~ And I sure was punished for it afterwards...” acknowledged Kise, a sob escaping his throat on the last part of his sentence.

 

“We have been sleeping more times in the same bed than in separate ones and you have acknowledged my claim of that spot for the rest of our lives,” proceeded Akashi, his face a breath away from the dark red one of the bluenette. “We had a quite kinky kissing exchange in the restaurant while having lunch in Sumida. Our dinner was also extremely tasty, you squirming around against my body as I touched you all over. You came inside of my mouth and I drank every single drop of it. And I had my fingers inside of you and made you cum with them. There. The truth.”

 

-.-

 

“I... ugh... can’t get married... uh... anymore...” sobbed Kuroko, his body all curled up on the sofa, his face buried against the backrest as he tried to hide himself from the group of people that now knew every single thing that he had done with the heterochromatic redhead in terms of sexual activities. “Please... just end my misery now... Uhh...”

 

“How long do you think it will take Satsuki to regain consciousness, Shintarou?” inquired Akashi, one of his hands leisurely running through the blue locks of the depressed smaller male.

 

“Once her mind and blood levels settle down for a second time, she should wake up,” said Midorima, adjusting his glasses while never making full eye contact with the redhead. “Y-You said too much, Akashi... Mostly in the presence of a female...”

 

“It wasn’t within my plans to make Satsuki pass out with a blood rush,” confessed Akashi, throwing a small apologetic look towards the pink haired girl laid down in one of the sofas.

 

“Much like it wasn’t in our plans to hear this type of detailed report during our meeting,” admonished Nijimura, a deep frown on his features – if someone squinted, they could also find a soft shade of pink on his cheekbones.

 

“My apologies,” said Akashi, a bright smile on his features as he continued to softly caress the bluenette sitting right next to him, much closer than previously.

 

 _You don’t seem sorry about any of it in the least, though,_ inwardly sighed all of the remaining group, all of them extremely embarrassed over this new form of display of possessiveness and, most likely, an extremely unorthodox flirting technique that only someone like the redhead would be able to successfully pull. Akashi Seijuurou was truly a strength to reckon.

 

“Oh, now that we are on the topic,” started Akashi all of a sudden, his demeanour growing unexpectedly serious out of the blue. “Shintarou, do you think you could give another check up to my body? I think there’s something w—“

 

“MIDORIMA!!!” yelled a male voice at the same time as the doors of the office were slammed open with a large _bang_. A panting Miyaji appeared from the corridor, his face covered in a thick layer of sweat and skin as pale as a ghost. “T-Takao is... Just... Hurry up and go to the hospital right now!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "CATALRHYTHM" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> Pffft... Akashi... Seriously, dude... I love you <3 And you know who I also love and adore? TAKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAO TTvTT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! *wails like a wale while crying buckets*
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
>  [Tumblr](http://mafymod.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Hiejima Mutsumi Website](https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi)   
>  [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	178. Believing that the effort we invest will come to fruition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> This chapter *sniff* is probably one of the most heartbreaking things I have ever written in my whole life TTvTT Please be ready because... *sniff* You know what's about to come, don't you?  
> Enjoy! (if possible TTwTT)
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

The only sounds that could be heard in the long and empty corridor were hasty and loud footsteps and the arrhythmic echoing of breathing. As soon as he spotted the appointed room, he slammed the door open and readily stepped inside, his emerald eyes scanning its inside in search of answers.

 

“Doctor, how’s Takao doing!?” immediately asked Midorima, running towards the bed where the raven haired male was laid down on, countless life support machines strapped to his weakened body.

 

“Not well, but he’s hanging on,” answered the doctor, a middle aged man with hair as white as snow and a long white beard framing his face. He picked up the medical file from on top of the side table he had been using as a working station while waiting for the green haired male and went to deliver it to the younger male, a grieving expression on his face. “For now, he’s hanging on.”

 

“Gh!” Biting into his lower lip, Midorima readily took the file in his hands and started reading the medical report on his lover’s condition, his eyes jumping around to all the frightening words and life-threatening values written in it.

 

“Why... so serious... Shin-chan...?” asked a weak and raspy voice. Immediately glancing up at the familiarity with it, Midorima found Takao with his steel blue eyes open as he softly gazed in his direction, though his features were almost all concealed by the oxygen mask strapped around his nose and mouth to facilitate his breathing. “I told you... countless times... to stop frowning... and smile...”

 

“There’s no way I can smile at a time like this, you fool,” admonished Midorima, though there was no actual bite to his words and they were spewed as a soft and loving purr, his trembling hand softly caressing the sweaty and extremely pale features of the raven haired male. “You should have called me if you were feeling bad enough to be taken to the hospital by emergency helicopter, Takao.”

 

“Ahaha... That will... certainly be a trip... that I won’t... ever forget...” weakly chuckled Takao, trying to push his tired body to a slightly upper position on the bed he was lying on. “And... even if I called... you need to... prioritize your... work for all ‘Users’... over a useless one...”

 

“Don’t you dare call yourself useless, Takao!” admonished Midorima once again, giving a light flick with his fingers to the smaller male’s forehead. “Work is the last thing on my mind whenever you are concerned! You should know by now that my priority is always you and that work can be done at a later time or given to another person, much like Akashi does!”

 

“Why... are you only... sweet to me... at times like these... I wond— Ugh!” softly sighed Takao, but a strong and painful bolt of electricity suddenly hit his sight, forcing him to strongly close his eyes shut and wrap his clenched fists on the bed sheets.

 

“Now be quiet already and rest,” said Midorima, releasing an exasperated sigh as he pushed the raven haired male back to the bed in a fully laid down position and softly adjusted the blankets over his sweaty body. “You need to save your strength by cutting down your monumental amount of useless chatter and quickly get better once again.”

 

“Ahaha... I really... gotta love... the way you... admonish me... and act all doctor-like... at certain times...” chuckled Takao, weakly fighting against all the caring actions being done to him by the green haired male and pulling the blankets back down once again, so that one of his shaking hands could be released from in between the bundle of fabric. “It’s such... a big... turn on...”

 

“I-I told you to be quiet already, Takao!” ordered Midorima, his cheekbones slightly flushed at the raven haired male’s teasing words. “You should go back to sleep n—“

 

“Hey, Shin-chan... How bad... is it?” asked Takao, his voice sounding almost foreign to his person at how soft and raspy it ended up being once outside of his vocal cords. With trembling fingers, he slowly and awkwardly removed one of the straps keeping the oxygen mask secured to his face and dropped the transparent plastic mask to the side of his features. “The doctors... won’t tell me... anything... But... I know... myself better... than they ever... will...”

 

“Taka—“

 

“Ahh... This is... the worst...” sighed Takao with a shaking voice, a small smile on his lips. “There were just... so many things... that I ended up... not doing... I couldn’t find... that first... CD from... the band... that Kasamatsu-san... told me... about... And I never... ended up... getting... that promised blowjob... out of you...”

 

“Takao, I’m not going to let you die,” reassured Midorima, his hands closing into tight fists on the bed sheets, his gaze unwavering as he stared straight into the raven haired male’s eyes. “I promised you that I would find you a way out of this and I intend on keeping it!”

 

“Yes... I know...” acknowledged Takao, a strained grin on his lips as he feebly nodded his head in agreement. “But... you know something... Shin-chan...? I wanted... to graduate... with you... from Teikou Academy... I wanted... to get a... neat apartment... somewhere... in a large city... and start... our new life there... by your side... Ngh... I wanted... to go... visit... your kid sister’s... grave... once again... and read her... another fairy tail... where you are... the prince in... shining armour... and I’m... the kick-ass princess... I wanted... to go to... Hokkaido... during Winter time... and start... a foolish... snowball fight... with you... by stuffing you... with one... right on your face...”

 

“Takao...”

 

“Shin-chan... I... I don’t want to die...!” sobbed Takao, a crystal clean river of tears overflowing from his steel blue eyes. “I don’t... want to die... just yet...! I don’t... want to leave you! I just... I just want to live! I just... want to keep on... existing in the same... world as you! Is living... something that I’m... not allowed to do...? Should I... have just... died back then...? Should I... have never met you and... fallen in love with you...? Should I... simply not have been born? Because... if I’m to... leave you all alone once again... then it would... have been better... if I never... existed from the start...! It’s selfish... I know... but I... don’t want... you to live... in a world... where I’m not!”

 

“I’ll find a solution, Takao,” said Midorima, tightly hugging the sobbing smaller male and gently cradling him in his embrace. “I’ll find a cure for you in record time so... Please don’t give up just yet! Because there’s no way I would be able to live in a world without you there grinning like a fool by my side. Midorima Shintarou can’t exist in a world without Takao Kazunari. I’ll die if you dare to die on me!”

 

“I don’t... want that...!” sobbed Takao, using the little strength that he still had in his body to grab into the green haired male as if he was his life source itself – which was the undeniable truth since two years ago. “I don’t... want you... to die... Shin-chan!”

 

“Then hold on just a little bit longer!” said Midorima, hugging the raven haired male even more strongly as his green eyes grew moist with tears. “Please just wait a little bit longer for me. I won’t let you die. And then we can do all of those things that you said you wanted to do for the rest of our long, long lives, until we are a couple of old and wrinkly men.”

 

 _That would be the perfect life for me, Shin-chan,_ inwardly acknowledged Takao, no longer able to formulate any more words with the constant sobbing and crying against the taller male’s chest. _But it’s an unreachable dream._

_Because..._

_I can’t anymore..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Toaru Shinja no Hakana Mainichi" by Ono Daisuke and Suzuki Tatsuhisa (our green coloured angel and our dying angel TTvTT).
> 
> NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooOoOoOoOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! *disappears in a sea of tears*
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	179. Bring back the catalyst – a simple way to best

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I'm almost falling asleep while writing this so I'm cut to the chase and simply say "Enjoy!" so I can get some shut eye after a 12 hours shift -.-'
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

“Um... I-Is Takao-kun... going to be okay?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, sat down on one of the sofas in the living room area of Fuyu, a book open on his lap. He slowly lifted his gaze from the page he had been reading and peered over to the redhead, the documents that he had left unattended neatly spread on the low table in front of him as he went through them one by one.

 

“This will sound extremely cold and heartless, but he’s not going to be okay,” honestly answered Akashi, releasing a soft sigh as he lowered the documents and put it on top of the sofa’s armrest. “Kazunari is extremely sick. It started a little bit over a year ago and, regrettably for both him and Shintarou, there’s no known cure of his disease. Actually, his illness is a unique case.”

 

“A... unique case?” repeated Kuroko, tilting his head slightly to the left as he tried to figure out what exactly had the redhead meant by that way of describing the raven haired male’s health circumstances.

 

“His illness is caused by his ability,” explained Akashi, a frown slowly starting to creep into his passive features. Directly speaking, this was a subject that had nothing to do with him, only concerning him to the point where one of the people involved in it was also a fellow ‘Miracles’ and that the two of them had known each other for as long as they have been ‘Users’. However, the raven haired male’s situation was always something that made him wonder about future possibilities, mainly since there was so much that they didn’t know regarding abilities and their effects on the human body. It really made him wonder... and extremely fearful of what may happen to the bluenette due to the intensity and unorthodox particularities of his ability. “Much like with you, Tetsuya, Kazunari’s ability is perpetually active. I guess we can call it a subdivision of ‘Users’, so to speak. There are those like me, Shintarou, Atsushi or Ryouta, who can activate our abilities whenever we want and keep it dormant when it’s not necessary. Let’s call it ‘activation-type abilities’. Then there are cases like yours, Kazunari and... Yukio, too, previously. Kazunari is not able to ‘turn off’ his ability, which is why he was always aware of your presence during our middle school days, even though he didn’t know you were ‘The Phantom’ at that time, regrettably.”

 

“...”

 

“Yukio’s ability was the same too, he had it perpetually ‘turned on’,” continued Akashi, releasing another sigh. “From what you have explained to me about your ability, it’s also always working, whether you want it to or not, right? We can address this subgroup as ‘continual-type abilities’. Whether they want it or not, their surroundings will always be affected by their abilities. And their bodies too... Since Kazunari can’t ‘turn off’ his ability, not even while sleeping, it slowly started eating at his body. He may be a ‘User’, with remarkable healing speed, but his body is still that of a human. So it eventually reached the point where the healing couldn’t keep up with the ‘eating’ anymore.”

 

“Is it... really that bad?” hesitantly asked Kuroko, his shoulders slumping down at noticing that it was indeed a quite complicated situation, seeing as even the redhead seemed to be grieving over the raven haired male’s illness.

 

“Kazunari... will probably die soon,” confessed Akashi, lowering his gaze to the floor. “From what the hospital told me when I called to check up on him and Shintarou... he won’t live more than one week. Two weeks, maybe, if they can stabilise him by putting him in a comatose state. Shintarou refuses to resort  to that last one, though, since he’s aware of how risky it is to induce a coma through the means of drugs to a body which is borderline to shutting down permanently.”

 

“How is Midorima-kun... um... coping with... all this?” asked further Kuroko, his fingers nervously rubbing against the side of the pages of the book he was reading. Now he finally understood why the green haired male had gone to talk to him about his ability and how it could come to help others – Midorima was most likely thinking that he could somehow nullify Takao’s illness with his ability. However, much like he had told the taller male, he knew his ability better than anyone. Nothing good could come out of the ability yielded by a broken monster, one which had already collected so many lives, most of them in a single night.

 

“That’s right...” sighed Akashi, quickly straightening the documents that he had put on top of the armrest and throwing it on top of the low table in front of him. “I guess I should start searching for a new person to take on the role of Vice President of the Student Council, as well someone who can give a helping hand in coordinating everything between us and the Department of ‘Users’ and Abilities. This may be tricky...”

 

“Eh? What do you mean, Akashi-kun?” inquired Kuroko, extremely confused with the sudden change of topic that the conversation had. “I thought that Midorima-kun was the Vice-President of the Student Council.”

 

“And he is,” acknowledged Akashi with a sharp nod of his head. “But we won’t be able to count of Shintarou’s help after Kazunari dies. We might actually need to make arrangements for the funeral of two, not one.”

 

“......Eh...?”

 

“Shintarou is no good without Kazunari, for as much as it pains me to admit such,” explained Akashi, seeing as the bluenette looked like his brain was about to melt down with the speed it was swirling around to try to make sense of what he was saying. “He was... well, considerably good in what he did before they met, but Shintarou became what he is today after having met Kazunari. They somehow ended up deepening their relationship to the point where one can’t exist without the other, even if they are constantly bickering with one another or Shintarou is treating Kazunari in a quite harsh way. So the moment Kazunari dies, Shintarou will crumble completely since the foundations of his world and being will be gone. That said, what he will do next is a completely unknown for me. He may remain in Teikou but become completely unresponsive to everyone and everything. He may leave Teikou and disappear from under everyone’s radars. Or... he may follow right after Kazunari, whether with more extreme methods or simply due to heartbreak and complete devastation.”

 

“...”

 

“Wouldn’t it be a good thing for you, though?” asked Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes unmoving from the bluenette, who seemed far paler and quiet than usual. It seemed that this topic of conversation wasn’t sitting all that well with him. “With Kazunari dead, no one will be able to see you, even when using your ability, and escaping both Teikou Academy and the Japanese government would become as easy as ABC for you. And then with Shintarou gone, one less of the ‘Miracles’ that you dislike so much would be around. It would be killing two birds with one stone, in the most literate of senses.”

 

“That’s... true. Yes... That’s true,” acknowledged Kuroko, gulping down hard at the same time as he closed the book on top of his lap. He slowly got up from his seat and gave a quick bow with his head to the redhead. “I’m sorry, Akashi-kun, but I’ll be returning to my bedroom now. I need to sort out the puppy’s temporary living quarters, as well as go see if Murasakibara-kun has managed to get some dog food.”

 

“I’ll be staying down here, in case you need anything,” said Akashi, still closely eyeing the bluenette as he walked towards the door that linked the living room with the staircase.

 

“Okay...” softly acknowledged Kuroko with his body already half out of the living room. He slowly climbed the stairs and turned in the corridor towards his bedroom. Once there, he took a glance around his surroundings trying to figure out how exactly he could make a sleeping space for the small dog in there. “I don’t have a lot of pillows in my room and I don’t think that just blankets would be a... good solution...”

 

Switching his teal gaze to his bedroom’s window, Kuroko absentmindedly stared to the clear blue sky of the early afternoon.

 

“The full moon... is still very far away, isn’t it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "CATALRHYTHM" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> I... honestly don't know what to say, only that I have this bubbling rage inside of the pits of my stomach that is making me want to smack a certain devilish angel >.>
> 
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	180. It’s the story of my childish days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> And with great news too! My first light novel, Bad Blood, has been released TODAY >///< You have no idea how happy and over the moon I am! I mean, I started developing this story before I even thought up the draft for Shattered Miracles so, technically speaking, it really is my debut story in many, many senses!  
> If you have the smallest of interests in checking it out, please do so in my website~ (which you can find down in the end notes) It stands true to a Japanese light novel, with several wonderful illustrations made up by my amazing artist, Memorhyme, accompanying the story :3
> 
> Anyways, have fun reading this chapter and try not to fall off of your bed with a laughing attack like it happened to me while I was writing it :P
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter and acknowledging Akashi's uses for caskets *winks*]

“Thank you very much for your help, Kise-kun,” said Kuroko, offering a quick bow with his head to the blonde – even though he had a completely expressionless demeanour on his features as he proceeded. “I’m sure that he will soon enough get used to the idea of sleeping in a pink dog bed.”

 

“I-It’s not my fault, okay!?” yelped Kise, even he flustered over how things winded up going. “When I accidentally blurted out in front of my fans a couple of minutes ago that we, the ‘Miracles’, were taking care of a lil’ puppy for the time being, one of them turned out to be animal crazed... She just... sort of forced that dog bed on me, without a care of how the little guy would feel over having to sleep in such a place... And I only accepted the offer with the best of intentions, to both that girl and to... Ah... What’s his name again?”

 

“He doesn’t have any,” answered Kuroko, gently picking up the small puppy circling around his feet and lovingly holding him against his chest, which gained him from the furry animal a couple of small licks on his cheeks. “I mean, it’s his owner’s duty to give him a name, isn’t it?”

 

“Why do you insist so much in not keeping him with you, Kurokocchi?” asked Kise, an eyebrow slightly arched as he curiously looked over to the bluenette with his head tilted. “I mean, it’s as clear as water that he’s _super_ attached to you already. And only God knows what sort of magic spell you put on him but even Akashicchi has consented in keeping him with us in Fuyu. You also seem to like him quite a bit too. So why not?”

 

“I don’t want to become his owner,” said Kuroko, a small smile on his lips as he switched his gaze to the small puppy and softly ruffled behind his ears. “I don’t think I’m the most suited person to keep anything that is alive around me. And I don’t think it’s correct to claim to own a living being.”

 

“Eh...” acknowledged Kise, even though he wasn’t exactly understanding what the bluenette meant by all that. “Then just don’t think of it as keeping him or being his owner! Think of it as providing free lodging to a friend in need or a family member~ The only difference is that there’s no time limit for this lil’ cutie to leave!”

 

“Kise-kun... Sometimes you actually do say smart things,” said Kuroko, honestly amazed at the words that had exited the blonde’s mouth.

 

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” yelped Kise, crossing his arms over his chest in a quite grudgingly manner at the same time as he puckered his lips to form a pouting expression. “I will let you know that I am quite smart and genius level in a loooooooooot of stuff! It’s not like I only mess around on my missions or cause trouble everywhere I go, no no no! I’m incredibly skilled in everything I do, to the point of perfection~”

 

“...”

 

“Ugh... Why are you two looking at me like I’m a charity case in a mental hospital...?” whimpered Kise, his eyes slightly watery as he observed the two sets of teal eyes that pitifully looked at him. “It’s not like I don’t have good qualities in me...”

 

“I know that, Kise-kun,” said Kuroko, a soft smile on his lips as he leisurely petted the small dog being held against his chest. “Even someone like you has good and useful sides.”

 

“I don’t know if that’s supposed to be a compliment or if you’re trying to make me feel even worse...” sobbed Kise, his head falling over his chest as he simply dropped his body on the bluenette’s bed.

 

“I’m not doing any of the two. I’m simply pointing out the truth,” answered Kuroko, a completely expressionless demeanour on his features as he slowly and carefully stepped away from the bed while exchanging his gaze between the blonde and his bedroom’s door. “Um... Kise-k—“

 

“You’re so mean, Kurokocchi~” yelped Kise, burring his face on the palms of his hands as he continued whining with a loud voice. “Here I was being nice to you and your dog and you’re doing nothing but bashing me! You should reward me for getting a bed for your new lil’ friend there! Do you also want me to get one for Kagamicchi and put you all sleeping in the same bedr—“

 

“You will what now, Ryouta?” interrupted Akashi, one side of his body leaned against the railing of the door as he ‘smiled’ at the blonde.

 

“Hiiiiii....!!” screeched Kise when he noticed the redhead’s presence in the bedroom, immediately jumping off of the bluenette’s bed and fleeing to safety – which in this scenario equalled to right behind Kuroko. “I-I-I was just joking, Akashicchi! I will definitely never, ever bring Kagamicchi to your love nest.”

 

“What ‘love nest’...” softly mumbled Kuroko, rolling his eyes around as the blonde fearfully tried to hide his bigger frame behind his body.

 

“You should also ‘definitely never, ever’ step inside of our ‘love nest’,” warned Akashi, the ‘smile’ disappearing from his features as fast as lightning to be substituted by a deep frown. “Who gave you authorization to sit on our bed?”

 

“It’s not ‘our’, it’s my bed...” softly mumbled Kuroko once again, releasing a soft sigh afterwards.

 

“Eh? So that thing that you said earlier in the meeting about having claimed Kurokocchi’s bed was really true?” inquired Kise, his head perking up at the redhead’s words. “My oh my~ That makes all the other things truth too by association, now doesn’t it? Hehehe... Behind your gentlemanly self lies a hungry beast~ I do wonder how does the true beast behave in those cases then~ Do the three of you all have fun tog—“

 

All of a sudden, Kise felt his wrist being tightly gripped and his body was motioned up in the air. Next time he noticed, his back was strongly smashed against the floor, a knee strongly connecting with his abdomen and stealing all of the air from inside of his lungs. As he was about to moan a protest at what was happening, a quick and precise chop to his throat made his words get stuck inside of his vocal cords and a coughing attack made his sore body toss around the floor.

 

“Well played, Tetsuya,” acknowledged Akashi with a soft nod of his head after he had seen yet another display of the previously mentioned techniques of self defence that the bluenette was indubitably extremely proficient at.

 

“Someone just needed to shut Kise-kun up right there,” said Kuroko, straightening his body and getting a new hold of the small dog that he had been forced to put on the floor in order to throw the blonde to the floor. He started walking over to the redhead, walking over the coughing blonde’s body without stepping on him, and stopped right next to him. “Since you didn’t do it yourself, I took the liberty of taking measures by my own hands.”

 

“Yes, this is definitely yet another thing about you that I just can’t help but adore, my turtle dove,” lovingly purred Akashi, his arms circling the bluenette’s waist and nestling his chest against the smaller male’s back at the same time as he delivered a soft peck to his cheek. “You look so manly and cool when pinning down other guys to the floor.”

 

“Do you want to be the next one in the list, Akashi-kun?” asked Kuroko, peering over his shoulder so that he could half-heartedly glare at the redhead.

 

“If it would be to be pinned down on the bed, not on the floor, then be my guest,” purred Akashi right to the bluenette’s ear, giving a soft nibble to the warmed up earlobe due to the blush half covering his pale features.

 

“Nghah...!” half moaned Kuroko the moment the redhead’s teeth sank down on his skin, his knees wobbling around for just a fraction of a second – though Akashi obviously wasn’t one to let such slide or pass as unseen and readily used this fleeting moment where he had dropped his guard to pick him up from the floor and carry him against his chest to the bed. “Wai— Ahh...”

 

“Not waiting...” softly whispered Akashi in the bluenette’s ear, his tongue teasingly licking the small earlobe in between the continuous small bites, nibbles and suckles to its soft skin. As they walked forward (or the redhead pushed the bluenette forward, to be more precise), their knees bumped against the side of the bed and their bodies toppled on top of the mattress, Akashi still grabbing into the bluenette’s waist to keep him fully secured against his body as he remained with his chest well pressed over his arched back. “Tetsuya...”

 

“Ahh...! Ngh... Haa...” moaned Kuroko, his body shivering at the teasing foreplay being done to his ear. “Ah... A-Akashi-ku—“

 

“D-Don’t... mind me...” groaned Kise in between light coughs, his arms clutching at the area of his stomach that had been kneed a couple of minutes ago. “I-It’s not like... I’m dying here... or anything... Ugh...”

 

“Ryouta, get out,” ordered Akashi, sideways glancing to the blonde sprawled on the floor while securing the bluenette’s position underneath his body by strongly caging him in his arms and against his chest.

 

“I would... if I could...” whimpered Kise, his eyes slightly tear-stained as he slowly lifted his head and looked over to the two smaller males acting all lovey-dovey in the bed. “But... Kurokocchi’s hits... ugh... are worse than Senpai’s...”

 

“You have ten seconds starting from right now to get out,” threateningly warned Akashi, his golden eye flickering for a fraction of a second. “If you don’t, I’ll bring a casket to help you out.”

 

“Ugh... Impossible...” groaned Kise, tiredly dropping his head against the floor and curling his body up even more to try to sooth down the pain that coursed through all of his body.

 

“Seven... Six...” counted Akashi, still keeping the blonde under his threatening glare.

 

“J... Just get out, both of you!” yelled Kuroko all of a sudden, his face completely beat red as he pushed the redhead’s head from near his ear and neck area and wiggled his body around to escape the arm strongly holding into him. “Before I ask my ‘guard dog’ to kick you two out!”

 

“Woof!!” loudly barked the small puppy in acknowledgment.

 

“Heh... Tetsuya, do you really think that _this tiny thing_ could get me out of your roo— OUCH!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "GLITTER DAYS" by Fo'xTails.
> 
> Kise, I swear... Your masochistic side and denseness will really be the death of you, if Kasamatsu's punches don't put you six feet underground first XD And Akashi... y-you should be more careful around Nigou from now on... I mean, I don't want to hurt you due to you hurting my precious Alaskan Malamute, okay? >.>
> 
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	181. If I start counting, there’s no end because it happened everywhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> It's so nice to have multiple days off in a single week *content sigh* I'm seriously considering reducing my working schedule in the restaurant and focus my time on my interpreting/translation job - which easily enables me a LOT of time to write and hence focus on my fics and novels XD But then again... that means I will have to reduce my binge buying habits... I'm torn TTvTT Quality time spent doing things that I love vs Money to buy merch!! Which side will end up winning, I wonder...
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

“What... happened while I was out shopping...?” hesitantly asked Murasakibara, dropping the shopping bags on the floor at what he had found inside of the living room of Fuyu.

 

“Uhh... So mean... Ugh... Everybody is so mean to meeeee... Uhh...” sobbed Kise, fat tears rolling down his cheeks from his golden eyes as he rocked his body back and forth while curled up in the corner of the living room. “This is soooooooooo unfair...! Uhhhh...!”

 

“Tetsuya, give me that dog. _Right. Now!_ ” ordered Akashi, one of his hands outstretched towards the panting bluenette, the small dog being protectively held against his chest and surrounded by his arms. His other hand held a pair of scissors, tightly clutched by his closed fist. On his face remained an odd-shaped bite mark.

 

“There’s no way I will give him to you until you put those scissors down and calm yourself!” announced Kuroko, slowly taking a couple of steps backwards as he put more distance between himself and the redhead.

 

“Oh, I surely will calm myself down once again as soon as that creature ceases to exist from this world!” said Akashi, quickly motioning his body forward and skirting around the sofa that was stopping him from catching the bluenette. His hand, however, only caught air as the smaller male skilfully averted being caught by him and all that they obtained out of it was a toppled down side table – one more to the mess that the room had already become.

 

“Then I will most definitely _not_ give him to you!” declared Kuroko, quickly skirting around through the mess spread all over the floor and running towards the door, where the purple haired male was standing with a completely flabbergasted expression.

 

“Atsushi, stop Tetsuya from running out of the room!” requested Akashi, trying to catch up with the bluenette and lessen the gap between their distances. “If he escapes, all sorts of sugary treats will be banned from Teikou until the ends of time!”

 

“Here we go~” sluggishly said Murasakibara as he grabbed the bluenette by his waist and put him over his shoulder, almost as if carrying a potato sack.

 

“Wai— Murasakibara-kun, please put me down!” yelped Kuroko, wiggling his legs around so as to force the purple haired giant to release his body and put both him and the small dog back on the floor. He threw a quick glance to Akashi, who had a knowing smirk on his lips as he stopped right in front of the taller male, and then looked right back to Murasakibara with a panicky demeanour. “Please don’t let Akashi-kun get him! He’s going to kill him!”

 

“Death is the last of this thing’s worries right now,” said Akashi, his voice as cold as ice as he outstretched his hand while tiptoeing and got a hold of the small puppy by the crest, quickly snatching him from the bluenette’s arms. “Now, what exactly should I do regarding this little _inconvenience_ around us?”

 

“No! Akashi-kun! Please don’t!” begged Kuroko, struggling against the purple haired giant’s arms and trying to reach the small puppy with his hands. “Akashi-kun! Don’t...! Please! Please don’t hurt him!”

 

“Tetsuya, just what sort of person do you think I am?” sighed Akashi, adjusting his hold to the small dog and holding the trembling furry animal against his chest with his arms, opposite to the half-hearted hold to the back of his neck. “I’m not going to hurt your dog. I would never do anything like that.”

 

“I will believe you the moment you put those scissors back on the place where you magically took them from!” said Kuroko, still flailing around to try to reach the small puppy being held by the redhead.

 

“Fine,” conceded Akashi, walking over to the large table placed on the living room, which was usually unused due to lack of number of people in that division all at the same time, and placing the pair of scissors there. Then he walked right back to near the bluenette and the purple haired giant. “Is this better now?”

 

“It is not,” said Kuroko, releasing a soft sigh of relief, even though he was still extremely worried over the well being of the small puppy and its possible early death. “You can easily use your ability to call those scissors over to you, can’t you? Like what you did at Kagami-kun’s apartment when I went to have dinner there.”

 

“Are you sure this is a good time to mention Kagami Taiga, Tetsuya?” asked back Akashi, a deep frown appearing on his features as he unconsciously tightened his hold to the small puppy on his arms.

 

“Ugh...” softly groaned Kuroko, his shoulders slumping down just the slightest. “P-Please forgive him just this time. It was my fault, since I was the one who told him to kick you and Kise-kun out of my bedroom... So... Please forgive him, Akashi-kun.”

 

“A punishment is in need before forgiveness can be achieved,” announced Akashi, dropping his gaze to the small puppy being held against his chest, who looked up at him with the exact same set of teal beckoning eyes as the bluenette. “Now, then? Once again, what exactly should I do with you? Maybe cut all of your fur until you look like a sewer rat?”

 

“A-Akashi-kun!” readily admonished Kuroko, his jaw dropping wide open at the terrifying punishment that had been blurted out from the redhead’s mouth. “You can’t do something like that to him! Fur is what regulates a dog’s body temperature! P-Please don’t even dream of doing such a pitiful thing to him!”

 

“Getting a muzzle that locks and throw away the key?” suggested Akashi once again, a mischievous smirk slowly tugging at the corner of his lips as he glanced to the furry animal with an evil glint in his eyes.

 

“Don’t! He would starve like that!” yelped Kuroko, once again resuming with wiggling his body around to try to free himself from the purple haired giant’s hold on him. “He just needs to be taught on not to bite other people. It’s the same process as teaching him to go take care of his physiological needs outside and not inside of the house!”

 

 _Aka-chin/Akashicchi is so enjoying this...,_ inwardly mumbled both Murasakibara and Kise as they saw the redhead throwing quick masked glances over in the bluenette’s direction, who was far too panicky at that moment to notice that Akashi was simply teasing him at this point and wasn’t going to follow forward with any threat he was making.

 

“Or maybe the quickest method to teach him how to behave around human beings would be to throw him inside of a dry water well for a couple of da—“ teasingly started Akashi, but he was forced to cut off his own words when a voice coldly and threateningly interrupted him.

 

“ _Don’t you dare, Akashi Seijuurou!_ ” ordered Kuroko, a deep glare on his eyes as he completely stilled his body and looked straight at the redhead.

 

“...!” A massive shudder crawled up the three other occupants of the room at the sound of that uncharacteristic voice of the bluenette, Murasakibara readily releasing Kuroko’s body and withdrawing from near the smaller male as his survival instinct told him that running away was the easiest way to preserve his life.

 

“Ouch!” groaned Kuroko when his body came crashing against the floor due to being dropped out of the blue. He used his arms to propel his body into a sitting position and softly rubbed his chin, which had bounced softly against the hard ground.

 

“...Are you okay, Tetsuya?” inquired Akashi after having softly and quite silently cleared his throat, putting the small puppy down on the floor at the same time as he crouched down next to the bluenette. “Did you get hurt?”

 

“You’re not going to do any of those things to him, right?” asked Kuroko, motioning his trembling hands forward and grabbing into the hem of the redhead’s shirt, a conflicted and extremely pained expression on his features. “You’re not, right... Akashi-kun?”

 

“...”

 

_“Having me cut all of your muscles, ligaments, tendons and break your articulations and then force you to climb the well on the lower floor with limited time?”_

 

 _I shouldn’t have said that...!,_ inwardly admonished himself Akashi, clicking his tongue softly as he lunged his hands forward and tightly hugged the trembling bluenette. When he had watched the video, he hadn’t been able to reach a conclusion over whether the blonde’s threats had been put forward against Kuroko or not – but now it was more than clear that the unknown man had trying to drown him by attaching weights to his frail legs and arms, had burned his pale skin with a scorching iron tube... and had mutilated his beautiful body again and again to only later force him to crawl out of a hole where he had been thrown to die.

 

Much like how the blonde had most likely coerced Kuroko into killing innocent people just so he could breathe for one more day in the messed up world that he was stuck into by the chains caused by the title of ‘pet’.

 

“You said it this morning, didn’t you, Tetsuya?” softly said Akashi with a hushed voice, gently caressing the smaller male’s blue strands with his fingers. “We’re like a family. True families don’t hurt each other, right? I’m not going to hurt this guy in any way. I was just joking to tease you a little bit.”

 

“Y-You really suck at telling jokes, Akashi-kun...” weakly mumbled Kuroko, burying his features in the redhead’s shoulder and hiding that way his teary teal eyes. “Please refrain from doing it until you learn how to do it properly...”

 

“If I don’t practice, I’ll never get there, though,” chuckled Akashi, a soft smile on his features as he gave one more crushing squeeze to the bluenette’s body.

 

“Please go practice with someone else then,” mumbled Kuroko, returning the hug by also grabbing more tightly into the taller male’s clothes and burying his bright red face even more strongly on his shoulder. He then added as nothing more than a soft whisper, “Our s-son and I are scratched out of that list...”

 

“...!” At hearing that embarrassed purr almost right next to his ear, Akashi couldn’t help but reflexively tighten even more his hold on the bluenette’s body, a strong wave of arousal readily striking his lower body as if an arrow released by Cupid himself. “You’re not playing fair there, Tetsuya... Now I feel like trying to make an army of little children with you...”

 

“Eh? I don’t think we have enough space to keep that many dogs, Akashi-kun,” said Kuroko, turning his head slightly and peering over to the redhead’s face with a question mark floating around his head. “Especially since this little one will grow to be a big one in a matter of months.”

 

“That’s not what I meant...” groaned Akashi, rolling his eyes around. He gave a quick jerk to his face and delivered a soft peck in the bluenette’s rosy cheek. “It means I want to impregnate you.”

 

“Wh—!?” yelped Kuroko, his face exploding into a myriad of shades of red as he let his mouth hang wide open, small babbles escaping his parted lips every now and then. “I-I-I’m a man! I can’t get pregnant!”

 

“We never know that, Tetsuya,” teasingly said Akashi, continuously showering the bluenette’s red features with little pecks and an occasional nibble. “It may be just like with my jokes. A little bit of continuous practice and we’ll get there.”

 

“I-Impossible...!” readily denied Kuroko, furiously shaking his head around while still caged in the redhead’s arms. “Just... impossible!”

 

“Why don’t we give it a try right now?” mischievously suggested Akashi, pushing their bodies forward and tumbling down against the carpeted floor. “I’m already perfect. And if it stays true to its words, then practice will make me even more perfect.”

 

“What is impossible is impossible...!”

 

“Okay~ Let’s put all of this in the kitchen~” leisurely said Murasakibara, picking up the shopping bags from the place where he had dropped them and turning around on his heels to motion to the kitchen.

 

“I’ll give you a hand, Murasakibaracchi!” announced Kise, getting up from the place where he had been all curled up on and passing by the two smaller males who were rolling around on the floor, flirting around unconditionally with one another as the redhead just literally tried to jump into the bluenette’s pants. “You must have it hard there, huh~”

 

“Eh? Why?” asked Murasakibara, tilting his head to the left as he peered over to the blonde as both of them walked to the kitchen.

 

“Because of your barrier!” explained Kise, a serious demeanour on his features as he analyzed everything inside of his brain. “You have a continuous perception of everything that happens inside of Fuyu because of the barrier around the building, right? That means that you will always know when that foolish couple goes into heat and start humping each other like bunnies! Do you think... it would be for the best to reinforce the door and make our bedrooms completely soundproof? I don’t want to give Akashicchi any excuses to punish or kill me... And I’m pretty sure he could and would use _anything_ against us if it would be related to Kurokocchi in any form or shape!”

 

“Well... That might work for us...” acknowledged Murasakibara, taking a Maiubou from inside of one of the grocery bags and unwrapping it with the help of his teeth. He took a big bite to the savoury stick and leisurely chewed it before adding, “But it would be completely useless for Mine-chin.”

 

“Oh right! Augmented hearing sure can be a pain in the ass at certain times, huh...” acknowledged Kise, nodding his head in agreement to what the purple haired giant was saying.

 

“No. I’m not referring to that,” shortly said Murasakibara at the same time as he noisily dropped the bags on top of the large counter in the middle of the kitchen. “Kise-chin, help me take everything out of one of the lower cupboards. It’s going to be the storage area for the little guy’s food and I don’t want it anywhere near food or my snacks.”

 

“I’m on it!” acknowledged Kise once again, giving a teasing salute to the purple haired male.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "We're Just Moving" by Ono Kenshou (our tempting bluenette >///<)
> 
> Ahahahaha! I really want to closely observe the whole process of impregnation, Akashi *drools* And all of the countless attempts to make that a reality XD Please do start as soon as possible, you're not the only one starving for some smex here~
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Hiejima Mutsumi Website](https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi)   
>  [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	182. This place has taught us both frustration and laughter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> The only thing I have to say about it is... YOU TELL HIM XD (in more than one sense~)
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

“Dinner is ready, you two~” announced Kise, popping his head into the living room where the two smaller males had remained on bickering and flirting and causing even more mess to the already chaotic division by playing a make-shift game of tag. “Akashicchi, stop trying to strip Kurokocchi. Kurokocchi, stop trying to incite your lil puppy into biting Akashicchi once again and make the situation even worse.”

 

“Are you perhaps starting to house delusional thoughts that you can tell me what to do, Ryouta?” slowly asked Akashi, lifting his head and looking over to the blonde with a threatening glare. “Know your place!”

 

“T-That’s not i-it...” stutteringly said Kise, unconsciously taking a couple of steps backwards to put even more distance between the redhead, who was tugging at the bluenette’s pants with clear intentions of removing that piece of clothing from his smaller body, and himself. He softly cleared his throat and straightened his body. “B-But as the oldest of all of us, I think I have the right to sort out messy situations and put an end to endless squabbles, even if they are nothing more than bickering. And dinner is ready, I’m hungry and I want to quickly eat so I can go pay another visit to Kasamatsu-senpai with my newly acquired key<3”

 

“You are saying all of that but out of all of us, you are the one who causes more damages, begins more arguing and is a straight out bother and annoyance to everyone around you,” said Akashi, not mincing his words in the least as he released the bluenette’s pants (who he caught visibly sighing in release by the corner of his eyes) and straightened his sat down position on the sofa.

 

“So mean~!!!!” cried Kise, a sulking expression on his features as he clutched his hands into tight fists. He lifted one of his hands and accusatorily pointed at the redhead, finally reaching his limit of the day in terms of being bashed around by everyone and everything. “What about you, huh, Akashicchi? You are nothing more than a pervert in disguise, acting all serious and composed when you are constantly in heat like a pitiful dog! You throw your own responsibilities to others so you can spend your days flirting around like an idiot! You force others to sort out the messes that you, indirectly, and Kurokocchi, directly, cause so you can run off on your own and enjoy a little romantic escapade which ends up causing even more problems to every single ‘User’ in the world! Right now, you are not Akashi Seijuurou, the Student Council President of Teikou Academy, a ‘Miracle’ and the strongest ‘User’!! You are Akashi Seijuurou, a useless, foolish, horny, conceited and extremely annoying teenage!!!!!”

 

 _Oh no...,_ inwardly groaned Kuroko, a shudder crawling up his spine at the intense wrath he could feel being exuded in large quantities out of the passive demeanour of the redhead. He quickly sat up straight on the sofa from his laid down position and immediately took a hold of the taller male’s sleeves, preventing him from moving them at his will. “K-Kise-kun... please run...”

 

“No, no, no~ You are now going to hear me to the very bitter end!” announced Kise, shaking his head softly in denial, a deep frown on his handsome features. “What do you think you are doing, Akashicchi? You know how much Teikou depends on you to continue to work normally! Then why are you the one who is bringing more difficulties and problems to it right now by making foolish and stupid decisions? Are you going to allow yourself to thread the exact same path that you did? Are you going to allow yourself to lose something precious to you because of your freaking stupid actions!? Are you going to put those dear to you at risk because of your own selfishness!? I’ve warned you before, Akashicchi! Though the cases are different, you are doing the exact same thing with Kurokocchi that I did with Kasamatsu-senpai!”

 

 _...?_ Not understanding any of what was happening right now, Kuroko exchanged quickly masked glances between the blonde and the redhead – the former unusually serious and angry, the latter eerily silent and quiet even though he was being told off by another person in such an aggressive way. It made him restless, to see Akashi simply listening to another person admonish him without offering any sort of retort at all – not a word, not any manifestation of his ability.

 

“And you know how that ended, don’t you?” yelled Kise, furiously taking a step forward in the two smaller males’ direction, his face twisted in a mixture of pain and rage. “Senpai got his ability forcibly stolen from him and almost died a second time! Shougou-kun was kicked out of Teikou Academy and disappeared from the map, taking with him the only thing that was keeping Kasamatsu-senpai going forward! Which were the results of all of that? I now have to carry even more regrets with me since it was all my fucking fault, Kasamatsu-senpai is hanging by a thread as he tries to seek a meaning for his own existence here in Teikou Academy, the only place he can call his home, and Nijimura-san is overworking himself to the grave as he continuously searches _everywhere_ for Shougou-kun! Do you want to have your own version of all of this!? I don’t advise you on it because it sure hurts to see everything around you fall apart because of you and your actions!”

 

“Do you think I don’t know that, Ryouta?” calmly said Akashi, even though his face displayed just as much conflict and pain as the blonde’s. “I’m very much aware that everything that I do or say ends up affecting or influencing other people. But I’m different from you. If it means keeping just that one person safe and sound, then I don’t care what happens to the rest of the world. I’m not as soft and kind-hearted as you, even if in the past I may have been. The well being of other people is not my priority and it has never bee—“

 

“Liar,” shortly cut off Kuroko, a frown on his brows as he looked straight to the redhead. “You worry so much about others that you ignore yourself to fix those matters as soon as possible.”

 

“...!” At hearing those words, Akashi immediately turned his head around to look at the bluenette sat down on the sofa with him. Kise arched even more one of his eyebrows at them, wondering what kind of foolish excuses the smaller male would offer to them right now so that he could protect the man he had been flirting around for over half an hour.

 

“Yesterday you woke up in the middle of the night and spent several hours talking on the phone,” said Kuroko, a soft shade of pink on his cheeks due to his next words. “I guess that’s why I ended up clinging to you like that after you returned to the bed once again... The countless hours you spent together with me in your building were passed with you doing work related to the Student Council, Teikou Academy and other things related to the relationship between ‘Users’ and the Japanese government and its maintenance. Whenever you are in your room, you also continue to do several office works for the Student Council, most of the time without sleeping until you come secretly crawling to my bed... Even while we were in Sumida during these last couple of days, you were continuously talking with several different people and discussing matters with them in order to bring more benefits and safety to Teikou. And you weren’t doing any of that for yourself or for just the sake of one single person. You were doing it for every ‘User’ from Teikou Academy and for those that may come to Teikou in the future.”

 

“Ow...” softly groaned Akashi when the bluenette gave a quick flick to his forehead, a soft smile showing on his pale features.

 

“You need to stop acting like the evil mastermind who is aiming for world dominance and start thinking more about yourself, Akashi-kun,” half-heartedly admonished Kuroko, not even one of his words meant as a complaint or accusation. “It won’t do you any good to lead other people by the nose and make them think that you are doing nothing but acting according to your own whims. I mean, it’s quite counterproductive to make your allies distrust you, isn’t it? You don’t need to be the bad guy to guarantee the safety of everyone, you dummy.”

 

“You’re probably the only person in the world that understands me right down to the core, never questioning any of my antics in a negative way...” softly whispered Akashi as he dropped his head and leaned his forehead on top of the bluenette’s shoulder.

 

“I’m not acquainted with any of those things that you were saying, Kise-kun,” continued Kuroko, now talking to the blonde as he gave some soft pats to the redhead’s head with one of his hands. “But you should trust Akashi-kun a little bit more. In a way, he’s acting just like you. I’m sure you enjoy creating a little bit of mischief to those around you every now and then, even though they will bite your head off with admonishments later on, right? But just because he’s extremely clumsy and uncoordinated when it comes to acting like the age that he has, it doesn’t mean that he’s throwing away his responsibilities.”

 

“The ‘clumsy and uncoordinated’ bit was uncalled for, Tetsuya...” grumbled Akashi, a small pout on his hidden face.

 

“Please be quiet, Akashi-kun. I’m talking with the grownups right now,” deadpanned Kuroko, though with a little bit of teasing and devilry to it. “He’ll eventually learn how to synchronize his newly unlocked childish personality with his business personality so please be patient until then. With a little bit of training, he’ll get there. He’s Akashi Seijuurou, the Student Council President of Teikou Academy, a ‘Miracle’ and the strongest ‘User’ just as much as he is a useless, foolish, horny, conceited and extremely annoying teenage, after all.”

 

“You know something?” said Kise, a happy and satisfied smile showing on his lips. “Akashicchi is probably going to kill me for saying this but I don’t really care right now... I’m relieved but sad at the same time that I didn’t meet you before this school year, Kurokocchi. I have the feeling that a lot of things would have gone differently if I had, not only for me but for a lot of other people. The only thing that I feel relieved about is that I would have probably fallen in love with you at that time and would never get to have a loving and beautiful romance with Kasamatsu-senpai<3”

 

“Yes, you are absolutely right, Ryouta. I’m going to kill you nice and hard,” threateningly announced Akashi, the chandeliers over their heads flickering and noisily teetering around. He lifted his face from the bluenette’s shoulder and looked over to the blonde, his heterochromatic eyes eerily glowing like those of a demon. “Get any closer and you might wake up one of these days inside of a coffin. I heard that being buried alive is the most feared death for a human being.”

 

“Ahahaha~ Kurokocchi is right, you are terrible at telling jokes~” laughed Kise, rolling his eyes around.

 

“I am/Akashi-kun is not joking right now,” announced both Akashi and Kuroko in unison, a threatening glare on the former and an expressionless demeanour on the latter.

 

 _“Hiiiiiiiii!!”_ screeched Kise, a major shudder going down his spine. “I-I didn’t... m-mean it... like t-that... I’m not going to cheat on Kasamatsu-senpai! You can have Kurokocchi all to yourself, Akashicchi...!”

 

“It seems that I cannot, since there’s one too many disturbances around us,” hissed Akashi, wrapping his arms around the bluenette’s torso and protectively holding him as if he was about to be snatched away by either the blonde or the small puppy closely observing them from its sat down position on the floor near the sofa. “Kagami Taiga, Daiki... Then this small biting thing and now even Ryouta... Tetsuya, stop seducing other people right now!”

 

“When did I ever seduce anyone...?” sighed Kuroko, softly shaking his head around at the unbelievable foolishness behind those words.

 

“Oh, Tetsuya!” yelled Kise all of a sudden, his facial expression perking up in happiness as he clapped his hands as if the best idea of the century had just popped up in his head.

 

“ _Excuse me...?_ ” inquired Akashi, his voice so cold that dry ice would be seen as one of the warmest substances in the world. The lamps in the chandelier over their head flickered even more intensely, some of the electric wires bursting with a soft pop inside of the round glass containers.

 

“N-No, you’re w-wrong! It’s not what you are thinking, Akashicchi!” tried to explain Kise almost immediately, fearing that his life was nearing its ending faster and faster by the means of an earlier burial. “I meant the small puppy! He looks just like Kurokocchi, down to their feisty personalities! So why don’t we name it Tetsuya too?”

 

“I will not name a dog the same way as Tetsuya,” hissed Akashi, his voice almost sounding like an animalistic bark or growl.

 

“T-T-Then... Ah! What about Tetsuya #2?” nervously suggested Kise, his brain whirling around as he tried to come out of this life-threatening situation completely woundless. “Like, you know, when kings have descendants and they name one of their kids with the exact same name and then add ‘the second’ on the end? Y-You called the little puppy your son so... I-Isn’t that a good name? You don’t even need to call him by Tetsuya, just Nigou!”

 

“That would mean that my first offspring and rightful heir would be a dog so no thank y—“

 

“That’s actually a cute name!” interrupted Kuroko, his eyes sparkling with excitement as he picked up the small furry animal from the floor, pushing the redhead out of the way without any hesitation, and lovingly cradled it on his lap. “What do you think? Do you like the name Nigou?”

 

“Woof!” cheerfully acknowledged the small puppy, his tail wagging around as he stuck its tongue out in happiness. “Woof! Woof!”

 

“Tetsuya #2, or Nigou for short, it is then,” announced Kuroko, raising the small puppy in the air and lovingly staring to one of the members of his new family. The furry animal corresponded with the same amount of love, offering small licks to his cheeks.

 

“Tetsuya... I still don’t agree, or, to be more precise, like that idea...” grumbled Akashi, crossing his arms over his chest as he sulked at the decision that the bluenette made all on his own, even though, technically speaking, the small puppy was also his ‘flesh and blood’.

 

“What’s the harm?” inquired Kuroko, tilting his head slightly. “If you are dissatisfied, then we just need to get another Nigou. A Seijuurou #2, this time.”

 

“Like I initially thought, these clothes are definitely going to come off today,” announced Akashi, pouncing on the bluenette and knocking the small dog out of his hold, his hands busy with tugging at the smaller male’s clothes with the intention of stripping them all off of his body.

 

“Akashi-kun, please stop already!” yelped Kuroko, a furious blush on his features as he wrestled once again against the redhead in order to keep himself from being denuded right there and then. “Just... What’s wrong with you today? Please get a hold of yourself and your rationality!”

 

“It’s your fault for pressing the wrong buttons,” teasingly answered Akashi, delivering a couple of butterfly kisses to the smaller male’s features. “I’ll stop once I get my fill of this delicious dish spread right in front of my eyes.”

 

“Then hurry up and come to eat dinner!” yelled Murasakibara all of a sudden from the dining room. “If you don’t come in five seconds, I’m going to eat all of this and not cook for anybody for a month! Stop getting horny all by yourself and give me a break, Aka-chin~!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Until the Day We Meet Again" by Ono Kenshou and Kimura Ryouhei (our lovely bluenette and our idiotic dog :P)
> 
> Sometimes I swear that Kise must be more suicidal than masochistic but well, I can forgive him, since it ends relatively well ^.^ And Akashi... Hold on your horses, okay? Just... Wait. A. Little. Bit. Longer *winks*
> 
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	183. It’s always better to think beforehand when in front of simple passions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I forgot to mention it to you guys before, but every Sunday I will be releasing a brief "preview" to all the chapters that are to be released that week~ I'm going to put you all of the end of your seats with the releases for January 31st, nfufufufufu~ Expect another entertaining game to begin on that day, muwahahahahahahaha!
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter ^^]

Kuroko sighed, crossing his arms over his chest as he continuously stared to the redhead with a blank expression. “I know you have a good memory so you are not fooling anyone here, Akashi-kun.”

 

“...”

 

“I told you that you were only to sleep in the same bed as me throughout the duration of our stay in Sumida, since at that time we didn’t have any other option than to do that,” casually said Kuroko, trying to maintain his demeanour as expressionless and peaceful as it was possible at the same time as he barred the entrance to his bedroom with his body. “I also told you countless times to stop crawling into my bed during the middle of the night, even if you use the fact that you ask my sleeping self for permission and I don’t give you any answer as an excuse. So... Please return to your own bedroom, get changed, do anything that you may still need to do, and sleep on your own bed.”

 

“I don’t want to,” readily declared Akashi, taking a step forward towards the insides of the bluenette’s bedroom but being stopped when the smaller male changed his position and put himself in a way where it was impossible for him to squeeze himself inside. A pout readily appeared on his features as his shoulders slumped down just the slightest. “Tetsuya, this is not fair! Why is that thing—“

 

“He’s called Nigou, Akashi-kun. Please start calling him that,” corrected Kuroko, even though the redhead pretended not to be hearing any of his words.

 

“—allowed to sleep in your room and I’m not?” continued Akashi, taking a glance inside of the bluenette’s bedroom and finding the small puppy visibly sat down on the floor of the division, its tail happily wagging around as he stared at the two humans in front of it. “You know more than well enough that it’s within my rights to sleep every night in the same bed as you. Why are you being so stubborn and continuously denying me of what is rightfully mine? And why are you opening an exception to that thing but kicking me out at the smallest of chances? Do you like that dog more than you like me?”

 

“Akashi-kun, it’s quite pitiful, the way you can harbour jealousy towards a dog...” said Kuroko, doing his best to not blush at the last question that the redhead dropped on him. “You should revaluate what sorts of things need your concern because I can assure you that that is not one of them.”

 

“Is that your bashful way of saying that you like me more than you like your dog?” mischievously asked Akashi, bringing his body closer to the bluenette’s at the same time as he put his hand on the doorframe.

 

“No, that’s my direct way of saying that things like trying to compete with a dog or forcibly sleep in the same bed as me or forcibly trying to undress me or any other things that revolve around lack of consent from my behalf is something that you should throw away once and for all for they are pitiful on so many different levels, not only for me and for you, but for everyone that gets caught in the cross fire,” explained Kuroko, taking a step backwards and quickly starting to close the door after he had fully stepped inside of his bedroom. “Have a good night, Akashi-kun, and please bear in mind that I _will_ punish you, since that method seems to be one which you approve of, if you dare to sneak into my bedroom without my authorization. See you tomorrow.”

 

“...” At that moment, Akashi could have sworn that the sound of that door closing perfectly mimicked the sound that his heart had made as it broke in a million pieces in disappointment. He clicked his tongue in frustration and turned around on his heels, slowly – very slowly – starting to walk towards his own bedroom, still hoping that the closed door would open to allow him entrance before he left the corridor.

 

When he closed his bedroom’s door, it was akin to having his broken heart being stepped all over. But if it was for Kuroko... then it was okay.

 

Akashi could take the pain until it wouldn’t be needed to hurt ever again.

 

-.-

 

“Hey, Nigou... I made the correct choice, didn’t I...?” asked Kuroko, his body crouched down on the floor as he absentmindedly scratched the small puppy behind his fluffy ears. “It’s not like I dislike sleeping in the same bed as Akashi-kun... If I were to describe it with a word, then it would be ‘liking’ rather than ‘disliking’. But you know something...? I can’t. I can’t have it nor keep it. It’s just like with you. We’re together now but... I really will have to find you a better owner in the near future. I hope you can forgive me for it when the time comes...”

 

 _And I hope Akashi-kun can forgive me too,_ inwardly added Kuroko, releasing a tired sigh at the same time as he dropped his head and bumped his forehead against the top of the small puppy’s head.

 

“Well, it’s no use thinking about it right now, is it?” pointed out Kuroko to himself, having done it out loud so that he could convince himself that it truly was the case. He gave a couple more of ruffles to the small puppy’s head and then got up once again. “Let the both of us go to bed and rest plenty so we can face another possibly crazy day tomorrow. Though... I’m sorry but you really will have to sleep in the dog bed that Kise-kun got you. If you were to sleep in my bed, I think that Akashi-kun would really cut off all of your fur...”

 

“Woof...” whined Nigou with a low voice, his tail stopping to wag around as if he had understood the life threat behind the bluenette’s words.

 

“I know you don’t like it very much,” chuckled Kuroko, picking up the small puppy and taking it over to the dog bed placed by the feet of his own. “I also wouldn’t really like to sleep in such a feminine bed, being a male myself, but please hold on just a little bit. I will try to get on Akashi-kun’s good side and convince him into getting you a better one. You’ll have to cooperate in this ‘evil scheme’ too, okay?”

 

“Woof!” acknowledged Nigou, jumping around on the bluenette’s arms as he gave soft licks to his chin, his tail finally wagging around in satisfaction once again.

 

“Good boy,” said Kuroko, gently putting the small puppy on the bed and covering the furry animal with the small blanket that came as a (pink) match to the bed. “Good night, then.”

 

The bluenette quickly went about his night cleaning rituals as usual, brushing his teeth and putting on his sleeping wear before slowly making a bee line to his bed, his teal eyes stuck to the bedroom’s door as he inwardly wondered how long it would take for the mischievous lion to pay him yet another night time visit.

 

It didn’t happen, though.

 

Minute after minute, Kuroko continuously turned around on the mattress, trying to find a comfortable position that would enable him to fall asleep. With his stomach turned up or down, sideways, with his head on the pillow, off of the pillow, even underneath the pillow – there was not a single sleeping position that he was knowledgeable about that was arousing his sleep, even though he was so very tired with all the running around that had happened that day and it was well past his usual time to go to sleep.

 

“This is truly aggravating...” groaned Kuroko, kicking the blankets from on top of his body and sitting up on the bed, his cheeks puffed out in dissatisfaction, though still smeared with a light pink shade. “I can no longer sleep without Akashi-kun by my side...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "We're Just Moving" by Ono Kenshou - our sleepless bluenette~
> 
> Gosh, we really were all expecting such a result, weren't we? -.-' Now let us enjoy Kuroko sneaking into Akashi's bed for once *wiggles eyebrows* Or something even better than that~ *evil smirk*
> 
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	184. With a close game right down to the wire – challenge accepted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KUROKO!!!! *sniff* You have grown so much in me... I think I'm in the exact same stance as Akashi - I can't live without you by my side anymore. So here it is for many, many, many more years together to come! Even if the KnB fandom falls apart completely, I will be that one person who will write fics about you and your devilish angel until I'm a granny, that I swear to you!!! Or better yet, I WILL NEVER LET THE KNB FANDOM FALL APART WHILE I'M ALIVE! THAT IS MY EVERLASTING BIRTHDAY GIFT TO YOU AND EVERY CHARACTER! *roars*
> 
> Anyway~ If you have been following by releases website, you know that two more chapters of two new fics are to come right next to this release~ Please do check them out and carefully read the beginning notes because fate is in your hands and YOU will be the ones who get to decide which will be the wonderful fic to be released IN BULK throughout AkaKuro Week 2018 *v*
> 
> Enjoy and, once again, happy birthday, Kuroko-tan~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

“Screw that foul mouthed and violent woman...” groaned Aomine, softly massaging his jaw as he leisurely walked through the main gate to the surrounding area of Fuyu, a deep frown creasing his forehead. “Satsuki didn’t need to slap me just because I asked her to spend the night in her room, seeing as I didn’t see her as a woman and there would be absolutely no problem... And then she even dared to make it impossible for me to stay in my previous apartment in Touou by going to show her crocodile tears to Imayoshi-san...”

 

Releasing a soft sigh, the tanned male unwillingly opened the front door of Fuyu and stepped inside of the pitch black building, no light in either the lower or upper floors turned on. He walked over to the staircase, one of his hands softly massaging the back of his neck with the other softly skirted through the wooden handrail of the stairs – he did so until he was forced to a halt in mid ascension.

 

“...?” An eyebrow slightly arched, Aomine observed a small shadow walking back and forth in front of Akashi’s closed bedroom’s door – it was a given that the shadow couldn’t be anyone other than Kuroko. “What the heck is he doing now...? He—“

 

“Tetsuya?” called Akashi when the bedroom’s door was opened out of the blue, revealing the heterochromatic redhead still dressed on his school uniform, though he was simply using its white trousers and light blue shirt. “What are you doing here? Do you need anything?”

 

“This is your fault, Akashi-kun...” said Kuroko with a voice so small that even Aomine had difficulty in fully grasping the words being said. Hands steadily growing more and more clammy, the bluenette’s next words were almost as if a sudden stab of a needle on his chest. “You conditioned me in yet another thing... I can’t sleep... It’s your fault, Akashi-kun, so please take responsibility for making me unable to sleep without you there by my side...”

 

“Hehe... I will, don’t worry,” acknowledged Akashi after a brief chuckle. His eyes more than adjusted to the dark ambience of the building, Aomine saw as clearly as if it had been done beneath the bright light of the sun how the redhead playfully circled the bluenette’s waist with his hands and brought their bodies closer to one another, delivering a quick peck to the smaller male’s lips. “Let’s go to bed, then. Today was an insane day.”

 

“It was insane mostly because of you,” deadpanned Kuroko, his hands landing on top of the redhead’s upper arms as he leaned his weight over his chest. “Sometimes I really wonder if you are an elementary school student or a high school one...”

 

“I think you know the answer to that one,” mischievously said Akashi, bumping his forehead against the bluenette’s. “An elementary school student wouldn’t kiss you the way I do.”

 

“Mmhn...!” If seeing Akashi kissing Kuroko already came as one more powerful stab in his heart, then seeing Kuroko corresponding to the kiss with the same hunger as the redhead, his hands climbing up on his upper arms so that he could circle his neck and bring their bodies even closer to one another, was akin for Aomine’s heart to be ripped into shreds and then beaten up until nothing more than microscopic fragments of a previous deep earning and fondness.

 

“Tsk!” Clicking his tongue in frustration, Aomine turned around on his heels and went down the stairs once again, quickly exiting the building without bothering to close the door behind himself.

 

 _Why should I care or feel bothered by it?,_ inwardly grumbled Aomine, quickly walking through the deserts insides of Teikou Academy’s grounds as he picked up enough momentum to run out of that area – the farthest away, the quickest possible. _Why should I care if Kuroko is now smiling because of Akashi? Why should I care if Kuroko can only sleep when sharing the same bed as Akashi!? Why should I care if they are screwing around with each other at the smallest of opportunities!? Why should I care that I actually know him for far, far longer than Akashi does!? Why should I care that I know more about Kuroko’s past than Akashi does!? I don’t care! It doesn’t bother me at all! It’s their fucking business, not mine! It doesn’t have anything to do with me, I don’t care, it doesn’t bother me! That’s right..._

 

“I DON’T FUCKING CARE ABOUT ANY OF THOSE THINGS AT ALL!!!!” loudly roared Aomine, giving a powerful blow with his fist to the basketball basket’s pole that he had stopped right in front of, the one that could be found in the court near the perimeter of Teikou Academy.

 

“Jesus Christ! What the fuck...!?” yelped Kagami, quickly jumping backwards when the basketball basket’s pole came crashing down to the ground right in front of his eyes as he was walking through that street. He dropped the shopping bags in his hands to the floor and quickly removed the headphones placed on his head, looking over in the court’s direction. “...A-Aomine...?”

 

“Ugh...” sobbed Aomine, quickly turning around on his heels so he could hide his crying features from the redhead and wipe the river of tears streaming down his eyes without being seen or pitied by anyone.

 

“Wai— What happened?” immediately asked Kagami, giving a quick jump and flying over the tall metal railing that surrounded the court so he could reach the tanned male’s location. He landed on the floor with the agility of a feline and quickly ran towards the other male, worriedly hovering around his shrunken form. “Is there any problem? Did you get hurt anywhere or something like th—“

 

“Just leave me the fuck alone, okay!?” yelled Aomine, covering his face with the back of one of his hands while using his other one to push the redhead away from near him and prevent him from catching a glimpse of the tear still overflowing from his blue eyes. “There’s nothing wrong! There’s nothing wrong... uh... at all...!”

 

“You’re not being very convincing, saying all that when crying your eyes out,” worriedly pointed out Kagami, still not knowing what he should do about this whole situation. “Just... sit down, take a deep breath and calm the heck down, okay? It’s not like you to be crying like a baby for no reason at all so... Um... Just tell me what happened? I’ll hear you out and... ah... maybe you’ll feel better after spilling it all out?”

 

“You almost sound like you are copying those lines out of a cheap drama with even cheaper acting skills...” grumbled Aomine, dropping his body down on the floor and immediately hiding his face against his knees, his arms wrapped around the back of his head.

 

“Well, I’m sorry that I’m worrying about your ass so badly that I don’t even know what to say at the moment, okay!?” grumbled Kagami back, also sitting down on the ground next to the tanned male, his arms readily crossing over his chest. After long seconds of complete silence, he decided to try again. “Hey... What happened?”

 

“...”

 

“Is it something related to Kuroko?” asked Kagami, looking over to the crouched down tanned male with sympathy. When he saw his body flinch, even if just slightly, he knew he had hit the nail on the head. “Yeah, well... You really only cry when it comes to Kuroko, huh...”

 

“Shut it!” yelled Aomine, his body shaking around in indignation even though he continued to stuff his face in his knees. “You’re making me seem like a fucking wussy, the way you just said that!”

 

“It’s the truth, though,” pointed out Kagami, motioning his hand forward and dropping it on top of the tanned male’s back, which he lightly patted and massaged with gentle motions. “The other night you cried because you remembered that Kuroko is yours and Momoi’s missing and forgotten childhood friend. What exactly about that unknown past of yours put you crying now?”

 

“’None of your business...” grumbled Aomine, pressing his features even more tightly against his own knees.

 

“Oh c’mon, don’t give me that now,” groaned Kagami, rolling his eyes around at the tanned male’s stubbornness. “Just shoot it all out! Yell, cry, you can even continue to break the whole court if it will make you feel better. But you need to put all of that out, Aomine. It’s more than clear that it’s not doing you any good.”

 

“...” After another long period of absolute silence, Aomine fidgeted his body around just the slightest and, with an extremely small voice, confessed, “It seems.......... with him...”

 

“Huh?” interjected Kagami, an eyebrow slightly arched as he tried to make sense of the babblers and mumbles that the tanned male was seemingly vocalizing instead of words. He sighed. “Aomine, stop acting like a baby and just say what you want to say like the man that you are!”

 

“It seems that I was in love with him!” yelled Aomine all of a sudden, lifting his face from his knees and looking over to the redhead, his cheeks wet with the tears that rolled out of his eyes just as much as they were smudged with a shade of bright pink. “My brain can’t remember a fucking thing about that time but my body does! I was in love with Kuroko back then, before he wiped my memories of him! I was in love with— Mmph!”

 

“S-Shut up, you fearless idiot...!” yelped Kagami, quickly covering the tanned male’s mouth with his hand to stop him from continuously yelling the same sentence again and again. “Are you really that much of a mindless, stupid, musclehead? Continue screaming that around and I’m sure it will eventually reach Akashi’s ears! And I’m not going to take any responsibility if that’s going to be the c— Woah, woah, woah! Why are you crying even more all of a sudden!?”

 

“This is the absolutely fucking worst...! Ugh...” groaned Aomine, giving a quick, but extremely weak, punch on the redhead’s chest. “I thought you were trying to make me feel better here... Uhh... But you just had to go and mention Akashi and the fucking perfect and paradisiacal relationship that he shares with the person who I was in love with, didn’t you...!? You’re the mindless, stupid, musclehead here!”

 

“O-Okay, okay! I get it! I’m sorry, okay!?” sighed Kagami, motioning his hands forward and pulling the tanned male over his body, gently hugging him while he cradled him against his chest. “I shouldn’t have mentioned Akashi, you’re right. Sorry... It was stupid and insensitive of me... Just don’t start crying even more or I really won’t have any fucking idea of what I’m supposed to do, got it!?”

 

“What the fuck is all this, anyway...?” grumbled Aomine in between soft sobs, his hands closing into tight fists while grabbing at the redhead’s shirt. “It was as clear as day that they freaking hated each other in the beginning. Kuroko was always scared shitless and glaring dagger like crazy at Akashi! How the fuck did it go from deep hatred to a freaking marriage in less than two months!?”

 

“...” Kagami simply listened to the countless complaints that the tanned male spewed in quick succession, silently giving soft pats to his back while still holding him tightly against his chest.

 

“This is all our freaking fault!” yelled Aomine, tightly closing his eyes to try to suppress the tears inside. “If we hadn’t asked Kuroko to come to your apartment to have dinner, he wouldn’t have realized that he’s in love with Akashi and would have continued to carry his hatred for him! They wouldn’t be flirting 24/7 or kissing in public or blatantly implying right in front of other people how sexual their relationship already is!”

 

“That’s not true and you know it,” sighed Kagami, softly ruffling the tanned male’s hair.

 

“Give me a break and let me at least continue to convince myself of it...!” sobbed Aomine, giving another soft punch to the redhead’s gut. “I know very well that Kuroko would have eventually figured out how he truly felt about Akashi, much like it happened with Akashi! But... It still hurts, okay!? Ugh... Just what the heck does Akashi have that I don’t have!? Why was he the one who managed to put Kuroko smiling when I spent months, years together with him and his life continued with the same shit as always, to the point where he tried to commit suicide right in front of my eyes and then had to throw away the only safe place that he had!? Why was Akashi the one Kuroko fell in love with when he was the one who killed that Ogiwara guy, has a fucking bad personality, keeps that fucking sadistic inner beast of his locked up inside of him far too little times right now and is pretty much a walking wreckage, if you forget about his insanely on point machinations, godly ability to manipulate everyone and everything in his favour and that he’s the founder of the only ‘Users’-only haven on Earth!?”

 

“Ahahahaha...” laughed Kagami, still leisurely running his fingers through the short locks of blue hair of the tanned male.

 

“What are you laughing about!?” roared Aomine, craning his head up and taking a peek at the redhead’s face, a deep dissatisfied frown twisting his crying features. “Having the time of your life, seeing me this broken hearted, are we...?”

 

“No, it’s just... You always moan that I complain a lot about Akashi at all moments but look at you now!” said Kagami, a happy grin on his features as he gave a couple more pats to the tanned male’s head before he settled it once again on his broad back. “I think you just complained more about Akashi in less than ten minutes than me in the last couple of weeks! Ahahahaha!”

 

“S-Shut up...” grumbled Aomine, averting the redhead’s amused eyes while puffing out his cheeks in a pout.

 

“You know, I never expected to be saying this but...” started Kagami, taking his arms from around the tanned male’s back and motioning them towards his crying features, softly wiping with his thumbs a couple of tears streaming down his tanned cheeks as he cupped his features. “You’re quite cute.”

 

“W-W-Wha—!?” stutteringly yelped Aomine, feeling his whole face heating up all of a sudden. He quickly lunged his hands forward and started pushing the redhead from near him, though he wasn’t backing out even a single inch and remained completely unmoving, never releasing his face. “J-Just what the fuck are you saying now, Bakagami! Me, cute!? Have you gone blind? Did Akashi’s threats finally fry your brain completely? Or is that your cheap drama adaptation of more comforting words said by a second rate actor?”

 

“Ah, yes, I’m really starting to wonder just what the heck is wrong with me too...!” said Kagami, a vein popping out at the tanned male’s words. “I mean, you are a total pain in the ass to have around! When you come to eat at my apartment, you never help with anything and just laze around in front of the TV. I’ve never been able to beat you in our one-on-one basketball matches, even after playing against one another again and again. You completely ignore everything that I say and chase me around when I refuse to go along with you and your whims. You’re this much of a pain in the ass but... I-I guess... I still like to have you around and look after your train wreck of a life...”

 

“...”

 

“Hey, Aomine...” called Kagami, softly pulling the tanned male’s features up once again and staring deep into his eyes with a dead serious demeanour. “From what I know, it’s not like Kuroko is doing it on purpose and allowing you to regain your memories once again, if something like that is even possible. Don’t you think... that you remembering all of this is your subconscious or some shit like that telling you to move on already?”

 

“...Huh?” interjected Aomine, a completely flabbergasted expression on his face as he stared back to the redhead with completely lost blue eyes.

 

“Now Kuroko has Akashi by his side and I bet the world would end faster than Akashi would let him go or would throw him away, for whichever reason it may be,” explained Kagami, giving a soft caress with his thumb to one of the tearstained cheeks of the tanned male. “So you can let go of your past regrets. Kuroko is happy, smiling, enjoying his life like a teenage and falling in love with someone like it’s meant to happen to everyone. You don’t need to massacre yourself anymore with thoughts about what happened to the person missing from your life. He’s right there in front of you and you know how much better his life is right now. How much he is loved and cared for. So throw all of that away and follow the same path that Kuroko is. Move on from your past, whether you remember it or not, and live your life the way you want it.”

 

“...How am I supposed to live by throwing away a part of me?” asked Aomine with a small voice, his face twisted with pain as more tears gathered in the corner of his eyes. “How am I supposed to live while being incomplete?”

 

“You don’t need to be incomplete, you idiot,” softly admonished Kagami, leaning his forehead on the tanned male’s, his cheeks painted in a red colouring only a shade lighter than his hair. “Just find someone that will make you complete again after you get rid of all of those heavy and useless burdens of yours.”

 

“...” Continuously staring to the redhead so gently taking care of his ass – really, how more ridiculous can he get, to cry like that for such a reason? –, Aomine slowly motioned his head forward and closed the distance between their faces, reciprocating the same gentleness with a small peck on his lips. “And I’m still winning.”

 

“Basketball is definitely not the only thing that I want to surpass you on,” said Kagami, his blush even more noteworthy as he erased the space between their faces once again and kissed the tanned male. When their lips parted once again, panting and starving for a renewal of the connection, the redhead happily grinned at the tanned male. “Feeling better now? Talking sure helps, right?”

 

“I-I don’t think it has anything to do with the talking, though...” mumbled Aomine, averting looking over to the grinning male.

 

“But damn, who would have thought that Aomine Daiki, the smug bastard who claims that the only one who can beat him is himself, actually has an inferiority complex when it comes to Akashi, another smug bastard that borders more to the psycho side than to simple smugness,” teased Kagami, a mischievous smirk on his features as he observed a vein popping out of the tanned male’s forehead. “And all of it because of the midget that Akashi stole from you. No wonder you are so obsessed with those porn mags, you couldn’t get any with the guy you used to be in love with.”

 

“That’s it, you’re done for!” roared Aomine, lunging his hands forward and pushing the redhead down on the floor, tightly grabbing into his shoulders to keep him completely motionless. With a smug smirk on his lips, he tilted his head and mischievously purred, “So I’m the type who can’t get any, huh? Show me your ass and let me have some right now, then! You’re supposedly comforting me, aren’t you?”

 

“Wha—!?!?” yelped Kagami, all of the blood in his body now definitely all gathered on his face in the shape of a bright red blush. “W-Who said I would comfort you in that sort of way, you sleazy perverted old man!? Like hell I’m gonna show you my ass, much less give it to you! Actually, you’re the one who’s in a real nice position for that.”

 

“Hii!” unconsciously shrieked Aomine when the redhead put his hands on his rear all of a sudden, giving a firm squeeze to his buttocks. “W-What the fuck are you doing, Bakagami!? Hands off! Right. Now!”

 

“Hah... For a porn addict, aren’t you quite the pure one?” teased Kagami, giving one more grope to the tanned male’s rear at the same time as he pushed his body down.

 

“Says the guy who gets beet red with a simple kiss... and says the guy who’s groping my ass as if an anti-stress ball!” admonished Aomine, his own face burning like a furnace though not very noticeably due to his darker skin tone. “I’m not gonna let you win. No way in hell!”

 

“Mmhn...!” As suddenly as lightning, the tanned male’s lips came crashing once again against Kagami’s, their tongues readily entwining with one another in a rushed kiss that filled the dead of the night and the basketball court with wet sounds. “Haa... Ahomine...”

 

“Ngh... Hey, stop groping my ass already, will ya?” said Aomine in between kisses, his lips only parting from the redhead’s during the short moments where he panted those words.

 

“You brought this upon... haa... yourself,” purred Kagami before resuming with devouring the tanned male’s lips while gently – almost teasingly – massaging and kneading his buttocks and higher area of his upper legs. He gave one last push to Aomine’s lower half and his body came toppling down on top of his, readily rolling their bodies around against the floor at the same time as the tanned male closed his arms around his neck. “Haa... Fuck... This is definitely something... haa... that I never expected to be doing.”

 

“Same...” acknowledged Aomine, his fingers aimlessly skirting down through the redhead’s back. “But just shut up for now and let’s fuc—“

 

“Tai...ga?”

 

When Kagami looked up and to in front of him, in the same direction that the unexpected but so very familiar male voice had came from, he thought his heart would stop, his mouth hanging wide open in utter stupefaction at being in the presence of yet another person who he had been searching for for years. “T-Tatsuya...?”

 

“...!” As soon as his name was called by that known voice and in him remained those nostalgic powerful red eyes, Himuro quickly turned around on his heels and started to walk further away from that area.

 

“W-Wait, Tatsuya!” yelled Kagami, giving a quick squeeze to the tanned male’s upper arms and then immediately jumping from on top of his laid down body in the floor as he desperately ran after the black haired male – after his missing older brother. “Hey, Tatsuya! Tat... Tatsuya, I’m fucking talking to you!”

 

“Don’t touch me!” yelled Himuro back, quickly turning his body around and facing the redhead in order to avert being grabbed by him – to avoid showing him the sorrowful condition he was in at the moment. “Leave me alone, Taiga. I told you so back when I was still in America, didn’t I? We’re not brothers anymore so forget about me!”

 

“Tats—“ started Kagami, motioning his hand forward but he came to halt – even his heart almost did too – when the black haired male started disappearing into thin air while right in front of his eyes, almost as he had been nothing more than a mirage brought out due to an inexplicable, temporary malfunctioning of his brain. “...Gh...”

 

“Ah... I’m not really sure of what is going around right now but...” hesitantly interrupted Aomine, walking over to the place where the redhead was standing all by himself. “Do you know Himuro?”

 

“Of course I know Tatsuya!” roared Kagami, turning his body around so he could talk with the tanned male face to face. “He’s my older brother! He’s the older brother that I told you about when you were in the hospital! Why didn’t you ever say anything about him being... in... Teikou... Wait... Tatsuya is a ‘User’?”

 

“Huh?” interjected Aomine, now definitely lost on what was happening right now. “Of course he is. Himuro’s been in Teikou for almost three years now, since I was in my first year in middle school and Teikou was officially founded and announced to the world. He’s staying in Yosen Dorm... and... well... He’s sort of Murasakibara’s lover?”

 

“...................................................................................................................................What?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ULTIMATE ZONE" by Ono Yuuki and Suwabe Junichi (our baka/aho couple... I guess).
> 
> Kuroko may not have been the main character of the chapter of his birthday, but... I'm definitely forgiven, right? I mean... the baka/aho duo is just so freaking cute together XD I love them to bits!! And it seems that the existence of a certain someone in a certain school has been revealed to a certain idiot >.>
> 
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>  [Release Schedule](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	185. I’ve gotten stronger with every thought I’ve had to give up in exchange for determination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I just had my heart broken yesterday *sniff* As it was my day off, I decided to enjoy my "day off DVD" as always... Why? Why did I choose to watch the 2 Kyoukai no Kanata movies? TTwTT My precious babies!!! Akihito and Mirai are probably one of the few hetero ships that I have *sniff* and they definitely don't disappoint...! I desperately need the light novel to be licensed!!!! Like... RIGHT NOW!!! >///<
> 
> Anyways~  
> Warning: NOSEBLEED ALERT :3
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

After having given a soft pet to the sleeping small puppy, Kuroko crossed his bedroom with soundless and light footsteps. Once at the door, he carefully opened it so that no sound would also be produced out of it and silently stepped into the dark and empty corridor of the second floor of Fuyu.

 

 _What am I doing...? Just what am I doing!?,_ inwardly admonished himself Kuroko, lightly biting into his bottom lip as he slowly walked through the corridor and readily halted all of his movements in front of the door of the bedroom right next to his own. _Just why am I contradicting my own admonishments towards Akashi-kun by being the one sneaking into his bedroom!? And how pitiful have I become if I have to resort to it...?_

 

Releasing a soft sigh, Kuroko started to silently walk back and forth in front of the redhead’s bedroom, trying to decide what to do. No, he already knew very well what he wanted to do – he wanted to spend one more peaceful and satisfying night sleeping beside Akashi. All that he was trying to decide was how exactly would he go about it.

 

 _I mean, am I really supposed to just knock on his door and tell him, ‘Let me sleep in the same bed as you again’?,_ inwardly wondered Kuroko, lightly biting into his lower lip while continuing his back and forth dance in the corridor. _What if he’s already sleeping? Or what if he isn’t even in his bedroom and went out to get something done for the Student Council or the Japanese government? No, worst case scenario would be Akashi opening the door and begin with his never ending teasing. Because even I know I deserve to be teased and taunted over this! I’m such a pitiful person... Just how much have I fallen...? This is the absolute worst..._

 

All of a sudden, the hatch of a door moving resounded through the silent corridor and the door of one of the bedrooms – that bedroom in particular – was open all of a sudden.

 

“Tetsuya?” called Akashi as soon as he noticed the bluenette standing right in front of his bedroom, his teal eyes open in surprise as if he hadn’t expected the door to be open at that moment. “What are you doing here? Do you need anything?”

 

“Uh... This is your fault, Akashi-kun...” mumbled Kuroko, his cheeks turning bright red as he lowered his gaze to the floor, feeling extremely bashful over this whole situation. His fingers lightly tugged at his shirt, him doing his utmost to swallow the heart that wanted to leap out of his chest through his throat. “You conditioned me in yet another thing... I can’t sleep... It’s your fault, Akashi-kun, so please take responsibility for making me unable to sleep without you there by my side...”

 

“Hehe... I will, don’t worry,” acknowledged Akashi after a brief chuckle. He took a step forward, fully exiting his bedroom, and immediately circled the bluenette’s waist with playful movements, leading the smaller male’s body closer to his own. A soft smile on his lips, he delivered a sweet and light peck to his pursed lips. “Let’s go to bed, then. Today was an insane day.”

 

“It was insane mostly because of you,” deadpanned Kuroko, slowly motioning his hands up and grabbing unto the clothes cladding the redhead’s upper arms as he fully leaned his weight on his chest and brought the distance between them to an ultimate zero. “Sometimes I really wonder if you are an elementary school student or a high school one...”

 

“I think you know the answer to that one,” said Akashi, a mischievous smirk on his lips as he brought his face closer to the bluenette’s and softly bumped their foreheads against one another. “An elementary school student wouldn’t kiss you the way I do.”

 

“Mmhn!” Having said that, the redhead gave a quick jerk to his face and hungrily feasted on his lips, Kuroko softly skirting his hands on his upper arms as he led them higher and higher, tightly circling his neck as he glued their upper bodies together at the same time as the arms around his waist pulled him closer too. “Haa... Mmhm...”

 

“Tetsuya...” softly whispered Akashi against the bluenette’s moist and soft lips. Though it hadn’t been more than a soft rattling, he opened his heterochromatic and peered sideways, catching the glimpse of a dark blue shadow quickly motioning down the stairs. _Daiki...?_

 

“Haa... Akashi...kun...” slowly purred Kuroko, his body shivering against the redhead’s at the lack of... what exactly? What was it that he earned for and Akashi – yes, because it couldn’t be any other than him – wasn’t giving him right now? “Ngh... Akashi-kun...”

 

At hearing such seductive and needy purrs of his name, Akashi put completely on the sidelines the previous presence in the building and went forward one more time with a long and passionate kiss, walking backwards while pulling the bluenette with him back inside of his bedroom. Closing the door behind Kuroko’s back, he switched their walking positions and continued to lead them both towards his bed, letting their bodies fall on top of the soft mattress as soon as the smaller male’s legs bumped the frame.

 

“Haa... Akashi-kun... Sleep... Ngh... Not this...” said Kuroko, his voice heavy with arousal. He peered up with half-lidded teal eyes, his hands closed around the redhead’s shoulders as they stared deep into one another’s eyes.

 

“Sleep can wait, I can’t,” whispered Akashi against the bluenette’s lips. They shared a long and frustratingly slow kiss, his hands leisurely climbing up Kuroko’s torso at the same time as he pulled his shirt up. Once their wet lips parted from one another in hopes to acquire some fresh air to their thirsty lungs, Akashi gently kissed the smaller male’s jaw line, steadily going down his neck until his collarbone, which he suckled and nibbled at.

 

“Ahh! Nn... Akashi-kun...” moaned Kuroko, a shiver striking at his body from head to toes and fingers closing even more strongly on the taller male’s shoulders. “Haa... Akashi-kun... Wait... Ngh...”

 

“Like I said, I can’t,” said Akashi, giving a gentle bite to the bluenette’s jugular notch and making him loudly moan, his back arching slightly above the mattress. “Do you not want to...?”

 

“Haa... That’s... playing dirty, Akashi-kun...” panted Kuroko, his features covered in a crimson blush as he stared with his half-lidded eyes to the extremely adorable beckoning expression in the redhead’s face. “I can’t say no... ngh... if you look like that at me...”

 

“You can, Tetsuya. You can say no whenever you want,” acknowledged Akashi, letting his body drop on top of the bluenette and lovingly smiling at him as he rested his chin on his half exposed chest. “If you really don’t want to, then I won’t do anything. The other previous times... it was wrong of me to force you to do all of those things when you clearly didn’t feel comfortable with doing them. I... Well, I’m sorry for having done it.”

 

“...” Kuroko silently stared at the redhead on top of him with his jaw dropped wide open, so flabbergasted over hearing that apology that not a single word could come out of his lips. Breaking out of his daze, he quickly looked around the bedroom and let his eyes fall on top of the electronic clock placed on top of the desk. Then he looked right back to the taller male, a completely deadpan expression on his features. “You just signed this day to be once again a crazy one.”

 

“Ahahaha,” laughed Akashi, rolling his body from on top of the bluenette’s and laying down beside him, his eyes never leaving the smaller male or losing the glint of adoration in them. “Aren’t crazy days more interesting than normal ones, though? Specially if spent with me.”

 

“I think that depends on the perspective with which you see them with,” pointed out Kuroko, also turning his body on the bed so he could stay laid down on the side of his body and continue to speak with the redhead while looking directly at him. “If I were to see it from Kise-kun’s perspective, then I would say it was the day where I was nearing my own funeral. From Midorima-kun’s and Takao-kun’s perspectives... it’s more than obvious that this is the worst day of their lives, if not one of the last few that they will be able to enjoy... or withstand, in this case.”

 

“And from your perspective?” asked Akashi, lifting one of his hands from the mattress and motioning it towards the bluenette, who he gave a gentle caress to with the back of his fingers. “To me, their perspectives don’t matter. Yours, however, is a different story. What is it that you think of our crazy and non-crazy days?”

 

“Do we even have days that aren’t crazy?” deadpanned Kuroko, blankly staring at the redhead.

 

“We do have non-crazy days, Tetsuya,” grumbled Akashi, giving a quick pinch to the bluenette’s cheek, who simply started laughing at it. He released the soft and pale skin and continued with his caresses, taking great relish in the prickling sensation that was invading his body at the connecting touch. “To me, crazy days were the ones before you showed up in my life. So, days like this one or our little escapade in Sumida. Our days spent attending classes, going to and from school together, eating our lunch in the cafeteria or in the bandstand. Our days spent inside of my building or scavenging the library for new reading material. To me, these are the normal days. So, again, what do you consider crazy days and normal days?”

 

“That’s... a hard question for me to answer, Akashi-kun,” confessed Kuroko, lowering his gaze slightly so that he wouldn’t have to look directly to the taller male’s intense and serious gaze. “I think... I never had normal days. Before _awakening_ as a ‘User’, before coming to Teikou Academy, before the ‘Bloody Night’, before this school year... Before meeting you... There were some calm days, some even very enjoyable and fun but... Can I really call them normal? ...Can I call anything that has been touched or contaminated by me in whichever way it had been as normal? I don’t think so...”

 

“...”

 

“But... I can’t call them crazy either,” confessed Kuroko, a small smile slowly starting to show on his lips as he lifted his gaze and looked at the redhead once again. “I think my crazy days only happen when you are in them. So... before, I didn’t have normal or crazy days. I simply existed in this unhinged world. Now, though... My days are filled with craziness and insanity and I never know what will happen in the next minute. Now I live in this unhinged world.”

 

“It seems that, for once, we are in perfect agreement with one another,” acknowledged Akashi, leaning his face forward and bumping the tip of his nose on the bluenette’s. “In this unhinged world, like you called it, the only normalcy that I have is with you, even if it’s a very crazy one itself. But I wouldn’t want it to be any other way.”

 

“I don’t either,” said Kuroko, his smile stretching further as he gave a petite rub of his nose against the redhead’s. “Even if it’s not forever, even if it’s troublesome and sometimes tiring, even if I need to go as far as take drastic measures and gut punch you every day... Things couldn’t be better than they are right now.”

 

“Don’t you dare say that it’s not forever,” softly admonished Akashi, giving a quick bump to the smaller male’s forehead with his onw, making him release a small groan at it. “The next seven years of your life are to be spent together with me. And, if need be, I will break every single mirror on this planet to make it permanent for all eternity. Sometimes I really don’t understand you or your thoughts, Tetsuya... Why do you refuse the obvious with such intensity and in the way that is less beneficial to you?”

 

“...” Biting softly at his bottom lip, Kuroko once again averted looking directly into the mismatched eyes of the redhead. “If... If I were to accept it... then I would also have to accept... that it would be lost in the future... And I don’t want that... I prefer to never have something than to have it and then have it  be ripped away from me...

 

Sighing exasperatedly, Akashi motioned his hands forward and tightly hugged the bluenette, his fingers gently entwining around his locks of hair as he slowly patted his head. “Kagami Taiga called me a ‘possessive and controlling son of a bitch’ and Ryouta called me a ‘useless, foolish, horny, conceited and extremely annoying teenage’. I was teased countless times now by Shuuzou over how much I act like a ‘maiden in love’. Kazunari has told me about the changes in my colours. Shintarou was looking at me as if I was a lost cause during my conversation with Reo. Daiki has lost all of his will to interfere. Even Atsushi has gone as far as give me some advices.”

 

“...?”

 

“Everyone around us can see it. Why are you the most stubborn and oblivious of them all when it’s all about you and nothing about any of them?” sighed Akashi, tightening even more his hug to the smaller male.

 

“Eh...? Akashi-kun, I don’t really und—“

 

“What I mean is...” started Akashi, not even sure himself – for the first time in his life – of how he should go about it in a way that wouldn’t make the bluenette push him out of the bed once again while not causing any more misunderstandings. “Even taking your unpredictability into consideration... The big unknown that your past is too... My future plans all include you in them, right by my side.”

 

Painfully biting his lower lip, Kuroko motioned his arms forward and hugged Akashi back, strongly burying his face on his chest as he tried to not let his tears leak out.

 

_I’m sorry, Akashi-kun... I’m so sorry for breaking your plans once again..._

_I’m sorry for being unable to remain by your side... my precious Sun..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ZERO" by Ono Kenshou.
> 
> Ugh.... Uuuuuuuuuuh... Second heartbreak in a row TTwTT *drowns in an ocean of tears*
> 
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	186. I won’t defy my fate in order to achieve my goal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> February is the month of love~ With Valentine's Day approaching, ones to expect to see our darling acting all lovey-dovey and continuing to flirt non-stop, right? *v*  
> Nope, not with me~ *evil smirk*  
> (inwardly: TTwTT)
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

If there was something that Akashi would never, ever grow tired of it wasn’t tofu soup or dedicating most of his time to work, it wasn’t books or ordering people around and put them to his beck and call.

 

It was indubitably to see Kuroko sleeping by his side.

 

“Tetsuya, it’s morning,” softly called Akashi, using his fingers to part the messy locks of light blue from the smaller male’s sleeping features, his head resting on the redhead’s shoulder. He delivered a quick peck to his forehead by lifting his head briefly from the pillow and then leaned his cheek to the top of his head. “Let’s get up and changed, eat breakfast and go to classes.”

 

“Ngh... ‘Don’t wanna...” grumbled Kuroko in the midst of his sleep, turning his body slightly to the left and hiding his face on the redhead’s chest, who he tightly grabbed onto through the means of his clothes.

 

“You say the same thing every morning,” chuckled Akashi, softly patting the bluenette’s head, his fingers getting slightly tangled up in the messy strands. “But you definitely need to get up on time today. We wouldn’t want to be late to classes, would we now?”

 

“You can... go first...” mumbled Kuroko, pressing his face more tightly against the taller male’s chest to make his position on the conversation stand firm even more.

 

“Oh? So you want to stay sleeping in my bed all by yourself while I’m out and about?” teasingly asked Akashi, removing his hand from the bluenette’s head and dropping it to his waist, which he leisurely grabbed onto. “May I know what exactly do you plan to do under such circumstances? Other than oversleeping, that is.”

 

“Maybe... not have a perverted lion... trying to make me sound... just as perverted as him...” slowly groaned Kuroko, forcing himself to part his face from its warm hiding place and peer over to the redhead with barely open eyes, such was the deep sleeping state that he had been.

 

“I wasn’t though,” pointed out Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched in amused curiosity as he kept the smaller male under his gaze. “I was actually talking about you ravishing my bookshelves or exploring my bedroom in search for any deep, dark secrets that I may be hiding in it. Heh... Who’s the real pervert here?”

 

“Ugh... You tricked me, Akashi-kun...” complained Kuroko, giving a quick pull to the redhead’s upper clothes out of anger due to the little trickery that he had fallen victim to. Yes, it was partially his fault, having immediately led Akashi’s words to _that_ side, but having dealt with the redhead’s advances throughout the whole previous day, what could anyone expect?

 

“Shame on me if I had,” teasingly said Akashi, rolling their bodies around on the bed and giving a quick peck to the bluenette’s lips. “Now, for as much as I want to stay in bed with you, we need to leave. None of us wants to be admonished by Ryouta a second time, right?”

 

“I wasn’t admonished in the least, you were,” deadpanned Kuroko, letting his body remain laid down on the mattress of the bed. Out of the blue, he lifted his upper body and delivered a soft kiss to the redhead’s lips, immediately escaping from underneath his body by using his stupefaction as a means to make it a viable attempt. “B-But it’s true that we must hurry up and get changed. From what your clock says, we only have 40 minutes before homeroom starts so make haste, I would say.”

 

“...Tetsuya, wai—“ called Akashi, turning his body around and sitting down on the bed but all he got to see was his bedroom’s door being softly closed, the bluenette already nowhere in the insides of his private chambers. He hurriedly got up from his bed and started walking towards the door, opening it once again as soon as he got to it, but what he found right outside made him come to an unexpected and forced halt. “...Shintarou.”

 

“Good morning, Akashi,” greeted Midorima, giving a quick adjust to his glasses to straighten their position on the bridge of his nose. His green eyes were unusually tired and lifeless, large dark circles underneath them. Even his usually neat appearance had been sent awry, his clothes slightly crumpled up and dishevelled – they were obviously put on in a rush and without any care. “Could I have a word with you?”

 

“If this is about Kazunari... then it’s not me you should talk with but Tetsuya,” said Akashi, carefully observing the green haired male as he released the knob of the door and leaned the side of his body on the doorframe. “Though I can already guess which will be the answer that you will get.”

 

“’There is absolutely nothing in my ability that can help others’... Yes, I already got that as an answer once,” acknowledged Midorima, switching his gaze to the door of the bedroom right next to the redhead’s. “Which is why I came to you.”

 

“I’m not going to force Tetsuya to do anything,” readily stated Akashi, a small glare on his eyes as he put himself on the defensive. “I promised him that I would never force him to unwillingly use his ability for _anything_ or _anyone_. And I will most certainly not use him as a lab rat, as it was also promised to him when he accepted to come live in Fuyu with all of us. I’m sure you know that very clearly, Shintarou, since you were right there to hear it.”

 

“Things have changed since that time,” pointed out Midorima, his green eyes also gaining a fierier glint in the midst of their tiredness. “And I don’t want them to continue to change for the worst even further. As things stand right now, your promises with Kuroko are the least of my worries. If breaking them is required, then I’m sorry, Akashi, but so let it be. My own promises take precedence to yours when it concerns Takao.”

 

“I understand where you want to get at, Shintarou, but my opinion on the matter remains the exact same,” said Akashi, straightening his stance underneath the doorframe and directly looking into the green haired male’s eyes, no ill intentions in his words even though they most likely sounded extremely evil to the taller male’s ears. “I will try my best to provide you with any help that you may need, but I won’t force or manipulate Tetsuya into doing the same. If he chooses to help you, it will be because he has come to that decision without my interference on it. Then again, there’s absolutely no guarantees that his ability can actually help Kazunari in any way. What makes you even think like that, in the first place?”

 

“The way Kuroko’s body regenerated when Aomine stabbed his arm and, later on, the lack of scars on his hands after he got cut that night,” answered Midorima, lowering his gaze slightly as he once again adjusted his glasses. “His ability allows him a god level healing speed, one that surely would get even a cut off arm fixed in a matter of seconds. If that characteristic of his ability could somehow be separated from the other more aggressive ones that make up his nullification, perhaps through blood manipulation, surely it could be used on other human beings. Even if not on all human beings, ‘Users’ at the very least! If we were to do that, then Takao’s illness would be completely cured! Even if it simply had a temporary effect, we would just need to create some sort of pills or medicament out of it and everything would be so—“

 

“Get real, Shintarou!” interrupted Akashi, his voice probably coming out more aggressive than he intended, the way the green haired male’s body shook momentarily. “Go talk like that to Tetsuya and a ‘no’ as an answer would be the smallest of your worries. Do you know why Tetsuya set all research on his ability prohibited as a condition to be held as a ‘prisoner’ of ours? Those who he was previously together with already did it, through the means of at least 665 sessions of torture. I have no idea how long he has been a ‘User’ but giving him the same time frame that we have as ‘Users’ to Tetsuya, then that means being tortured every three days, allowing the time between the ‘Bloody Night’ and the beginning of this school year to be also taken into account. If he _awoke_ much later than us, even worse! And since maintaining a continuous schedule on such things is impossible, he probably had to withstand torture throughout consecutive days, in several different ways. And now you are telling me that you want to do researches to his ability through the means of his blood? If you were to do that without his full acceptance to help you and provide you with the necessary samples, then you would be doing the exact same thing as them! Maybe not physically, but you would surely be torturing him on a psychological level, something that is far more damaging than any wound, cut or hit to our body!”

 

“Well, what other option do I have!?” yelled Midorima, a deep glare on his eyes as his features got twisted with pain and despair. “Will Takao be able to live while that illness consumes his body? He won’t! Will any medicament that we have available help him in any way? It won’t! Will I just stay sitting on his bedside while he grows weaker and weaker every hour, never knowing when his heart will stop beating? I surely won’t!! But Kuroko can get all of this fixed in a matter of a couple of days, the necessary time to fully investigate those characteristics of his ability most likely present in his blood! And those couple of days is all that Takao has left to live! It would be psychological torture for him? Then what is this situation to me, to see the man I love die right before my eyes while I’m unable to help him in any way? I already let Mao die right in front of my eyes, my useless past self unable to even move a single inch to stop it from happening. I won’t let the same happen to Takao! Not to Takao!”

 

“Shintar—“

 

“If you won’t help me, then so be it,” said Midorima, his voice eerily more calm than when he was outright screaming his lungs out in the middle of the corridor. “But I won’t let Takao die, even if that means torturing Kuroko. You two can blame me all you want afterwards. But first I will take him out of death’s doors and give him the future that he dreams of.”

 

Having said that, Midorima turned around on his heels and started walking towards the staircase, not sparing the redhead even one more glance before he disappeared out of Fuyu.

 

-.-

 

“...”

 

Back strongly pressed against his bedroom’s door, Kuroko tightly kept his mouth covered with his two trembling hands, trying to prevent his picked up breathing rhythm from being heard by anyone, including himself.

 

_They know... Akashi-kun knows about Gold and Jabberwock...!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of “Nerai Doori no Destiny” by Ono Daisuke - our broken hearted Shin-chan...
> 
> Ugh... Why is it that things all start falling apart when they are going well!? Baka Mafy, baka baka baka!!! >_<
> 
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	187. And we’ve landed in different places

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> There are times when one should simply grieve in silence... This is one of those chapters TTwTT  
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

Softly, Kuroko closed his bedroom’s door and walked through the main corridor of the second floor of Fuyu. With silent footsteps, he motioned down the stairs step by step, his teal eyes never leaving the front door of the building. Reaching the first floor, he leisurely released the handrail and dropped it to the side of his body, continuing to walk.

 

“Good morning,” greeted Kuroko when he stepped inside of the dining room. Inside of the large division, he found Murasakibara, who was sluggishly putting the resident’s breakfast in their correspondent places.

 

“’Morning, Kuro-chin,” greeted back Murasakibara in the form of a tired mumble, a yawn escaping his lips afterwards. “Excited to begin classes again...?”

 

“I can’t really call it excitement but...” answered Kuroko, his gaze lowered to the floor as he walked closer to the table and to his assigned (by a certain mischievous lion) seat. He stopped, however, right beside the purple haired male. “Murasakibara-kun.”

 

“Hmm~?” hummed Murasakibara in acknowledgment, switching his gaze from the bowl of white rice that he was putting in front of the heterochromatic redhead’s seat to the smaller male. His body immediately stilled at what he saw.

 

 _“You will forget about everything that happened in Fuyu in the last half an hour,”_ softly said Kuroko, his teal eyes glowing as he locked them intently with the purple ones of the taller male. Dropping his gaze once again to the floor, he turned around on his heels and pulled his chair so he could make enough space to take his seat at the table and enjoy his last breakfast in that house.

 

“Good morning, Atsushi,” greeted Akashi when he opened the door of the dining room and stepped inside of the large division. When he looked to the table, he saw the purple haired giant simply standing completely still, the bluenette leisurely eating his Japanese style breakfast. “And it seems that Tetsuya is also already here. Pity, for I would have liked to go interfere with your dressing.”

 

“For once, I am thankful that I’m at least quick in getting dressed,” deadpanned Kuroko, giving a quick slurp to his miso soup.

 

“Are you now?” chuckled Akashi, stopping right next to the purple haired giant’s unmoving form. “Atsushi, is everything okay? I can’t take a seat if you simply continue to space out in front of my chair.”

 

“Eh? Ah... Sorry, Aka-chin, I didn’t notice you there,” quickly said Murasakibara, awkwardly taking a couple of steps backwards to provide the redhead with the necessary space to take a seat on the table. A confused expression on his features, he switched his gaze to the seat next to the smaller male. “Good morning to you too, Kuro-chin.”

 

“Good morning, Murasakibara-kun,” greeted back (for the second time) Kuroko, his eyes well stuck to his food even when addressing the purple haired giant.

 

“It’s not like you to be spacing out like that, Atsushi,” pointed out Akashi, offering a quick bow in thanks of the food and taking a hold of his chopsticks. “Just what sort of snack or dessert were you fantasizing about this time around?”

 

“Ah... I wonder...” hesitantly answered Murasakibara, tilting his head to the right as he thought about the redhead’s question. All of a sudden, his whole body was straightened stiff, as he noticed something that had completely slip past him until then. “Eh? There’s a huge crack in the barrier. Aka-chin... You should start taking anger management classes because it will be now a pain in the ass to fix that... I won’t be able to attend classes the whole day so that I can make the barrier spotless once again...”

 

“My apologies, Atsushi,” said Akashi, turning around in his seat and sending a compassioned glance to the purple haired giant. “Do blame Ryouta and the small biting thing—“

 

“Nigou,” corrected Kuroko, leisurely munching on some rice with a completely expressionless demeanour on his face.

 

“—for it too,” continued Akashi, not minding all that much the bluenette’s interruption. “If you want, I can make it so that they take responsibility over the repairs in the barrier. Of course me too. How does a month worth of Maiubou sound to you?”

 

“I’ll be starting the repairs right this moment,” acknowledged Murasakibara, his purple eyes shining in delight as he leisurely took the tray used to carry the food back to the kitchen. “I’ll call Kise-chin later to tell him to bring four or five boxes of local treats the next time he goes away on one of his modelling stunts.”

 

“I can skin the dog for you to cook it for dinner if you want,” added Akashi, a mischievous smirk on his lips as he sideways glanced to the bluenette. However, contrary to his expectations, Kuroko had absolutely no reaction to his words – no yelp or admonishment came out of his mouth. He simply continued to silently eat his breakfast, his gaze lowered in the food’s direction. “Tetsuya? Are you feeling under the weather?”

 

“I’m okay,” readily answered Kuroko, skilfully motioning his head sideways so he could avert the hand that was being lunged in his direction, possibly to check if he had a high body temperature. “Please hurry up eating your breakfast, Akashi-kun. Or we will be late for classes, something that you said you would like to avoid.”

 

“...Yes, that’s true,” acknowledged Akashi, carefully eyeing the bluenette and his present demeanour. Somehow... something really strange was going on right now. “Would you like to have lunch together with me? Unfortunately, we won’t be able to use our secret spot since it’s still in need of some repairs, but we can always go to the cafeteria. If you don’t want to eat there, we can always arrange any other place that is more to your liking.”

 

“The cafeteria is okay...” mumbled Kuroko, motioning his bowl with miso soup up to his lips to drink a little bit more – and hide his pained expression in the process. “But please do not fall under the thought that I’ll handfeed you once again, Akashi-kun.”

 

“How did you know what I was thinking?” chuckled Akashi, taking a bite of one of the slices of tamagoyaki on a small side plate in front of his seat. After munching the savoury omellete for a couple of seconds, he quickly cleaned his lips and motioned his head sideways, delivering a quick peck in the bluenette’s cheeks. “I’ll go pick you up in your classroom as soon as the bell rings. Or would you prefer to come pick me up at my classroom?”

 

“Is there no option of simply meeting in the cafeteria?” asked Kuroko, his cheeks lightly smeared with a pink blush. “It would save us time, instead of waiting for one another or going to meet the other?”

 

“That would depend on your perspective of things, Tetsuya,” pointed out Akashi, a soft smile on his lips as he gave yet another peck to the bluenette’s cheeks, this one extremely close to the corner of his mouth. “To me, picking you up from your classroom means that I get to spend the way to the cafeteria by your side. It means that I get to enjoy more of my time during classes period together with you. Since we, unfortunately, are not in the same class, I’m trying to make up all the lost hours with you through the means of lunch break. Is my perspective wrong or something that comes as an inconvenience to you?”

 

“No, it’s not...” mumbled Kuroko, dropping his gaze back to the table once again at the same time as he quickly stuffed in his mouth a little bit of rice.

 

_Yes, it is... Because I can’t leave if I know I would leave you waiting for me..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Memories" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Ugh... Life is cruel and my masochistic writer self is even crueller... Why, Kuroko? WHY!? *wails*
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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	188. This day when I draw a zero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> Hmm... What exactly should I say about this in here...? Well... I guess I can go with this >.>
> 
> Warning: ANGST! ANGST! ANGST!!!!
> 
> Enjoy~ (T^T)
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

The moment Kuroko arrived to his classroom and bid farewell to Akashi, he readily walked to his desk, pulled the chair and sat down, his face softly bumping against the surface of his desk. The table in front of his was empty, something extremely unusual, seeing as Kagami always seemed to be in the classroom by the time he got there. It didn’t matter – it was more convenient if Kagami wasn’t there, for as cruel and cold as that thought may sound seeing as they were friends.

 

 _Well, not for very long, we will..._ , inwardly mumbled Kuroko, tightly closing his eyes as he wrapped his arms around his head.

 

Why was this happening? Why now, of all times? Everything was going extremely well with his life in Teikou. He started interacting with other people, making friends, having fun and appreciating living for the first time. Though it had been a very big miscalculation, he had even fallen in love with Akashi, had gone on a date with him and they had settled themselves in a make-shift romantic relationship of some sort.

 

So why...? Why did things have to fall apart _now_?

 

 _If this had happened a couple of weeks ago, I would already be far, far away from Teikou this very moment,_ inwardly sighed Kuroko, his hands closing tightly around his blue locks of hair, painlessly tugging at them. _But no... I’m stuck once again... Akashi-kun made me become a ‘prisoner’ to Teikou with everything that has happened in the last few days. With his words, his kisses, his touch – he made it impossible for me to leave without cruelly having my beating heart ripped to shreds while still inside of my chest._

 

How long had Akashi known about Gold and his ‘educative sessions’ inside of Jabberwock? After they returned from Sumida? While they were in Sumida? Before he had that incident with the mirror in his bedroom? While they still coexisted inside of that bedroom in his building? Or... from the moment Kuroko was categorized as ‘The Phantom’, did Akashi know all about it?

 

How much more did he know? Was it only the torture? More? Less?

 

What did Akashi concretely know about him and his past and hadn’t let Kuroko know that he knew?

 

“Ogiwara-kun was right...” breathed Kuroko, his voice muffled due to its hiding place. “Why did I let myself be caught by them? And why did I remain here even though I had so many chances to run away?”

 

_“That’s right, Kuroko. Why did you stay? You don’t belong there. You belong on this side. Right by my side – on the dark and shadowy side. Not with them, underneath the sun light.”_

 

“That’s right... I don’t belong here...” mumbled Kuroko, slowly dropping his arms and raising his head from his desk. “I don’t belong to the light but to darkness.”

 

“Haa... Haa... Aaaaaand... Made it on time!” yelled Kagami, opening the door of his classroom all of a sudden and revealing his heavy panting form after having run all the way from Seirin Dorm to the high school building in less than 5 minutes. The school bell announcing the beginning of first period echoed through the whole building and he couldn’t help but sigh in relief. “Hm?”

 

Quickly giving a sweep with his eyes to the classroom, he cocked his head and closely observed the area around his seat.

 

“They really did a nice job fixing the building, that’s for sure. Wait... Why did the building have to be fixed, again?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ZERO" by Ono Kenshou.
> 
> Yes, I am a masochist, and yes, I will all drag you down with me to the world of suffering TTwTT
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Weekly Previous](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)


	189. I feel like I’m about to be cut loose – will I leave behind the meaning of my existence?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> All of you have been waiting for it, haven't you? I hope I don't disappoint you and actually make you scream for what's to come next once again, hehehe~
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter and for your creative uses of both chopsticks and key sets ;3]

The bell rang and his happiest period during school hours began.

 

Akashi threw a quick glance to Midorima’s and Takao’s tables, releasing a soft sigh at their emptiness. He really wished he had not been so cruel and crushing with the green haired male that morning but he hadn’t had any other option than doing it back then. Just like Midorima had slapped in his face, his own promises with Kuroko took precedence to the taller male’s with his lover. He sympathised towards the situation revolving around them – how could he not, when his mother had always had a sickly constitution throughout her life and had spent long periods of time in the hospital and being analysed to find a definite cure for her weak constitution? – however, he still couldn’t bring himself to go ask Kuroko to help them.

 

Midorima may have his theories on how the bluenette’s ability could help Takao but, for Kuroko, it was a burden, a cross, that he didn’t want to carry. His views of himself as a broken monster already weighed a lot on his back, he surely would deny helping the two of them out of concern of failure. Out of fear of showing to everyone how useless he was when it came to bringing forth good to the world.

 

Not that Akashi couldn’t understand why he felt like that. Up until then, all his ability had caused was destruction and death. Even when Kuroko had used it for the greater good and saved everyone inside of Sumida Triphony Hall, his actions and ability still brought terrible repercussions to Teikou Academy, which was now borderline with raging war against the Japanese government.

 

 _That alone must have been an extremely powerful blow to Tetsuya,_ inwardly sighed Akashi, opening the door of his classroom and stepping outside into the corridor, which he started threading through to reach the target classroom further down the building. _I don’t want to give him even more reasons to hate himself and the ability that he possesses._

 

“Oh, Akashicchi~ Going out for some grub~?” cheerfully asked Kise, peeking out of his classroom when he spotted a familiar redhead walking through the corridor. “Want me to keep you company? Kasamatsu-senpai can’t come to eat with me today, unfortunately...”

 

“My apologies, Ryouta, but I have already made plans to eat lunch with Tetsuya,” said Akashi, a soft smile on his lips at the thought of the meal alone. “Maybe on another instance we can have lunch all four of us.”

 

“...Tetsuya?” repeated Kise, tilting his head as he closely observed the redhead. All of a sudden, his face immediately perked up in a bright and content smile. “My oh my~ Akashicchi, you made a friend!! It was about time! I was starting to get worried, since you only talk with us ‘Miracles’ and those associated to the Student Council~”

 

“Huh...?” interjected Akashi, a deep frown on his brows at this completely out of the blue reaction that the blonde was having regarding him going out for lunch with the bluenette. Not only because he knew that their relationship was anything but of friends, but also because Kise himself knew the person in question. “Ryouta, what are you talking ab— Shit!”

 

“Eh!? Akashicchi, what’s wrong!?” asked Kise, hurriedly exiting his classroom and starting to follow after the redhead, who ran through the corridor as fast as he could without bumping into the students leisurely walking there. “Did I say something wrong? Hey, Akashicchi!!”

 

“Do you know who Kuroko Tetsuya is?” asked Akashi, throwing a quick glance backwards to the blonde running right behind him.

 

“Huh? Kuroko Tetsuya? I never heard that name before in my whole life!” yelped Kise, now definitely completely lost on what was happening with the redhead. Had he finally gone completely insane due to overworking himself with Student Council affairs? “Hey, Akashicchi, what’s going on!?”

 

Clicking his tongue in exasperation, Akashi hastened his running even further and quickly reached the bluenette’s classroom, readily slamming the door open and quickly running his eyes through its insides. All he could find there were extremely surprised students due to the sudden commotion and Kagami, who seemed just as caught off guard as the rest of his classmates.

 

“...!” Both rage and panic moulding his actions, Akashi furiously stepped inside of the classroom and walked over to the redhead’s seat, who he grabbed by the collar of his school uniform and strongly tugged forward. “Where’s Tetsuya!?”

 

“What the—!? Let go of me, you psycho!” yelped Kagami, grabbing the wrist of the hand holding him and trying to pull it off of his clothes. Even with his overly powerful strength, the arm didn’t budge even a single inch.

 

“I asked you, Kagami Taiga, where is Tetsuya?” asked Akashi once again, his golden eye threateningly glowing as he strengthened his hold to the taller male’s uniform. “And I’m not going to ask again.”

 

“Kise, what are you doing here?” asked Aomine, an eyebrow slightly arched as he found the blonde in front of the classroom next to his own – the classroom which he was currently aiming forward due to the prospect of finding a certain redhead there. He hadn’t expected to find two redheads there, one out for blood from the other. “Akashi, what the fuck are you doing!? Let Kagami go!”

 

“Daiki, do you know who Kuroko Tetsuya is?” asked Akashi, not slackening his hold even a little bit as he switched his gaze sideways to the tanned male, who had hastily entered inside of the classroom and was motioning over in their direction.

 

“Huh? The fuck are you asking? Of course I know who Kuroko is,” answered Aomine, completely lost on what was happening right now. “Now let go of Kagami and let’s have a nice and calm conversa—“

 

“Tell me when did you see Tetsuya for the last time, Kagami Taiga!” ordered Akashi, switching his threatening gaze back to the taller redhead, tugging more strongly at the collar of his clothes.

 

“Just what the heck are you talking about, Akashi...!?” groaned Kagami, continuously trying to push the heterochromatic redhead’s hand away from him. “I don’t know any ‘Tetsuya’ or ‘Kuroko Tetsuya’ or whatever their name is!! Now let go of me already, you crazy bastard!”

 

“Huh...?” interjected Aomine, his jaw dropping in utter stupefaction at the words that had just exited Kagami’s mouth, the one who had been constantly pestering him for weeks due to news on the well being of Kuroko, his friend and classmate.

 

“Tsk!” Clicking his tongue once again, Akashi readily released the taller male’s clothes and immediately turned around on his heels, running out of the classroom once again.

 

“Hey, Akashi! What’s going on!?” asked Aomine, throwing one more glance to the taller redhead and then starting to run after the heterochromatic redhead, a deep frown brought forward out of confusion on what was happening.

 

“Nobody can remember Tetsuya,” explained Akashi, quickly running towards the exit of the building. “When I told Ryouta that I was about to have lunch with him, he just said that he was happy that I finally had made a friend.”

 

“What? I never heard Akashicchi mentioning any ‘Tetsuya’ before so I thought he had made a friend for the first time since coming to Teikou,” defended himself Kise, when he noticed the sideways glance that the tanned male was sending his way.

 

“What’s going on, Akashi?” asked Aomine, rolling his eyes around at the blonde’s stupidity. A deep frown remained on his brows as he fastened his running and started running beside the heterochromatic redhead.

 

“I don’t know but I have a very big suspicion that Tetsuya has manipulated the memories of everyone that knows of his presence here in Teikou and erased them through the means of his ability,” explained Akashi, his hands closed in tight fists as he crossed the exit door of the main building of the high school section and readily started motioning towards the direction of Fuyu. “I don’t know why you and me are unaffected by it but that’s all I can think of right now.”

 

“You think he’s trying to run away?” inquired Aomine, a small sensation of panic also starting to twist his stomach inside out. “And if so, why now? When things were going around so well for everyone, forgetting Shirogane’s ultimatum, why the heck did Kuroko decide to run away now of all times?”

 

“Again, I don’t know, Daiki,” sighed Akashi, the frown on his features darkening even further. “But there’s a good possibility that Tetsuya may have overheard the conversation I had with Shintarou this morning. And if that’s the case, he now knows that we know more about his past than he thought we knew.”

 

-.-

 

_“Are you really sure about this, Kuroko-kun? Are you... really going to leave Teikou for good?”_

_“I’m sorry, Riko-san. And thank you for everything up until now.”_

_“Isn’t there anything that I can do to help you!? To make you stay like so many people want you to!”_

_“...There isn’t. However, please do listen to a last request of mine. Please find a better and more fitting Headmaster for Teikou Academy. As things stand, Akashi-kun will need all the help available to keep everyone safe.”_

_“Then why are you leaving and putting that extremely important role vacant once again!?”_

_“I’m more of a liability than help right now, Riko-san. I’m sorry. Good bye.”_

 

Kuroko silently stood in front of Fuyu’s main gates, not daring to step any further in its premises. Though he knew that the building was completely empty right now, had he seen Murasakibara exiting it a couple of minutes ago, most likely out of frustration over having to fix the fissure he had caused to the barrier that morning when he erased the purple haired giant’s memories partially, he still couldn’t step inside of the building, not even to go pick up any of his belongings left inside of his bedroom.

 

“I’m sorry, Nigou, I can’t even come inside to pet you one last time,” softly breathed Kuroko, looking over to the building where he ended up forming so many fond memories. “I really want to go say goodbye to you personally but... I would be leaving a trail of my last movements inside of Teikou if I did. Please don’t annoy Akashi-kun too much or he really will cut off all of your fur, okay?”

 

Keeping the building under his gaze for a couple more of seconds, the bluenette turned around and started to slowly walk further away, trying his best to be strong enough to not regret already his own choices. Regretting could come later, now he had to take the actions that would lead to the regrets without looking back.

 

“Let’s leave the sunlight and return to the darkness...” weakly mumbled Kuroko, halting his movements and stopping in an area near Fuyu which was completely void of both people and buildings.

 

Rippling as if it was made of a dark, thick liquid, Kuroko’s shadow showing on the floor started to expand around him, slowly dyeing the ground in pitch black. Once the whole area was covered by the shadowy colouring, the shadow motioned up in the air, almost leisurely surrounding and closing around the bluenette as if intending to swallow him whole.

 

“...!!” Out of the blue, Kuroko stilled his entire body and the shadow silently dropped to the ground once again, disappearing in a thick cloud of black microscopic particles.

 

The coldness started – so frighteningly penetrating every nook and cranny of his flesh and blood, stealing all life out of his being.

 

His legs gave in underneath his weight, his body trembling and shivering without any sort of possibility to control his movements.

 

“Ah...” lightly whimpered Kuroko, his teal eyes open in shock as he observed the steady changes to his being. “Not now...!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Double Core" by Kamiya Hiroshi - our devilish redhead who REALLY needs to save his beloved turtle dove ASAP!!!!
> 
> *sigh* Good thing that both Akashi and Aomine at least still remember Kuroko... (And yes, there's actually a well founded reason as to why they both remember, which you will get to know of... somewhere(?) in the future). But... Kuroko, what's wrong with you now!? O.O
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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	190. This pain will once again paint an image of tomorrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with the so expected chapter~
> 
> Today it's Valentine's Day! I hope you have been enjoying it so far :3 However... it seems that such a wonderful celebration has not reached Shattered Miracles, for this chapter can only be called a painful stab in our hearts TTwTT (at the very least, that was how I felt while writing it...)
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter and gathering enough strength to fight, even with such events T^T]

“Oh~ Where are guys going to, running around Teikou like that?” sluggishly asked Murasakibara, munching on some gummy bears as he walked through the school grounds and passed by Akashi, Aomine and Kise, all three of them quickly rushing to the same location. “Did something happen?”

 

“You’re not in Fuyu, Atsushi?” asked back Akashi, stopping on his track in order to talk with the purple haired giant, his eyes never leaving the path which would lead him to the dorm in question.

 

“Taking a short break to eat some snacks and walk around a little bit~” leisurely answered Murasakibara, putting a couple more gummy bears in his mouth and slowly chewing them. “Even if you try to bribe me with Maiubou, what’s a pain in the ass is a pain in the ass.”

 

“Did you see Tetsuya? Or is anyone inside of Fuyu right now?” hurriedly inquired further Akashi, already having a very clear suspicious over what was going to be the purple haired giant’s answer by the way he was quizzically glancing at him.

 

“Tetsuya? Who’s that?” asked back Murasakibara, tilting his head slightly as he tried to remember if he had ever heard that name before. He saw as both Akashi and Aomine exchanged a quick glance between the two of them, the former clicking his tongue in annoyance and the latter groaning exasperatedly. “And Fuyu is empty save for Nigou. Huh? Why did you give that sort of name to the lil’ guy in the first place, Aka-ch— Nghaah!“

 

“Ahhhh!” screamed Kise all of a sudden at the same time as the purple haired giant, crouching down his body on the ground while strongly holding onto his head. “Shit...! What... the heck...!?”

 

“Damn it...! Someone... just came crashing... against the barrier...” groaned Murasakibara, also lowering his body to the ground and sitting there, one of his hands clutching at the side of his head. “I don’t know what’s going on... but someone is using... their ability inside of Fuyu... and destroying the shit out of the barrier... No... Kuro-chin... Kuro-chin...!!”

 

“What sort of... trouble is... Kurokocchi... causing now...!?” yelped Kise, his body struggling to fight against the intense bolts of electricity strongly and painfully hammering the insides of his brain.

 

“Ryouta, Atsushi, message Shuuzou to come help you, if the same isn’t happening to him too,” directed Akashi, immediately resuming with his running towards Fuyu. “Daiki, come with me!”

 

“You don’t need to tell me that twice,” acknowledged Aomine, starting to run towards the same location as the redhead at the exact same time as him. “Will they be okay? I can tell you from personal experience that those bolts of electricity in your head hurt like fuck!”

 

“At the very least I know it won’t kill them, or else you would be long dead by now,” said Akashi, a deep frown on his features. “Now we just need to find a way to put Tetsuya’s ability under control once again. I have no idea of what’s going on but I think that kissing him won’t get anything solved this time.”

 

“Any ideas on what to do, then?” inquired Aomine, loudly clicking his tongue in exasperation. “We can’t let him begin another ‘Bloody Night’ right now. The Japanese government would immediately sentence all ‘Users’ to death or, to be even quicker, just blow up with this whole area with a nuclear bomb or some shit like that! Besides, Midorima, Kise and Murasakibara are all clearly out of commission right now. Kagami is probably in the same situation as all of them, as well as every single ‘User’ who is knowledgeable about Kuroko, with the exception of maybe Satsuki. Asking students for help is too risky. Will the two of us be enough to stop a running amok ‘Phantom’?”

 

“Your endless chatter will not help me think up a strategy faster, Daiki,” pointed out Akashi, rolling his eyes around at the way the tanned male was panicking. “Nor will stating the obvious help in any shape or form.”

 

“I-I know that...” grumbled Aomine, a dissatisfied frown on his features as the two of them continued to run. They were getting closer, so close that they could already see the walls surround the building that, one way or another, they had grown to call home.

 

“But one thing that you said is true and we should keep it in mind at all moments,” continued Akashi, the frown on his features intensifying even further when he spotted, further down the area they were crossing, a piece of empty land near Fuyu which now resembled a forest burned down to the crisp by a wild fire, so intense it was the dark colour that dyed the ground. “We can’t allow Tetsuya to go out of control now, of all times. Shirogane Eiji wouldn’t let it pass, even if all damages were caused to the insides of Teikou Academy. He would steal Tetsuya from me and readily follow forward with his execution... and I would have absolutely no means to stop him from doing it.”

 

“Shit...” cursed Aomine, loudly clicking his tongue at the bitter reality of the world they inhabited.

 

The two of them ran the rest of the way in deep and tense silence, quickly stepping inside of the perimeter of Fuyu and then the building itself, not having to mind open the door seeing as it was left ajar without any care to have it closed once again. They readily climbed the stairs two or three steps at the same time, not even bothering to slow down their movements to turn around and motion towards the bluenette’s bedroom.

 

“Woof... Woof... Wooof...” whined Nigou, closed down outside of the bluenette’s bedroom. He paced around back and forth, occasionally scratching his sharp nails on the door and trying to push it open. “Woof... Woof...”

 

“Come here, Nigou,” sighed Akashi, picking up the small puppy from the floor and holding it against his chest, one of his hands softly ruffling behind the furry animal’s ear to try to calm him down. “I’ll put your other father back up again so don’t worry, okay? ...Tetsuya, can you hear me?”

 

After the sound of wood being knocked on, the entire building remained in deep silence, save for the continuous light whining of the small puppy, whose furry body teetered around against the redhead’s chest. Akashi and Aomine exchanged a quick glance between themselves, readily returning it to the closed door.

 

“Tetsuya, we’re coming in,” said Akashi, dropping one of his hands out of the small puppy on his arms and motioning it towards the doorknob. A small and feeble voice made him halt, however.

 

_“Don’t... come inside... Ngh... Go away, Akashi-kun... Leave me... haa... alone...!”_

 

“No can do, Tetsuya. I’m going in,” readily denied Akashi, opening the door as soon as he finished his sentence. What he found inside was as much of a pitiful sight as it was a terrifying one.

 

“I told you... to not... come in... Ngh...!” groaned Kuroko, his body fallen on the floor albeit his upper body was being leaned over his bed, his hands clutching tightly into the messy sheets that seemed to have been continuously tugged out of the mattress. The always warm teal eyes had turned glassy and eerily glowed a cold and icy shade of light blue. Every little bit of pale skin visible underneath his messy school uniform had turned to an even paler shade, almost bordering to light grey on the areas that weren’t painted in both black and dark red lines, a full body tattoo made of an irrational lineal pattern that continuously moved and expanded. He gave one more tug to the bed sheets and quickly pulled them over his trembling body, a makeshift pure white veil to hide his monstrosity and ugliness. “Why... haa... do you never... hear what others... ngh... tell you...?”

 

“Daiki, take Nigou with you and go check on the others,” instructed Akashi, gently putting the trembling puppy on the tanned male’s hand, his eyes never leaving the hiding form of the bluenette’s body. “Don’t, under any circumstance, return to Fuyu until I tell you to. And that is to be applied to everyone. Understood?”

 

“Ah... Y-Yes...” awkwardly acknowledged Aomine, still feeling completely flabbergasted over the current appearance of the bluenette. He had never seen anything like that in a human being, whether ‘User’ or not... Never had he seen that side of Kuroko, even if he didn’t remember pretty much anything of their shared past. Tightening his hold to the small puppy, he turned around on his heels but didn’t motion outside of the room, simply sideways glancing to the redhead. “Take care of him, Akashi.”

 

“Who do you think you are talking with, Daiki?” asked Akashi, a soft smile on his lips as he walked closer to the trembling bluenette. “I have no other lifetime mission other than take very good care of my turtle dove.”

 

“Ahh, is that so?” said Aomine, turning his eyes back to the corridor, biting into his lower lip for brief seconds before he managed to summon enough guts and strength to say his next words, even if already running away from that area as he did so. “I leave Kuroko in your hands for the rest of your lives, then.”

 

 _It seems we have finally acquired the blessings of the childhood friend, Tetsuya,_ inwardly chuckled Akashi, never looking back as he walked towards the smaller male on the floor. _Though we need to fix this first before we can celebrate such a feat._

 

“...!” All of a sudden, the bed sheet covering his body was forcibly ripped out of his reach, revealing once again his monstrous shape. Kuroko readily tried to hide his features with the help of his arms, which he weakly pulled up in the air. But his movements were far too slow, weakened by the ability strongly running out of control inside of his body, and his wrists were almost immediately clasped by the redhead’s hands, who pulled them back down once again. “L-Let go... Akashi-kun...! Ngh... Go away... Leave me alone... Ahh... Get out...!”

 

“Stop trying to push me out and tell me what is going on, Tetsuya!” commanded Akashi, his voice coming out imposing and definite. He didn’t want to order the bluenette around, no – he was simply making his stance and letting him know right from the start that he had no such intentions as to leave him alone right now. The redhead gave a soft caress with his thumbs to the greyish, black and red wrists of the bluenette, trying to soothe him and his worries down, even if just a little bit. “Good Heavens, you’re colder than frozen stone. First things first, we should get you warmed up. Can you move?”

 

“...” With feeble motions, Kuroko quickly shook his head in denial, that movement alone taking most of his preserved strength away.

 

“It seems that you being able to reach your bedroom and also kick out Nigou is something akin to being called a miracle, then,” sighed Akashi, releasing the bluenette’s wrists and settling in hands on the floor. He motioned his own hands forward, afterwards, and pulled the motionless and limp body of the smaller male against his own body, readily picking him up from the floor while carefully and very gently holding onto him.

 

“Where... haa... are you... taking me...?” managed to croak Kuroko, forcing himself to move his head around and peering at the redhead from below. When he noticed in which direction they were walking to, he started weakly pulling and tugging at the taller male’s clothes. “Don’t... take me there...! Ngh... Please... don’t take me... haa... to the bathroom!”

 

“What’s the problem with taking you the bathroom?” asked Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched as he peered down to the bluenette, halting his movements not even a metre away from the bathroom’s door. “I’m just going to put you inside of the bathtub and warm your body up with hot water.”

 

“No... Don’t...!” whimpered Kuroko, his eyes fixedly looking in the bathroom’s direction, a mortal dread written all over his face. “Please don’t... ngh... The m-mirror...!”

 

“Mirror?” repeated Akashi, arching even further his eyebrow. Kuroko, right now, was displaying an almost identical reaction to mirrors as he previously had when he broke it a couple of weeks ago. A fearfulness over the basic object that forced him to take violent measures to get rid of it. “Okay, I understand. I’ll cover the mirror with towels or any other thing, but meanwhile, I really need to put you inside of hot water, Tetsuya. The temperature of your body is seriously starting to scare me. Okay?”

 

“Ngh...” Not vocalizing any answer other than a weak groan, Kuroko let his head fall back against the redhead’s chest, his breathing rhythm becoming more and more pained, but almost slower at each minute that ticked by.

 

And noticing all of this, Akashi couldn’t help but tighten his hold to the bluenette’s dead cold body, fearing that it wasn’t Kuroko, but his life itself, that was about to be stolen from him. He silently, almost grievously, entered inside of the bathroom and lowered Kuroko to inside of the bathtub, immediately turning the hot water faucet to the maximum after having plugged in the drain. His eyes never leaving the inert bluenette, he walked backwards towards the mirror, grabbing a couple of towels on his way, and covered the mirror to the best of his possibilities with both rush and worry making the fix come out as more complicated and clumsy as if he wasn’t dead worried about Kuroko’s health.

 

“Okay, that should do for the time being,” acknowledged Akashi, giving a quick nod at his own works and then immediately running back to the bluenette, adjusting his trembling body on the tub so that he would run no risks of drowning in the hot water. He softly caressed Kuroko’s features, the pads of his fingers threading on top of the linear black and red patterns covering his cheeks.  “How are you feeling, Tetsuya?”

 

“I’m... haa... fine... So... go away already... Ngh!” weakly breathed Kuroko, lifting one of his hands from the half filled bathtub and lightly pushing the redhead’s hand away, even though his current strength couldn’t move it a single fraction of an inch.

 

“Don’t be so stubborn and let me help you, Tetsuya,” sighed Akashi, turning on the cold water faucet too, fearing that the bluenette’s body would get scorched at the extremely high temperature of the water. Once that was done, he gave a quick check to the water temperature, submerging his whole arm in the tub so that he could see if the bottom wasn’t hotter than the surface, and then quickly returned it to the smaller male’s features, seeking even the smallest rise in his body temperature.

 

There was none. No, it was actually much colder than when he had picked him up from the floor. It could have simply been due to having put his skin in contact with the hot water and then having touched something cold, but it truly frightened him, to feel a living body holding the same temperature as a corpse. The same temperature, or even lower maybe, that his mother’s body had featured when he picked her bloodied corpse from the streets of Tokyo during the ‘Bloody Night’.

 

“Tsk!” Clicking his tongue in frustration, Akashi quickly took his school jacket and shoes off, adjusting the bluenette’s body in the bathtub and then getting inside himself, surrounding the bluenette’s cold body with his arms as soon as he leaned his back of his chest.

 

“You’re... haa... the one being stubborn now...” groaned Kuroko, grabbing into the redhead’s arms with the intention to pull them away from him but ending up giving up on such, so tired he felt. “I told I’m fine... Ngh... I told you to go away... Why... haa... do you never listen... to anything... I tell you...?”

 

“If you start telling me rational things, I will listen and do as you say, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, hugging the smaller male’s body more closely so he could share some of his warmth with his frigid body. “But telling me that you are fine and to leave you alone under these circumstances is clearly something akin to be called madness.”

 

“Like I said... I’m fine... Haa... Haa... This is nothing... special...” softly whispered Kuroko, his body completely giving in on struggling and becoming completely inert against the redhead’s. “This is... nothing... I’m fine... I’m... haa... okay...”

 

“You’re not deceiving anyone right now with those words, Tetsuya,” pointed out Akashi, a deep frown on his features as he worriedly kept the bluenette under his gaze. “It’s clear as water that you are not fine and that this is not nothing.”

 

“I’m not... trying to deceive you... Akashi-kun...” said Kuroko, his eyes momentarily closing but readily opening once again, his head shaking around just the slightest so he could force himself to remain awake. “This really... haa... is nothing... and I... really will be fine... Ahh!”

 

“Has this or something similar happened before?” asked Akashi, slightly confused over the smaller male’s words and their true meaning.

 

“It has... Again and again...” confessed Kuroko, strongly closing his hands around the redhead’s arms and unconsciously stabbing his nails on his flesh, only protected by the thin layer of wet fabric of his shirt. “Ever heard of... equivalent exchange...?”

 

“You mean the alchemy rule where you have to give something of equivalent value in order to obtain another...?” hesitantly answered Akashi, adjusting both of their sitting positions on the bathtub so he could close the two faucets running.

 

“My ability... is always... ngh... causing pain to others...” started Kuroko, his features twisted with suffering – not over what was happening to his body, but to the cruel reality of his life. “Because it’s... not complete... Because... it’s another failed copy... My ability deemed that all failures... should give... something... in exchange... for their existence...”

 

“Tetsuya, you’re not making any sense right n—“

 

“No pain... no gain... Ngh...” interrupted Kuroko, his glowing teal eyes so open that the blue orbs would be able to slip out of their sockets. “The more I use my ability... haa... more pain I cause... The more pain I cause... more pain I have... to give in exchange... And the more... pain I give... the sharper and deadlier it gets... A never ending... cycle... that the world... surely could go without... Haa... Life is cruel, yes... Ahh... But my abilities are crueller than a curse...”

 

“You should rest now, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, gently rubbing the bluenette’s stomach area to help him relax and calm down. There was a good chance that everything he was saying right now was nothing more than hallucinations brought forward by the pain his body felt, an escape route that his brain decided to take in order to appease his suffering, even if just a little bit. “It may be difficult for you, but try to sleep for a little bit. I’ll be right here and make sure that nothing bad happens so rest.”

 

“N-No...! Don’t... let me... fall asleep, Akashi-kun!” yelped Kuroko, pushing his nails even more strongly into the redhead’s skin as he grabbed into his arms for dear life. “You can’t... let me... ahh... fall asleep and go there...! I don’t want... to go there...! Please, Akashi-kun! P-Please...”

 

“Okay, Tetsuya, I won’t,” acknowledged Akashi, gently pulling the bluenette’s head against his chest and cradling him on his embrace. “I won’t let you fall asleep.”

 

“Please promise me... Haa... that you really... won’t let me fall asleep... until it’s over...” whimpered Kuroko, trying to turn his head to look over at the redhead hugging him from behind. “Please... Akashi-kun...! Ngh... Please promise me...”

 

“I promise,” acknowledged Akashi once again, protectively holding onto his cold body. He thought he would find those beautiful crystal clear tears rolling down the bluenette’s cheeks but he saw not even one.

 

Throughout the long, endless hours where Kuroko struggled against the pain, his body temperature not rising even half a degree and black and red lines restlessly squirming around his skin, Kuroko didn’t shed a single tear.

 

Although he continuously begged for Akashi to not let him fall asleep, soft whimpers and low pained groans escaping his throat every now and then, Kuroko never once screamed or asked for help to stop the pain.

 

Only when the sunset arrived and the sky was dyed in an orange glow, the half moon slowly crawling up high in the night sky, did Kuroko stop fighting – no more black and red markings, no more pain. Just a deep slumber while inside of the bathtub filled with cold water, tightly being held in Akashi’s embrace.

 

No more fighting for that day – now he could rest and await the struggles of the following one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Ambivalence" by SCREEN mode.
> 
> *sigh* God, I LOVE YOU TWO SO MUCH T^T I don't need anything else, you two are my Valentines, my chocolates, my everything! I'm sorry for the pain I cause you two but this chapter is... in my eyes, at the very least, one of the most beautiful things I have ever written. It took me over 1 years to be able to write and release it, since I pretty much arranged it to happen well before I moved out of Portugal. It really gives me a certain sense of fulfilment, to have been able to reach this far!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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	191. The complaints end here

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> You know, sometimes I write incredible typos. But in this chapter, I wrote one which lead me into creating a new word to be used within the KnB universe. Minna-san, I hereby introduce you to the term "cluenette" - a bluenette who is completely clueless over the sexual attraction that they cause to those around them XD  
> Another new expression that popped out unexpectedly while discussing some plot details with Midnight was this one: "Pigeon slap" - when you want to do a reality check over the smutty chapters that you are writing.
> 
> Anyway, let's stop babbling about this, Mafy, and give this dark and so very bitter chapter to everyone, yes? Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter and for the humorous conversations that I have with you all the time X3]

Gently and with slow movements, Akashi adjusted both his position inside of the bathtub and Kuroko’s body, peacefully sleeping all curled up against his chest. Once he got a good and secure hold of the bluenette, he slowly motioned his body up to a standing position, ever so careful so that he wouldn’t risk slipping inside of the water filled tub and hurt the smaller with the fall. One foot at a time, he exited the bathtub and used his ability to position a good amount of different towels on the floor before he put Kuroko on top of them.

 

Even while dripping wet, Akashi readily went back inside of the bluenette’s bedroom and fetched some dry, comfortable but warm clothes to change for the also completely soaked ones that were cladding Kuroko’s frozen body.

 

Getting Kuroko dressed was probably one of the most strenuous tasks that he may have ever done in his life. It really got Akashi wondering if his inner beast, despite claiming to hold a different kind of love towards the bluenette and having one too many screw looses, actually didn’t have better self-control than he had, for it definitely was complicated to keep himself in check as he undressed Kuroko, gently wiped his body and then put the fresh set of clothes on his denuded body.

 

Lust – the double edged sword that came hand by hand with love. And both of them had been playing for far too long with fire, going on and off of their little erotic moments without having an actual closure to them.

 

Releasing a soft sigh, Akashi wrapped a towel around the bluenette’s body and picked him up from the bathroom’s floor, meant so that his own wet clothes wouldn’t moisten the newly dressed ones. He then carefully took him back to his bed, adjusting the previously messy blankets neatly on top of Kuroko’s sleeping form.

 

“...” The moment Akashi put his hand on top of Kuroko’s forehead and then his cheek, he felt that all of his hard work had been in vain. Kuroko was still freezing cold, his breathing rhythm just as shallow and slow paced as it had been when still struggling against the pain and the black and red linings covering his whole body. He was slowly running out of things he could do to help him with the limited knowledge he had on the situation... and there was nothing more frightening than to be completely helpless when it came to providing help towards the person they loved. “I shouldn’t have been so harsh with Shintarou this morning...”

 

Akashi slowly walked towards the bluenette’s closet, where he knew he would be able to find more blankets and bed sheets, his gaze lowered to the floor as if already mourning an incoming death. Why would fate lead two people to one another if in the end they would be ripped apart by tragedy? The human existence was truly a nonsensical reality, one which made outsiders laugh at how ridiculous some things got at one point or another.

 

“...!” His thoughts were fully cut off when he opened the wardrobe’s door and something immediately came tumbling down from on top of the mass of blankets, the sound of cardboard and paper scattering on the floor echoing through the silent room. By his feet laid a brown box, countless sets of letters and two black wristbands had fallen out of its open insides. “What is this...?”

 

Akashi crouched down and readily picked up a couple of letters from the floor. The envelopes were completely blank, albeit it was clear that they contained a few pieces of paper in their insides by the weight that they displayed. There was one in particular that stood out, not due to the bigger volume that it displayed, but due to the small tear it had on the top side, the paper creased as if someone had tightly gripped into it with the intention of tearing it in half but wasn’t able to follow forward with it until the end. It was only as he continued to go through every envelope to see if he could find any name or address that he noticed what was being covered underneath them.

 

Countless passports and bank account book stocks. Akashi went through all of them, none featuring the same person twice, the passports with numerous entries to all sorts of countries in all five continents and bank accounts holding exorbitant amounts of money in the most varied of currencies.

 

“Shit...” softly cursed Akashi at what he was holding in his hands. If this had been found by the wrong person, Kuroko’s execution was more than certain, even if he didn’t have any idea of what sort of information the envelopes held. Just the mere existence of all of this put his life at stake in so many senses of the word. And yet... he had held onto them, staking letter after letter, fake passports and bank accounts packed with surely more money than what the Japanese government held in their private safes tightly inside of a box that didn’t go over the size of a shoebox. “This is too much... This is too much for a single person to hold inside of them in secret without going insane or getting paranoid...”

 

The redhead got up once again and picked up a few blankets from the wardrobe, walking back to the bed and wrapping them around the laid down bluenette, trying to nestle him as comfortably in the midst of warmth and fluffy materials as possible. He then turned around on his heels and returned to near the wardrobe, quickly returning the spilled contents to the insides of the brown box. He picked it up and brought it over to Kuroko’s desk.

 

Not bothering with changing his already half dry clothes anymore, Akashi sat down and began to finally fill in one more missing piece of the complex puzzle.

 

-.-

 

“...”

 

After close to one hour, Akashi had grouped all of the contents of the mystery box on top of the bluenette’s desk.

 

With the conversion of the bank account funds from euro, American and Canadian dollars, British pounds, yuan, North and South Korean won, and several other currencies, the total amount was simply ridiculous. It could easily pay off the Japanese national debt thrice and have enough leftovers to begin to pay for the future one – which was a miraculous feat, to say the least, seeing as at some point the debt had exceeded one quadrillion yen.

 

 _I can say without a shadow of a doubt that Tetsuya has more money in these bank accounts all together than I ever had in my whole life, heir to one of the wealthiest families of Japan and the multi-national corporations that it leads at its beck and call or not,_ inwardly sighed Akashi, taking a sideways peek to the bluenette to check how he was faring on his deep slumber.

 

The fake passports were a fully dubious source of information. All of them being clearly fake, albeit extremely good copies of real ones, none could be trusted on official terms, since Kuroko may have  never actually used any of them and simply held onto them as a security measure. Or he could have used a couple of them at some point and then filled them afterwards with other destinations, this time of countries which he never set foot in. Akashi noticed, though, a common entry in every single passport, though.

 

Sometimes more than once in the same passport, but nevertheless showing up in all of them, was the United States of America. It jumped around through countless states, never forming a certain pattern as to why that choice was made, but it was clearly there.

 

 _Taking into account that those two men were speaking in English in that video, and with American accents, I have a certain feeling that these are the true entries to the passports, although I have no idea if there’s more locations in the middle of the trap ones,_ concluded Akashi in the back of his head, closely eyeing the small pile of passports with a deep frown on his features.

 

The letters, now... Those were definitely the trickier part of the ‘mystery box’.

 

He had somehow felt that it would be an intrusion to Kuroko’s life – a foreign territory which the bluenette surely didn’t want anyone to step on for the time being – to read the slightly torn letter so he put it on the side, completely unopened. It was truly regrettable. That letter most likely was the one that could provide him with more answers but Akashi still refused himself to open it and read its contents. It would be extremely disrespectful to Kuroko to secretly invade his privacy with such actions – well, not that he wasn’t doing that plenty already.

 

Akashi couldn’t help himself but let his eyes jump through the contents of each letter as dismay over the bluenette’s future turned more and more bleak, a frightening sensation of dread starting to scratch at the walls of his stomach.

 

_[...] August 20 th at 3AM – Roppongi Hills [...] All targets to be disposed off. [...] C: +5 -12_

_[...] Dinner in Kabukichou, 1AM of November 15 th [...] steal the target object and dispose of all witnesses [...] C: +7 -8_

_[...] behind Sony Building, Ginza [...] March 3 rd [...] disposal of all targets and witnesses [...] C: +3 -18_

 

“He lied to us again...” exasperatedly groaned Akashi, throwing the last letter to on top of the desk and running one of his hands through his red locks of hair. “It wasn’t the Headmaster who told him all of those dates and locations, Tetsuya saw everything with his own eyes because he was right there, with his own missions to take care of... and all of them have death as a collateral...”

 

This definitely was turning out worse and worse by the second. Even more than before starting to closely inspect all of the contents of the brown box, Akashi now held no doubt in him that all of this would end up being Kuroko’s doom. If anyone were to know of what was written on those letters, the entries in the fake passports and the ridiculous amount of money in the countless bank accounts... Kuroko wouldn’t live to see another sunrise.

 

Inwardly cursing again and again, Akashi tried to focus his extremely restless brain on the only bits of the letters which came as even more of a mystery to him than the other contents they held.

 

_“C: +5 -12” “C: +7 -8” “C: +3 -18”_

 

What exactly did that letter, positive and negative numbers represent? There was absolutely no constant in them, with the exception that the negative number always held the highest value and the same letter showed up before the numbers. There were so many words on planet Earth that started with the letter C, in innumerable languages and dialects, that it would be a wild goose chase to try to figure out which term or word it represented in these letters.

 

“I have to get rid of all of this...” softly mumbled Akashi, once again picking one of the open letters and running his eyes through its contents, until an annoying and extremely unwelcome giggle started to echo inside of his brain.

 

_“Hehehe... My oh my~ The cat is finally out of the bag~ The elephant in the room has been spotted~ What will you do now about our dear Tetsuya, Seijuurou? Kill or let it be killed? Hehehehehe...”_

 

“Tsk!” Clicking his tongue in annoyance at his inner beast’s words, Akashi slumped his back against the backrest of the chair, his heterochromatic eyes staring into the distance out of the window, the sunrise in its beginning stages. “I obviously can’t allow it to be killed, now can I...?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "The Other self" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Gosh, all of this really leads to an even darker and ominous undertone to Shattered Miracles, doesn't it? *bites nails* And like I said countless times now, I always write what I write for a reason. Even if you don't get why it pops up there or why it's never mentioned again afterwards, you will surely get to understand its purpose/reason of being in the future *sniff*
> 
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	192. I don’t need you to tell me that, I get it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I'm mean, you should know that by now. I just like to see you squirming around in anticipation *evil smirk* Hence you have unlocked this chapter and not another one~  
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter and withstanding my self-sadomasochism on a daily basis :3]

“Nn…!”

 

“Geez, you sure sleep like a log. Or would like the dead be a better way of putting it?”

 

“…” When Kagami sluggishly turned his head around against the bed he had been laid on, he found Aomine all sprawled over a one-seat sofa, the back of his head leaning over its back rest. A glance or two around his surroundings, he found himself in the exact same infirmary that he had previously taken Kuroko to when they had crashed against one another in the corridor. When he tried to speak, his throat felt dry and bitter. “What… happened?”

 

“Well…” started Aomine, lifting his head from the back rest and looking over to the redhead with a mischievous smirk on his lips, amusingly observing the redhead motioning his body to a sitting position completely unsuspicious. “I guess you are just weaker than you claim to—“

 

“ _GyaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!”_ screeched Kagami out of the blue, when his eyes landed on what was sleeping by the feet of the bed, on top of the mattress. He quickly pushed his body further away from the small puppy, desperately clutching and grabbing into the metallic headboard of the infirmary bed. “Get it away of me! GET IT OFF OF ME!!!!”

 

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” burst out laughing Aomine, desperately clutching at his stomach as he tried to maintain his sitting position of the sofa and not slip out of it due to rolling around.

 

“Stop laughing and take that thing out of here!!” roared Kagami, his eyes tearstained as he looked over to the tanned male with both beckoning and panic written all over his features. “Hurry up!!!”

 

“Ahahahahaha! Okay, okay, I get it,” acknowledged Aomine in the midst of his amusement, slowly getting up from the sofa and walking over to the bed that the redhead had been using. He took a hold of the sluggish small puppy by the sides of its torso and held it against his chest, taking a seat on the mattress of the bed himself afterwards. “But isn’t it sort of ridiculous that you’re scared of this tiny fur ball?”

 

“Don’t go thinking that Kuroko’s tricks will work with you, Ahomine!” admonished Kagami, pushing his body further away from both the tanned male and the small puppy by almost climbing into the wall.

 

“Oh, so you remember Kuroko again!” said Aomine, his face brightening up considerably, although an eyebrow remained slightly arched while he looked over to the redhead in surprise. “That’s good. I’m somehow starting to take great pride on the fact that Satsuki and I are the only ones in the position of ‘brain wiped down’ people. Don’t go trying to steal the title from me!”

 

“Like I would forget about Ku— Shit…” started grumbling Kagami, even going as far as rolling his eyes at the same time as he spoke, but he interrupted his own words and softly cursed, when he recalled the events of the previous day. “What the heck happened yesterday?”

 

“To be honest, I don’t know either,” confessed Aomine, releasing a tired sigh as he dropped his gaze to the floor of the infirmary. One of his hands leisurely pet the demoralized puppy, who almost didn’t give any signs of enjoying being pet at the moment. “I was about to go meet with you in your classroom when I found Akashi there, almost killing you with his glare, and Kise. I think you at least remember that much, but Akashi was asking you about Kuroko’s location and you said that you didn’t know any Kuroko at all. Kise and Murasakibara were the same. From what Satsuki told me, the same happened with Nijimura. Midorima was also affected by it and he’s pissy as hell for the fact that he got his research hours cut off due to being unconscious for a couple of hours. Oh, and for that matter, Kise also crashed down and is still crashed down. Kasamatsu-san is looking after his sorry ass right now. Satsuki is sorting some things out with Nijimura but I think we are all happy to have seen him sleeping for longer than 2 hours in a row. Murasakibara is fighting it off by binge-drinking caffeine and trying to keep the barrier around Fuyu from crumbling down completely while from outside of it.”

 

“And Kuroko?” asked Kagami, relaxing his stance against the headboard due to the intense worry he felt towards the bluenette at that moment. The dog in close proximity with his being surely was the least of his problems right now. “What happened with Kuroko? Where is he?”

 

“From what I know, he’s inside of Fuyu with Akashi… though not in very good shape…” confessed Aomine, a pained frown appearing on his features. “I won’t go into much detail but his ability doesn’t seem very stable right now. Murasakibara, Nijimura and I are counting the minutes for a new ‘Bloody Night’ to start, to be honest. I have no fucking idea how Akashi will be able to help him this time around… I don’t know if he’ll even be able to keep Kuroko from leaving Teikou, as things stand.”

 

“But… If Kuroko leaves, he’s done for!” yelled Kagami, slamming his hands against the mattress of the bed as he leaned his upper body forward. “That shitty Prime Minister will hunt him down until the ends of the world and fucking execute him publicly if he runs away! Kuroko knows that! He must be crazy if he really is thinking about escaping Teikou!”

 

“We all know that!” yelled back Aomine, furiously turning his head towards the redhead, a conflicted expression on his features as he sadly glared at him. “But I get his point, you know!? The way things are, with what just happened, I wouldn’t want to stay here either! There’s nothing worst or more painful than be looked at as if you are a monster, you know…?”

 

“Kuroko is no fucking monster!” roared Kagami, grabbing the collar of the tanned male’s uniform and strongly tugging him forward. “Don’t you fucking dare to call him th—“

 

“I know that! You know that too! Akashi knows that even better! We all know that!” yelled Aomine, grabbing into the redhead’s wrist with trembling hands. “…But Kuroko doesn’t…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Start it right away" by Hyadain.
> 
> Ugh... *sniff* Things are bad, even if the action wasn't centered around those two that we are dying from worry for... But don't worry, I will stop with the sadism of holding back and I will move forward with the masochism of angst starting the next chapter. However, keep in mind that every cloud has a silver lining ^^
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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	193. The conclusion found in our separation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I honestly do not know how to categorise this chapter *sigh* Part of me feels like scream "BANZAI!!" because of how it ends and over the fact that I wrote the draft of this scene over a year ago, but the other part of me is a crying babbling mess because of... TO MANY FREAKING FEELS TT^TT
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter and, yes, the future will probably punch you in the face a couple of times -.-']

When a sudden shudder crawled up his spine, from the tips of his toes to the ends of his blue strands of hair, Kuroko came back to his senses in a slow and sluggish manner. His whole body felt heavy and, even though he knew he was still feeling the repercussions of his ability, he no longer understood if it was really him who felt as such or if it was just the weight of the countless blankets neatly covering his laid down body.

 

“A…kashi…k—“ softly called Kuroko when he turned his head around against the pillow placed underneath him and saw a familiar red shade sitting at his desk. He paused, though, when his heart threatened to stop while inside of his ribcage due to what he saw on both on top of his desk and being held in the taller male’s hands. “Ah…”

 

“So you’re finally awake,” breathed Akashi, putting back the letter he was currently going trough back on top of the desk and turning his body around while still sat down on the chair so he could look over to the bluenette. “How are you feeling, Tetsuya? Any pain in your body? Do you still feel cold?”

 

“Ah… I…” tried to speak Kuroko, slowly forcing himself into a sitting position on the bed, his scared teal orbs never leaving all the letters, passports and bank books spread all over his desk. Heart thundering inside of his chest and breathing rhythm steadily growing faster and faster, he tried to both say any coherent words and to move his body from off of the bed – he found himself unable to perform any of the two. “Ah…”

 

“We need to talk, Tetsuya,” sighed Akashi, sensing that avoiding the subject wouldn’t take the two of them anywhere, by the reaction that the bluenette was already displaying at the revelation that his secret stash was no longer a secret. He motioned his hand sideways and picked one of the letters and one of the passports, lifting them both in the air so that the smaller male could straight out confirm that it was the indubitable truth. “You’ve been keeping too many things hidden from us, Tetsuya. From _me_. That needs to come to a permanent stop. No more lies, not more half truths, no more excuses. I want the truth, right now.”

 

“…!” As quickly as he could, Kuroko jumped out of his bed and ran over to his bedroom’s door, his hands clutched into tight fists and nails painfully digging at the palms of his hands.

 

“ _Lock_ ,” shortly commanded Akashi, his eyes flickering for a fraction of a second as he closely kept his gaze on the bedroom’s door. When Kuroko finally reached it and lunged his hands forward to open it, the knob didn’t budge a single inch as the bluenette tried to force it open. Sighing, he got up from the chair and carefully started to walk towards the panicky smaller male. “Tetsuya, running away won’t take you anywhere. Once found, it can’t be hidden once again. And it won’t be by avoiding it that anything will be solved. So calm down and let’s talk. Is that okay?”

 

“…Why?” softly whispered Kuroko, his hands clutching at the doorknob as his shoulders shook around just the slightest, his body curling up on its own at the same time as tears started to gather in the corner of his eyes. “Why, out of all people, did it have to be you finding that!?”

 

“Tets—“ called Akashi once again but his voice was cut off when his surroundings started wobbling around and then his field of vision cracked, the barrier around the building shattering completely and disappearing into thin air in a purplish cloud of dust, even though it had always seemed invisible in their eyes before. When he returned his gaze to the door, he found it open ajar, the bluenette nowhere to be found.

 

Kuroko had used his ability to nullify the command that Akashi had forced on the door, resulting in the utter destruction of Murasakibara’s barrier as a side effect.

 

“Shit!” cursed Akashi, immediately starting to run towards the open bedroom’s door. As he was about to cross the door, his cellphone started to noisily ring from inside of the bathroom, where he had left his school jacket at the moment of getting inside of the bathtub with Kuroko. Clicking his tongue in annoyance at the extremely bad timing of said distraction, he commanded in the back of his mind to the electronic device to come forth. His cell phone quickly flew through the length of the bedroom and was grabbed by the redhead’s hand, immediately pressing the answer button without needing to check the name on the screen to know who it was on the other side. “Atsushi, now is not the right time for calls!”

 

_“The barrier has been completely destroyed, Aka-chin! I’m about to go there together with Mine-chin right th—“_

 

“Stay away!” interrupted Akashi with a commanding voice as he resumed with running out of the room and crossed the corridor in the staircase’s direction. He continued without seeing the bluenette anywhere, but if he had gotten to know Kuroko in the last couple of weeks that they continuously shared together, then… “Atsushi, do not let anyone come closer to this whole area until I call you back. Do you understand?”

 

_“But—“_

 

“Just please do what I’m telling you to!” added Akashi before he ended the call and threw his phone away, quickly jumping above the railing on one of the sides of the corridor and swiftly landing on the first floor of the building, immediately running towards the entrance door that was ‘magically’ opening by itself. “Tetsuya, wait!”

 

“Ugh!” softly groaned Kuroko when the redhead’s body came crashing down against his ‘invisible’ form and made the two of them stumble down on the floor, half of their bodies still inside of Fuyu’s entrance area. The shock of having been so easily caught by Akashi forced his ‘spell’ to come undone and his presence was made once again, laid down on the floor with the redhead on top of him. “Ngh…!”

 

“Wait!” said Akashi, quickly grabbing one of the bluenette’s wrists as he started to crawl away from underneath him, gently caging it in between his trembling hand and the rough ground they were wrestling on.

 

“L-Let go! Akashi-kun, let go!” yelled Kuroko, using his free hand to strongly push the redhead’s body away from him. “Release me! Let me go!”

 

“Tetsuya, calm down!” ordered Akashi, taking a hold of the bluenette’s other wrist and also pining it down on the ground into a completely motionless position, even though the rest of his small frame continued to trash around and struggle for an escape. “What are you doing? Where are you going?”

 

“Why would I tell you any of that!?” yelled Kuroko, his teal eyes tearstained as he suddenly halted the violent motions of his body and looked directly to the taller male’s heterochromatic eyes. He could already feel the sobs getting stuck in his throat and slowly chocking him to an early death – even if not in a physical sense.

 

“You can’t leave, Tetsuya,” breathed Akashi, softly shaking his head in denial as he closely observed the panicky bluenette being pinned down on the ground by him. “I can’t have you leaving. Not now, not ever…”

 

“Well, what other option do I have now, Akashi-kun?” exasperatedly asked Kuroko, the dams finally being forcibly opened and allowing a river of tears to overflow from the bluenette’s eyes, his body trembling at the tempest of emotions running around inside of him. “You found and read them, didn’t you? The letters, the passports, the bank books… Ugh… And smart as you are, you most likely already connected the contents of the letters with the information that I used against Shirogane-san... Ngh… You _know_ of what I was being forced to do before… You _know_ what they did to me before… Uh… S-So… what other option other than leaving do I have!?”

 

“Tets—“

 

“You know the truth… Uhh…” sobbed Kuroko, his pale features twisted with excruciating agony and sorrow as round tears rolled down his cheeks into the ground. “You know it and you’ll have to… ngh… r-report everything to Shirogane-san and the Japanese Government… They will immediately collect me and announce my e-execution to the whole world… Ugh… T-They’ll make me tell them everything… haa… from beginning to end… uhh… and then they will try to execute me! Ngh… And t-then… the whole world will know how big of a monster I am! You will know how much of a monster I am! Uhh… And I… I don’t want that, Akashi-kun…! I… ngh… don’t want you to know!”

 

“Tetsuya, calm dow—“ tried Akashi to soothe down the crying bluenette, who was a complete panicky mess at the moment, babbling non-stop over such pathetic things. Fear truly was a scary thing, for it moulded our thoughts into expecting the worst out of a situation, even if the truth couldn’t be farther away from the misguided expectations.

 

“I don’t want you to k-know… Ugh…” continued Kuroko in between soft sobs and whimpers, closing his sad teal eyes tightly while screaming. “I don’t want you to know but I also don’t want you to forget! I can’t… I d-don’t… I don’t want to do the same thing to you that I did to Aomine-kun and Momoi-san! T-That’s why… Let me go! Akashi-kun, please, let me go! Akash—“

 

“Tetsuya, calm down!” yelled Akashi, quickly releasing the bluenette’s wrists and slapping the palms of his hands against his reddish-from-crying cheeks, as he cupped his features and took a tight hold of them. “What have I been continuously telling you all this time? I told you I would protect you from everyone and everything, didn’t I? I told you that I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you ever again, didn’t I? Shirogane Eiji and the Japanese government? Screw them! If my reports to them will endanger you in any way, then I will never provide them with a single word from now onwards! Never will I do anything that may jeopardise your safety and well being!”

 

“Uhh…”

 

“So calm down, okay?” continued Akashi, his voice softening considerably as he gently wiped a couple of tears rolling out of the bluenette’s eyes. “I won’t tell a single soul about what was inside of that box. Not the letters and what is written in them, the fake passports or the countless bank accounts. I won’t allow anyone to ever know about any of that… And I won’t allow you to leave, either.”

 

“Ngh… I can’t—“ sobbed Kuroko, softly shaking his head around despite the redhead’s hold to his features.

 

“Tetsuya, I won’t let you leave even if I have to chain you to the bed,” warned Akashi, though more as a reassurance to the bluenette that he was being completely serious over what he was saying than as a threat.

 

“Ugh… Why, Akashi-kun…?” asked Kuroko, his voice trembling due to the continuous sobs and the shaking of his body. “Why are you trying to bind me to Teikou? Why… are you trying to bind me to you…?”

 

“Because I lo—“ started confessing Akashi but he interrupted his own words all of a sudden, a deep pained frown appearing on his features.

 

If he were to confess to Kuroko that he loved him right this moment, he would misunderstand his words and feelings. He would forever imprint in his brain and heart that the ‘love’ that Akashi felt for him was simply a set of shackles and chains that would imprison him inside of Teikou Academy – fake romantic feelings brought forward out of desperation and need for a reason to get him to stay.

 

Even if they were real – so very painfully real –, Kuroko would never be able to bring himself to accept them as anything more than a lie. Nothing more than more burdens, more weight to his soul – more regrets to carry on his back.

 

“I… want you to belong to me,” said Akashi, his words sounding bitter on his own tongue and causing a powerful and numbing stab in his heart. “To be honest, I didn’t want to say it like this but I want you to be mine and only mine. I don’t want to be apart from you or lose you out of my sight for even one second. I want to spend the rest of my life by your side. I want to create and give you a future where you can be happy, where you can keep on smiling and laughing so beautifully. This is probably an extremely selfish wish of mine, but… I don’t want to let you go and risking allowing you to be happy in a place where I’m not. Because I know without a doubt that I will never be happy… that I never will be complete once again, if I’m to lose you now. I can’t, Tetsuya… I can’t let you leave me. I can’t let you abandon me. So, whatever it is that I may have to throw away, I will do it! If it means you staying in Teikou with me… then I don’t care about what kind of price I will have to pay.”

 

“Ugh… I can’t, Akashi…kun…” whimpered Kuroko, his hands closing around the redhead’s lower arms and grabbing into them as if they were the only lifeline keeping him alive. “I can’t… stay…”

 

“I’m telling you that you can,” acknowledged Akashi, lowering his upper body even further and shortening the distance between their faces, all while wiping a couple more of tears overflowing from the bluenette’s eyes with the help of his thumbs. “You can stay, Tetsuya. You can choose to stay in Teikou. You can choose _me_ …!”

 

“Akashi-kun… I can—“ insisted Kuroko, grabbing into the redhead’s arms even more tightly as he brought his own face closer to his.

 

“Tetsuya, I’m absolute. Everything that I say is right and everything I do is correct,” sighed Akashi, gently bumping his forehead on the bluenette’s. “So you can. You can stay with me. You can choose me. _Please_ choose me.”

 

Taking a shaky deep breath, Kuroko closed his eyes once again and allowed a few more tears to stream down from them.

 

_Please stop, Akashi-kun…_

_I want to stay._

_Please stop making me secretly wish for what I can’t have._

_I want to stay with him._

_Stop giving me reasons to not want to leave this paradise and lose what I finally managed to obtain._

_I want to stay with Akashi-kun…_

_With my precious Sun…_

 

“I…” softly said Kuroko as he opened his eyes once again and released the redhead’s arms, motioning his hands upwards just the slightest and cupping Akashi’s features, much like he was doing with him. “I’ll… become yours. So never let me go. Please stay with me forever and never, ever let go of me… Seijuurou.”

 

“I never had any intentions other than doing that, Tetsuya,” confessed Akashi, a soft smile on his features as he completely erased the space between them and passionately kissed Kuroko.

 

_I swear that I will never let you go… No matter what happens, no matter who gets in our path towards a happy future… I pledge here and now that I will never, ever let go of you, my Tetsuya…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ANSWER" by Kamiya Hiroshi - our beloved devilish angel - and Ono Kenshou - our beloved lovely bluenette.
> 
> I'm still sobbing here so I don't think I can provide a very good end note at the moment... *sniff*
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	194. I’ll give you my everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> All I have to say for this chapter is... JUSTICE FOR AKASHI!!! >///<
> 
> Warning: MASSIVE NOSEBLEED ALERT! Don't ignore this warning and regret it later!
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter and drowning in sin together with me :3]

After a long and deep kiss, their lips finally came apart, a thin and shiny thread of saliva still connecting their starving and panting mouths as they refused to break eye contact with one another.

 

“Haa… For as much as I enjoy kissing you, Tetsuya…” started Akashi in between heavy breathing, one of his hands gently caressing the bright red features of the bluenette. “We’re still outside. Right in front of the house where we’ve been living in together and share with other people that may suddenly show up despite my warnings.”

 

“Ugh…” softly groaned Kuroko, his cheeks turning into an even more intense shade of red at the realization that they were still in the exact same location as before, sprawled half outside, half inside of Fuyu’s entrance area.

 

“Let’s go back inside,” said Akashi after a brief chuckle. He sat up straight and then grabbed the bluenette by the waist, quickly getting up while pulling the bluenette up against his chest. They didn’t even need to say another word before their mouths came crashing against one another a second time, lips hungrily devouring each other and tongues wetly entwining together.

 

“Mmhm… Haa…” lightly whimpered Kuroko, his arms circling the redhead’s neck and fingers gently grabbing into his hair, while his legs wrapped around his waist and allowed them a more easy walking stance as Akashi carried them right back inside of the building and up the stairs to the second floor. “Haa! Seijuurou…! Haa… Seiju… Mmn…”

 

“Ngh… Tetsuya…” Almost in the shape of a growl of arousal, Akashi intensified their kiss even further as he climbed the stairs step by step, his train of thought so moulded by all of his unfulfilled and pent-up desires that he unconsciously continued to walk forward instead of giving a slight turn in the corridor, in his bedroom’s direction, and came softly crashing against the wall, caging the bluenette in between his tight embrace and smothering kisses and the hard surface.

 

“Ahh… Mmhm… Seijuu…rou… Sei…” chanted Kuroko again and again with soft purrs, his eyes half lidded and the back of his head stuck against the wall as the redhead passionately kissed and nibbled at his neck. With his body steadily growing hotter and hotter, he couldn’t help himself but seek more of such scalding warmth by desperately grabbing into the back of Akashi’s clothes, even if he knew that he wouldn’t let him slip out of his embrace. “Ahh! Ngh… Seijuurou… Ahh!”

 

“Haa… Tetsuya…” called Akashi, parting his mouth from the smaller male’s neck, his fair and pale skin now adorned with countless small bite marks and reddish hickeys. He looked straight at the mellowed teal eyes of the bluenette, his own a mixture of arousal and love as he softly said his next words, his features lightly smeared with a blush. “Can I make all of you mine, Tetsuya…?”

 

“Haa… haa… You can…” acknowledged Kuroko with a soft nod of his head, a small smile on his lips as he brought their faces together and lightly kissed the redhead’s lips. “I told you… haa… I’m yours. For the rest of our lives, you can make me yours for as long as you want.”

 

“Don’t you ever regret having said those words,” warned Akashi before he dived in and kissed the bluenette once, parting his back from against the wall with a quick jerk of his body and now surely turning around to walk towards his bedroom. “I will never let go of you for as long as I exist in this world. You are mine and I will make sure to engrave that deep inside of you until my existence erases all of your doubts and insecurities.”

 

“Ngh… Do that… Please do that, Seijuurou,” acknowledged Kuroko, his features painted with a glorious red blush as he released the redhead’s clothes momentarily and then grabbed into them with even more affliction. “Just… Please don’t break me even more during the process…”

 

“I would never break you, Tetsuya,” softly said Akashi, gently leaning his body forward and laying down the bluenette on top of his bed, readily climbing to on top of the mattress himself as he cupped the smaller male’s features with his two hands. “If anything, I’m aiming for the opposite. I want to see you being complete again. I want to make you whole once again… or for the first time, I don’t know. But I will need your cooperation on it. I can’t be the one doing all the work.”

 

“I guess I don’t have any other option here, now do I?” pointed out Kuroko, a soft happy smile on his lips as he leaned his head towards the touch of one of the redhead’s hands. “I can’t have you become even more of a workaholic than you already are.”

 

“I don’t really mind becoming a ‘Tetsuyaholic’, though,” added Akashi with a teasing voice, a small mischievous smirk showing on his lips as he leaned his face closer to the bluenette and softly, at first, kissed his reddish and moist lips, soon growing a much heavier and deeper lock of lips and tongues.

 

“Haa… Ngh… Haa…” Panting wildly when their lips separated, Kuroko propped his upper body up from the mattress just the slightest and allowed permission to the redhead to pull off his upper clothes by giving him the necessary space and body movements to enable such. Although his body felt so hot, more so compared to the dead coldness of some hours previous, he could still fell that the hands roaming around his exposed upper body held the exact same warmth – that the man on top of him held the exact same desire and passion as him at that moment. “Ngh… Seijuurou…!”

 

“I know, I know,” acknowledged Akashi in between soft chuckles, finding it extremely endearing how desperate the bluenette sounded as he called his name and peered over in his direction with flushed cheeks and mellowed teal eyes. He gave a quick peck to his lips, another to the tip of his nose and a final one to the middle of his forehead. “But this time… No rushes, no stopping. I’m going to make you mine and only mine nice and slow.”

 

“…ngh…” Kuroko’s whole body trembled at hearing those words, the heat burning him inside out intensifying by a tenfold as he couldn’t stop staring at the mischievous smirk present on the redhead’s features as he straightened his body into a sitting position on top of his waist and started undoing his own shirt, his fingers slowly going through every button of the blue shirt. Only when the taller male let the piece of clothing slip down his back and arms to on top of the bluenette’s legs and let his denuded muscled torso be very well visible to his teal eyes did Kuroko break eye contact, averting his gaze and looking down to the bed, his cheeks emitting clouds of steam at how intense his blush was at that moment.

 

“Hehe… I knew you were lying when you said the other day that you disliked what you were seeing as I changed my clothes,” teasingly said Akashi, putting his hands down on the mattress and leaning his upper body closer to the bluenette’s, a knowing smirk on his lips as he forced the smaller male to return his gaze to him by following after the direction of his embarrassed gaze. “Why don’t you try to be honest for a change and just admit that you fancy my body? Because if that is the case, I couldn’t be happier to have been born this way and feel thankful to my parents for having given it to me in the first place.”

 

 _You’re so unfair…!,_ inwardly cursed Kuroko, tightly closing his eyes so he could escape the redhead’s intense heterochromatic gaze. He gulped down hard. “I-I… l-like it… N-Now please stop with the shame foreplay and go about it as a normal person…!”

 

“Ahahaha!” laughed Akashi, dropping his body on top of the bluenette’s and gently and slowly kissing him, his hands leisurely scavenging his torso and caressing every single inch of his pale feverish skin. “Thank god… You feel like a living being once again and not like a corpse…”

 

“I am a living bein— Ahh!” pointed out Kuroko but a loud moan escaping his throat interrupted him, brought forward due to the teasing pinch that the taller male did to one of his pinkish buds. When Akashi started licking one of his nipples, his tongue wetting his skin and teeth nibbling and scrapping at the erogenous protuberance that steadily grew harder, and his hand continuing to pinch and twist the other one, he couldn’t control the moans and soft gasps that leaked out of his mouth. “Ahh… Ngh… Seiju— Ahh…!”

 

“Your moans are the most aggravating thing on Earth,” purred Akashi in between suckles to the hard pinkish bud of the smaller male. “They make me become completely undone and break the best of self-controls that I may have, but I still want to continue to listen to them again and again. They make me want to do even more things to your body so I can make your mewls of pleasure even louder and erotic.”

 

“Ahhh!” moaned Kuroko, arching his back above the mattress and motioning one of his hands upward, desperately grabbing into the bed sheets, and clawing into the redhead’s upper arm with the other one – all due to the strong bite that Akashi gave to his nipple, his canines gently gnawing into the pinkish bud while his tongue wetted it even further. “Ahh… Seijuurou, wait…! If you do that, I’ll… Ahh!”

 

“You’ll cum?” asked Akashi while still suckling at the bluenette’s nipple, a mischievous smirk on his lips. He released the other nipple that he had been teasing with his fingers and slowly motioned it down through the length of the velvety skin of his torso. “Let me give you a hand on that.”

 

“Ahhh…! Ngh… Haa… Ahh! Ahhh…” continued to loudly moan Kuroko, his body squirming around against the bed sheets which he tightly grabbed onto as the redhead grabbed his hard shaft and started pumping it up and down, slowly, almost experimentally, at first, but quickly gaining more and more speed to his movements, numbing his body with the flux of electrifying pleasure coursing through his body. “Ahhh! I can’t… haa… Seijuurou… I’m… cumming… Ahhh! Seijuu—“

 

The moment Akashi gave another strong bite to the bluenette’s nipple, Kuroko’s whole body shook around, spilling his release against the hand that continued to pump his cock even after the climax.

 

“Which feels better, Tetsuya? Cumming with the help of my hand or simply with your nipples?” asked Akashi, giving a soft peck to the panting and limp smaller male as he took his wet and sticky hand from inside of his pants.

 

“I told you… haa… haa… to stop with the shame foreplay… haa… didn’t I?” weakly admonished Kuroko with his panting mouth, his body feeling pleasurably exhausted after the strong orgasm, his eyes attentively observing as the redhead lead his hand towards his mouth and gave a small lick to the creamy substance covering his fingers. “Ugh… You’re a devil…”

 

“I will take that as a ‘you’re devilishly good at this’,” chuckled Akashi, giving a gentle peck to the bluenette’s sweaty forehead as he leaned his upper body forward and stretched his arm towards the nightstand next to the bed. After opening the drawer with the tips of his fingers, he put his hand inside of it and took from there a small plastic bottle with a colourless thick liquid inside.

 

“Pervert…” shyly mumbled Kuroko, although his eyes continued to follow the small bottle’s trajectory in their direction.

 

“I believe that the correct term is ‘ever-ready’,” pointed out Akashi as he put the flask beside their bodies on the bed and raised his waist while crawling backwards just the slightest, so he could make the necessary space to remove the last pieces of clothing still covering the bluenette’s body. “We never know what the future may bring us and I prefer to be prepared for all eventualities at all times.”

 

“J-Just… what exactly have you been f-fantasizing about on your own…?” stutteringly inquired Kuroko, a new bright red blush slowly starting to cover his features as he half hid his facial expression behind his forearm. He already felt quite embarrassed over this whole event that was happening right now so he could have very well gone without knowing about the anticipation that Akashi had actually been putting on it.

 

“Do you really want me to tell you something like that right now?” asked back Akashi as he finished slipping the bluenette’s underwear from his legs, the pads of his fingers teasingly massaging his legs while removing the piece of clothing.

 

“Please forget that this conversation even happened,” deadpanned Kuroko, desperately trying to avoid having a discussion about such a subject at such a time. Actually, he would appreciate it if they _never_ were to discuss something like that.

 

“Ahaha. Don’t worry, Tetsuya,” said Akashi, grabbing the small flask once again and opening the cap with a fickle of his nail. He drizzled a small bit of the thick liquid on his free hand and then emptied the rest of the contents over the bluenette’s crotch and rear area. “I have made a lifetime mission of mine putting forward in reality all of my fantasies.”

 

“Ngh…!” Body already hypersensitive due to the cold liquid that was coating his lower half, Kuroko stiffly contracted himself when he felt a contrasting warmth gently probing into his crevice.

 

“Do you want to stop?” asked Akashi out of the blue, slowly withdrawing his hand from the smaller male’s body and settling it on the mattress. When he saw the bluenette quickly lifting his head from the bed and looking over in his direction with a completely taken aback and shocked expression, he sighed. “I told you already, Tetsuya, I will never force you to do anything that you dislike or feel uncomfortable with again. I intend on doing my best so that it doesn’t hurt you in any way, by taking it as slow as I can but… I can’t give you guarantees that one of them won’t stop happening somewhere along the line. That’s why, if you want to sto—“

 

“I don’t want to stop,” interrupted Kuroko, grabbing into the redhead’s wrist as he propped his upper body slightly up with the help of his elbow. An endearing blush dusted his pale features as he shyly mumbled his next words. “If you stop now, I swear I will continuously gut-punch you into oblivion, Akashi Seijuurou. This is supposed to be the time where you go crazy on me and just make a mess out of me… Why are you holding yourself back once again when I told you that you don’t have to? Seijuurou, you big dummy… Do you have any idea how embarrassing saying all of this is? J-Just hurry up and p-pounce me already…”

 

“Yes, I truly am a big dummy, aren’t I?” acknowledged Akashi, a small smile on his lips as he gently kissed the bluenette’s. “I still don’t want to hurt you in any way but… No more holding back for me from now onwards.”

 

“Ngh…!” softly groaned Kuroko when the probing finger resumed with its mission and slowly penetrated his crevice, its entrance slick and wet due to the lubricant coating both his lower half and the redhead’s hand. Slowly, the finger started doing the exact same motions of in and out as it previously had done during their shared bath in Sumida – only this time in a much more gentle fashion, seeing as the sticky liquid provided to that sensitive area of his body some more protection towards the invasion. “Ah… Ngh… Haa…”

 

“Am I hurting you?” worriedly asked Akashi, not halting the stretching motions of his finger against the bluenette’s tight crevice but still softening even more his movements. He observed the smaller quickly shake his head in denial, one of his forearms half hiding his bright red features as his other hand continued to desperately clutch at the bed sheets. “But, again, it doesn’t necessarily feel good either, right? Hmm… If I’m not mistaken… it was right _here_.”

 

“Ahhh!” loudly moaned Kuroko, his hand strongly tugging at the sheets as his body fervently shook with pleasure, the same spot which had made him climax while bathing with Akashi being hit by the tip of his finger just the slightest. “Ahh…! S-Seijuurou… Not… haa… there… Please… ngh… Don’t… Ahh—!”

 

“You quite seem to like it, though?” pointed out Akashi, continuously aiming at the same spot inside of the bluenette’s entrance and making him writhe in pleasure. He leaned his upper body forward, at the same time as he inserted a second finger inside of the more relaxed crevice and pushed them deeper in, Kuroko’s back arching above the mattress while screaming a moan as he slowly lapped his tongue over his chest, planting more reddish kiss marks on the field of pale skin.

 

“Ahhh! S-Seijuurou… Don’t…! Ahh!” moaned Kuroko, rubbing the back of his head against the mattress as he wiggled his body around, every single inch of his skin and flesh tingling with electricity and his mind growing hazier with every rub of the redhead’s fingers inside of his entrance. “Ahh…! Don’t… Haa… It feels… weird…!”

 

“You mean it feels good?” asked Akashi, gently giving light pecks up the bluenette’s neck, his fingers apparently doing a good job at opening up his tight crevice so it could welcome something far thicker and harder inside.

 

“I don’t know… Ngh… Just… weird… Haa… My body feels… weird…!” whimpered Kuroko, sliding his arms just the slightest from above his face and peering over to the redhead with his half-lidded and teary teal eyes, his cheekbones puffy and pinkish with both the overheating of his body and the fast paced inflation and deflation of his lungs. “Ahhh! Sei…juurou… Don’t…! Ahh… But… m-more… Ngh… Need… more… Ahh! Seijuurou…! Seijuurou…”

 

“Haa… Like you asked for, I made a mess out of you,” purred Akashi, taking his fingers from inside of the bluenette’s crevice as he straightened his sitting position on the bed. He adjusted Kuroko’s legs and waist position with one of his hands as his other one worked its way into freeing his hard cock, using the remnants of the lubricant still sticking to his fingers and palm to coat his length. “Now, I’m going to wreck you completely.”

 

“Ahhhh!” loudly moaned Kuroko, his breath getting caught up on his throat as Akashi suddenly thrust his hips and pushed his hot and pulsing hard cock inside of his crevice, pulling him by his waist towards his direction so he could penetrate him even more deeply. After the initial shock of the unexpected intrusion to his body, Kuroko remained completely limp against the bed, his chest quickly inflating and deflating as the scorching temperature of the length stuck inside of him seemed to make his own high temperature burn even more strongly. “Ngh… haa… Sei…juurou… you… haa… idiot… Ngh…!”

 

“You told me to not hold back… haa… And I told you I didn’t know for how long I could hold back…” said Akashi, his voice husky and low with arousal. He tried to keep both his and the bluenette’s bodies completely motionless, allowing enough time for the smaller male’s insides to adjust to the size of his length – a magnanimous feat that he somehow managed to accomplish, seeing as all he wanted to do was thrust non-stop into that deliciously tight and wet crevice, hearing more of Kuroko’s moans and mewls as he did so until both got to climaxing point.

 

“Still… haa… You can’t just… ngh… stick it in… Ahhh!” grudgingly admonished Kuroko, a small pout on his blushing features as he eyed the taller male through the small gap in between the arms covering his face – however, his cover was pushed away by a hand pinning his arms over his head against the mattress, the redhead giving a powerful thrust with his hips that put him singing moan after moan. “Ahhh—! Seiju… Ahh! Ngh… Ahh…!”

 

“You really love to push my buttons… haa… with your words, don’t you, Tetsuya?” said Akashi in the form of a growl of sexual desire, keeping the bluenette’s arms well secured and out of his way as he continuously rammed his cock deep inside of him and observed his features – the most erotic expression that Akashi surely had ever seen in his whole life, small tears rolling down his half-lidded teal eyes, lips parted so delirious moans and purrs could be released from his throat and skin beautifully flushed in red and coated with a thin layer of sweat. His heart steadily beating faster and faster inside of his chest, Akashi leaned his body forward, releasing the bluenette’s arms so he could grab into his thighs and keep their love making position stable as he relished in a deep and hungry kiss with Kuroko.

 

“Haa… Mmhn… Ahh! Mmmmmhn…” whimpered Kuroko against the redhead’s mouth, which deliriously ravished his wet insides with the sensual movements of his tongue. He motioned his hands forward and tightly circled his neck with his arms, his nails clawing into the taller male’s naked back as he desperately grabbed into him. “Haa… Seiju… Ngh… Ahhh! Seijuurou…”

 

“Tetsuya… Ngh… Tetsuya…” called Akashi in between heavy panting and quick kisses with the smaller male. His body shivered as Kuroko dug his nails on his back and moved his hands around, long red scratches most likely already covering a good part of his skin. For the first time ever in his life, Akashi wished that his body hadn’t been granted with a fast-paced healing ability, for he wanted to wear those scratches on his skin for the rest of his life – the undeniable proof of their joining, both physically and emotionally. “Haa… Tetsuya…!”

 

“Ahh! Seijuu…rou… I can’t… anymore… Ahh!” moaned Kuroko, tightly closing his eyes as he held strongly into the body rocking his own, shivering non-stop at the rush of pleasure and electricity coursing through his being. “I’m going to… haa… Ah!”

 

“Ngh… Go ahead. I want to see you cumming again,” acknowledged Akashi, thrusting more quickly into the bluenette’s crevice as he himself started nearing his own climax. “I’m not going to last much longer myself… Haa… But I want to see you thoroughly satisfied first.”

 

“Ahh! Weren’t you… haa… haa… supposed to have… ngh… a better endurance… than me…?” teasingly pointed out Kuroko, a small mischievous smirk appearing on his panting and flushed features.

 

“I blame it on you, Tetsuya… Haa… It’s all because of you,” said Akashi, leaning his face forward and hungrily feasting on the bluenette’s lips once again. “When you moan like this… When you look at me like this… When you tighten around me like this… Haa… I can’t help but give you what you want. And we both know what you want, don’t we?”

 

“Ahhh! Seijuurou! Nngh… Ahh!” moaned Kuroko, his body shuddering continuously as the hazy spell clouding his brain started attacking even more strongly. When Akashi strongly thrust his cock all the way into his crevice, hitting just the right spot that always ignited his arousal to mind breaking levels, he couldn’t keep his climax in any longer and spilled his creamy release all over his naked chest, accompanied by a load moan. “Ahhhhh!”

 

“Ngh… Tetsuya…” softly groaned Akashi, a shudder also coursing through his body as the bluenette’s crevice tightened around his cock even more strongly at the moment of his climax. With a couple more thrusts to the pleasurably wet entrance, his own love juices adding to the slick lubricant, the redhead finally allowed his own release to burst free, a final strong ram planting his seed deep inside of Kuroko. “Ahh… Tetsuya…!”

 

Both desperately gulping down the cold air around them, Akashi released the bluenette’s thighs and dropped his hands to the mattress of the bed, each one siding the smaller male’s torso as he leaned himself closer to him.

 

“Haa… haa… Are you okay… Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, lifting one of his hands from the bed and gently parting some blue strands of hair sticking into the bluenette’s features with the back of his fingers.

 

“Nn… Just… haa… tired…” acknowledged Kuroko with a slow and small nod of his head. He closed his eyes and just sluggishly leaned over to the hand lovingly caressing his features.

 

“I see,” said Akashi, the soft smile on his lips slowly turning into a mischievous smirk. “It’s not time to rest yet, though, Tetsuya.”

 

“…Eh?” interjected Kuroko, slowly opening his eyes once again and peering over to the redhead with slight incomprehension showing on his sweaty features.

 

“I got your authorization over not holding back anymore, didn’t I?” announced Akashi, delivering a quick peck to the smaller male’s moist lips. “After us going on and off again and again, for weeks to no end, do you think that one round is enough for me?”

 

“Eh? Ah… S-Seijuurou…?” babbled Kuroko, his mind slowly waking up from the pleasurable haze of having climaxed and getting aware of the pinch he had gotten himself in.

 

“In terms of endurance, who do you think would win?” mischievously asked Akashi, straightening his sitting stance on the bed at the same time as he pulled the bluenette’s body along with his and readily caged his torso with his arms, Kuroko sitting on his lap and taking in even more deeply the renewed erect length of the redhead. “Which one of us will get to cum more times before we can’t continue going at it any longer… Shall we find out?”

 

“Eh!? Y-You’re kidding, righ— Ahhh! Ngh… Seijuurou… you big… idiot… Ahhhhhh!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Hengen Jizai no Magical Star" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> FUCKING FINALLY!!!! (no pun intended... or maybe it was *wiggles eyebrows*) Dear lord, after 193 chapters and over 480k words, they finally... finally...! Gosh, I'm so happy for them TTvTT I don't know if I should use the tissues to wipe my massive nosebleed or to wipe my tears of happiness anymore!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
>  [Tumblr](http://mafymod.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Hiejima Mutsumi Website](https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi)   
>  [Weekly Previous](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)   
>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	195. I just averted my eyes and ran away from it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> Thank you for your patient over the "after effects" of the previous chapter, nfufufu :3 I hope you greatly enjoy them~ But well, you know me *evil smirk*
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~ I quite agree with you, AkaKuro in general will undoubtfully lead to the death of all XD]

Leisurely humming a song, Akashi carefully cut a red and round apple into slices, certifying himself that each piece was of the same size as all the types of fruit that he had already gone through and put together on a plate. Once he was more than satisfied with his work, he picked up the plate and immediately went over to the second floor, almost skipping through the building as he made his way inside of the bluenette’s bedroom.

 

“I prepared you some fruit. The natural sugars in them will help you regain your strength once again,” said Akashi, a satisfied smile from ear to ear on his features as he walked over to the bed and sat down on the floor, putting the plate on top of the mattress where the bluenette was laid on. “Can you sit down or do you want to just stay laid down?”

 

“You think I can sit right now…?” grudgingly inquired Kuroko, turning his head around with a certain difficulty so he could half-glare at the redhead with his tired teal eyes. “I know I told you to stop holding back but… Beast! Sex crazed maniac! Pervert!”

 

“Yes, yes,” acknowledged Akashi in between chuckles as he adjusted his sat down position on the floor and picked up with his fingers a slice of peach, which he readily motioned forward in the bluenette’s mouth’s direction. “Here.”

 

“…” Kuroko silently stared to the juicy fruit bit with a small frown on his features. Releasing a soft sigh, he parted his lips and gave a small jerk to his head, taking in the peach slice on his mouth and slowly chewing it. He quickly withdrew his face back to its hidden position against his pillow. “Geez, how can you act so nonchalant after everything that happened…? After _five_ times on the bed, until it was so dirty we couldn’t be on top of the bed sheets anymore, you still dare to go _three_ more times in the bathroom, with ‘cleaning’ being used as an excuse again and again… Ugh… I-It was… my first time, you know…”

 

“It was my first time too, Tetsuya, which is probably why I couldn’t control myself at all,” said Akashi, gently running his fingers through the bluenette’s silky locks. “Actually, so many of my first times were with you. My first kiss, the first time I marked another person’s body, my first time touching another person in such ways, my first date… And lots and lots of other small things too, which are now so very dear to me despite their unimportance.”

 

“Now you’re just trying to trick me once again…” grumbled Kuroko, turning his head around just the slightest and peering over to the redhead with only one of his eyes showing, though the blush on his face could also be very well seen. “There’s no way that was your first kiss…”

 

“Cross my heart that it was,” chuckled Akashi, deeply amused at the endearing display of half doubt, half jealousy that the smaller male was momentarily displaying. He picked up a strawberry half and motioned it forward to the bluenette. “I told you this again and again, you are my turtle dove and I have only had eyes for one person throughout my whole life. Why would I kiss others, taking that into consideration?”

 

“Ugh…” As fast as his tired body could, Kuroko quickly lifted his head from the pillow, put the strawberry in his mouth directly from the redhead’s fingers and readily hid his face once again, his blush much more accentuated than before. “You truly will be the death of me one of these days… in more than one sense, now.”

 

“Oh? Are you giving me permission to wreck you once again?” mischievously asked Akashi, pushing the plate further to on top of the mattress and getting up from his sitting position on the floor. He leaned his upper body forward and climbed to the bed with his knees, putting himself on top of the bluenette as he climbed to the other side of the bed. He then brought the plate over to between themselves and laid himself down next to the bluenette, a soft smile present on his lips as he popped a small cherry to his own mouth. “How about we go for it once again after we finish this little snack? I’ll eat with you so we can start as soon as possible.”

 

“Unless you have a fetish for having sex with corpses, you will stop right there,” grudgingly said Kuroko, once again turning his head around and shyly glaring at the redhead. “Do you have any idea how tired I am? All I can move right now is my head… And I feel like I’m going to die from exhaustion with just turning it around! P-Please control yourself a little bit in the future…”

 

“I’m a ‘Tetsuyaholic’, so unless you feed me regularly, I will go into starvation once again and completely lose my self-control when I get to finally taste you again,” teasingly said Akashi, giving a quick peck to the bluenette’s lips as he picked up an apple slice and motioned it to the smaller male’s mouth. Though done quite grudgingly, Kuroko started to munch on the apple being held in between the pads of his fingers, an adorable pout on his features. “I think you are the one who’s going to be the death of me…”

 

“Hm?” softly interjected Kuroko as he continued to munch on the slice of apple, tilting his head slightly even though it was laid down on the pillow.

 

“Never mind,” sighed Akashi, motioning his head forward and lightly kissing the bluenette’s forehead while holding the apple in the same place. “Are the fruits good? Are they tasting nice to you or would you like me to prepare you another thing?”

 

“Nn… They’re nice,” acknowledged Kuroko, munching the small bit of the apple slice and delightfully swallowing it. “You don’t really need to prepare me any other thing. But you should go get something to yourself, Akashi-kun. I’m sure you must be hungry too.”

 

“Back to ‘Akashi-kun’ already?” pointed out Akashi, an eyebrow slightly arched as he curiously observed the bluenette. “And there I was, feeling all happy and in cloud nine over hearing you calling me ‘Seijuurou’ again and again. I really like it when you call me by my first name. It makes me feel like I’m the closest person to you in the whole world, since you call everyone else by their surnames.”

 

“I-I don’t think of it as a matter of closeness or lack thereof…” shyly mumbled Kuroko, averting the redhead’s gaze momentarily. “It’s simply the way I feel more comfortable with addressing others. Something similar to how you address everyone that you acknowledge by their first name while using their full name if you see them as a possible threat or simply don’t care about them in the slightest.”

 

“Well, if you put it like that…” acknowledged Akashi, momentarily giving the bluenette’s rebuttal a deep thought. “But you are wrong in something there, Tetsuya. I don’t address those who I acknowledge by their first name. In my own way, I acknowledge Shirogane Eiji’s position within the Japanese government and I don’t remember ever addressing him as simply ‘Eiji’. It’s those who I trust that I address by their first name. Those who I know I can rest assure by having around.”

 

“That’s… unexpectedly caring from you,” said Kuroko, returning his head to a full laid down position on the pillow. “Ah! I don’t mean to say that you don’t care about other’s well being or that you are a merciless machine whose only mission in life is to order everyone around, sometimes in the most nonsensical of ways. You just don’t necessarily show to others that you do indeed value them as your equals.”

 

“You really like to strike where it hurts…” sighed Akashi, picking a slice of apple from the plate and putting it in his mouth, chewing it with a dissatisfied frown on his features. “Just so you know, I don’t consider any of them as my equals. Equality, in fact, doesn’t exist. We are all human beings, unique in our own ways. Saying that I stand in the exact same position as Daiki or Shintarou, even in the same standing as you, would mean to say that we are one and the same. We may have been born in the same planet, need the exact same things to keep on living, being ‘Users’ and have so many other things in common, but we will never be equals. My life experiences, my thoughts, my feelings, my relationships with others, my personality, my traits in general – they are all different from others. I’m not going to say as far as me being worth more than others. Something like calculating material worth to one’s life is a ridiculous concept, in the first place. However, I will never say that I’m equal to another person either. I am my own being and there’s no other ‘Akashi Seijuurou’ in the world. There’s no equal to me, much like there’s no equal to you, Tetsuya, or any other of the ‘Miracles’. Every human is the same. Even animals and other beings can be ‘categorized’ in such a way.”

 

“Then, in the end, we are indeed all equals,” softly laughed Kuroko, a soft smile on his lips as he lovingly stared at the redhead. “Each one of us being unique and different makes us all have the same standing. Our differences make us all begin in the exact same starting line and walk towards the exact same finishing line, albeit with different methods or paces. Deep down, ‘equality’ was simply the name we choose to address ‘uniqueness’ in the context of society.”

 

“Why do you enjoy twisting my words around so much…?” groaned Akashi, slumping the side of his head into the mattress of the bed. He motioned his hand forward and absentmindedly started playing with the blue locks of the smaller male. “You just threw what I said for a loop and completely denied every single word and argument in it. You sure can use your ‘nullification’ to bring forth impressive results, I’ll give you that.”

 

“…” Dropping his gaze down to the bed once again, Kuroko remained completely silent for a good couple of seconds, allowing the taller male to continue to lightly twirl a few strands of his hair in between his fingers as he inwardly agonized over a certain matter. “Um… Akashi-kun, could I ask you for a favour…?”

 

“Hm? What is it?” said Akashi, a soft smile on his lips as his eyes never left the bluenette’s hesitant ones.

 

“I feel that I… blurted out more than I should have earlier…” fearfully started Kuroko, a thick knot surfacing in the middle of his throat and drying his mouth until his tongue felt more made of sandpaper than of soft tissues. “Do you think you could… keep what I said earlier a secret from A-Aomine-kun and Momoi-san…?”

 

“I could but it would be meaningless, Tetsuya,” sighed Akashi, dropping his hand slightly and gently caressing the bluenette’s soft features. “Both Daiki and Satsuki already know that it was you the one erasing their memories. The rest came about as association. Like Satsuki told me, Daiki may be an idiot but even he knows that one plus one is two. And Satsuki is Satsuki so it was a given that she would easily get there.”

 

“…I see…” sadly acknowledged Kuroko, a small pained frown on his features. “I guess it couldn’t be helped… It was my fault in the first place so it’s more than obvious that it would return at some point…”

 

“What happened between you, Daiki and Satsuki, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, cupping the bluenette’s features so he could gently force him to look in his direction and face this conversation head on, not allowing him to continue to run away from it – whether from his past, whether from the implications that it was displaying in the present.

 

“Nothing… I just… erased their memories of me…” said Kuroko with a small voice, gulping down hard in dry as his hands closed down on the bed sheets.

 

“Two years worth of memories can’t be called ‘nothing’, Tetsuya. You know that just as well as I, Daiki and Satsuki do,” pointed out Akashi, once again forcing the bluenette to return his escapist gaze back to him. “I told you earlier – no more lies, no more half-truths. Just tell me what happened.”

 

“I don’t want to,” said Kuroko, tightly closing his eyes while painfully biting into the insides of his cheek. “Please… let’s just drop this subject, Akashi-kun. Forever.”

 

“There will come a day when you will need to speak,” sighed Akashi, lifting his head from the pillow and lightly kissing the bluenette’s forehead, the small peck prolonging in time. “I just hope you don’t pass on all the good opportunities to do so and then find yourself in a pinch where you will be forced to confess everything.”

 

“I—“ started Kuroko, but his voice was cut off when a cell phone started ringing from the corridor all of a sudden. An eyebrow slightly arched at the unexpected origin of the ringtone, he forced himself to lift his body from the bed just the slightest and peered over in the open door’s direction.

 

“Right, I forgot that they were all waiting for me to call them,” said Akashi, sitting up in the bed with the help of his arms and switching his gaze towards the open door of the bluenette’s bedroom. A cell phone appeared out of nowhere, seemingly floating in the air all by himself, from the corridor and the redhead readily took a hold of it when it was at reaching distance from him. “Yes?”

 

 _“Oh, good to know that you are still alive enough to speak, Akashi,”_ grudgingly said Nijimura as soon as the phone call connected. _“What made you enable to do such until now? HUH!?”_

 

“I got distracted with far more important things and lost track of time, I guess,” shortly explained Akashi, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders. “But good for you, Shuuzou, for having called now and not a couple of hours ago. I would have made sure to put you in a permanent sleeping state if you had.”

 

 _“It’s always such a wonderful experience, to speak with you when in a good mood, isn’t it?”_ sighed Nijimura, the redhead having a certain feeling that the older male was rolling his eyes around from the other side of the call. _“More importantly though… How are things over there?”_

 

“As you can gather from me being finally able to talk with you on the phone, everything has been solved for the better,” announced Akashi, returning his gaze to the bluenette, who was slowly picking a small cherry and putting it in his mouth, while listening to the conversation between him and Nijimura. “At the least for now, I guess.”

 

 _“So Kuroko is there with you?”_ asked further Nijimura, clear relief showing on the sound of his voice.

 

“But of course,” leisurely acknowledged Akashi, his free hand landing on top of the bluenette’s hair and fingers lightly entwining with his blue locks as he gently caressed him. “Where would my Tetsuya be other than by my side?”

 

 _“Good,”_ acknowledged Nijimura, this time straight out sighing with deep relief. _“I’ll contact Murasakibara then and tell him that he can return to Fuyu to put the barrier back on once ag—“_

 

“Not yet,” interrupted Akashi, a small frown appearing on his features as he threw a quick sideways glance towards the bluenette’s desk and what was still laying spread all over its surface. “There’s some things that I must deal with before they return or the barrier is restored.”

 

 _“Such as…?”_ hesitantly asked Nijimura, slight distrust showing in his voice due to the redhead’s words. If everything was solved and Kuroko was still in Teikou and, apparently, well… why was Akashi still insisting in keeping everyone at bay?

 

“I need to make sure that uncalled for aspects of the past remain very well buried by the passage of time,” confessed Akashi, looking over to the bluenette as he continued to slowly ruffle his hair. “Let bygones be bygones. Let them burn and disappear for all eternity.”

 

_Tetsuya doesn’t need those weights pulling him down anymore… So let’s get rid of them once and for all before I need to get rid of those that know about them too._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "GLITTER DAYS" by Fo'xTails.
> 
> God, how can they be this freaking adorable by just eating some fruit together in bed XD Truly the sweetest poison that I'm willing to swallow on a daily basis >///< And things don't end here. Oh no, they don't~ It just won't be adorable or cute *sniff*
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	196. No matter what is right, no matter what is a mistake

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> Helping others achieve their happiness is really fulfilling. It's simply wonderful to see the smile in their faces or see them crying of happiness at that moment. But I guess, as a human, I still have a long way to go. It really hurt me to see those smiles and tears because I know it's something that I will never be able to experience myself ever in my whole life.
> 
> Okay, enough of going sentimental on you guys and let you enjoy the chapter, right? :D
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter ^^]

“Are you sure you are already rested enough to walk around?” worriedly asked Akashi, hovering around the bluenette as he slowly got up from the bed and got up on his feet, his legs still slightly wobbly. Through the window of the bedroom, night had already fallen and the moon shone high in the sky, together with the extremely faint light of some stars. “You can just stay in bed and go to sleep now, so you can be sure to be strong enough tomorrow. I’m also still worried about those ‘side effects’ of your ability.”

 

“Please stop being a worrywart, Akashi-kun,” chuckled Kuroko, gently stretching his back so that he could put his muscles back moving once again. It seemed that sex really forced the human body to use muscles which weren’t usually used – and certainly in ways that he wasn’t used to putting them to use in, at that. “I’m still a little bit tired but I’m bored. Staying in bed for too much time while only make me even more sore later on, too. So I would prefer to move around a little bit and hasten even more my recovery than to stay laid down until tomorrow morning.”

 

“If you say so…” acknowledged Akashi, albeit with a certain hesitation for he was truly worrying over the bluenette’s health. If possible, he would really like to avoid seeing Kuroko go through the same thing due to his ability ever again – it was plainly bad for his heart to see his most beloved person so close to death’s doors. “…Tetsuya.”

 

“Yes?” answered Kuroko, turning his body around so he could look over to the redhead. His whole body shook just the slightest, at finding the dead serious demeanour on Akashi’s face.

 

“Tomorrow… should we pay a visit to the hospital?” suggested Akashi, walking closer to the bluenette and taking a hold of his hand, slowly entwining their fingers together.

 

“Akashi-kun, I told you already,” sighed Kuroko, giving a reassuring squeeze to the redhead’s hand. “That was… an occasional occurrence, as we can call it. I’m not sick and I’m sure it won’t happen any time soon. It isn’t even something life threatening. It’s something that I have already learnt how to deal with and I’m well aware that it will continue to happen for as long as I live. There’s nothing that can be done about it and you should start accepting that now… like I already did.”

 

“I know that, for as fearful as it makes me. But I’m not talking about that,” said Akashi, also squeezing the bluenette’s hand in return. “You overheard my conversation with Shintarou this morning, didn’t you? That’s why you decided that it was time for you to leave once and for all… right?”

 

“…”

 

“Satsuki began a secret investigation, even from me and Shuuzou, about you, in a world-wide range,” explained Akashi, a small frown starting to show in his serious facial expression. “Along the way, she stumbled upon an amateur video of one of the… torture sessions that you had to go through in the past. She had also previously found a photograph of you and Ogiwara Shigehiro, together with a few other people. The same blonde male of the video also appeared in the photo.”

 

“…” Kuroko slowly took a step backwards, his body trembling just the slightest – however, the hand holding onto his didn’t allow him to go very far. Really, he had to wonder if the redhead had purposely grabbed onto his hand for he knew he would try to run away from the conversation or if it had been done more out of reassurance and comfort. “F-For… how long… have y-you…?”

 

“The photo? For a while now, around the time we moved into Fuyu,” confessed Akashi, his thumb softly caressing the trembling hand of the smaller male. “The video was just a couple of days before we left for Sumida. On the day I destroyed the gym next to the one we usually have our training sessions.”

 

“I-If you knew… w-why didn’t you say a-anything…?” stutteringly inquired Kuroko, his free hand closing into a shaky and tight fist.

 

“Because I knew you would react exactly like this,” sighed Akashi, erasing the distance between them and gently hugging the bluenette with his free arm, never releasing the hand that he was so tightly holding onto. “I knew you would try to run away if you knew that I knew of things about you which you hadn’t told me yourself. I also didn’t want to make you uncomfortable with it.”

 

“I-I think it’s too late for t-that now…” softly mumbled Kuroko as he leaned his forehead on the redhead’s shoulder.

 

“Yes, it was stupid of me having kept you in the dark about it,” conceded Akashi, gently ruffling the back of the bluenette’s head. “I bet it really scared you when you heard me bring that out to Shintarou out of the blue, didn’t it? I’m sorry, Tetsuya, it wasn’t my intention. I should have discussed it with you as soon as I got to know about it. But… the thought that you may leave if I talk with you about it scares me to death. Like I told you… I can’t go without you anymore.”

 

“…”

 

“That’s why I need to know of things, Tetsuya,” added Akashi, releasing the bluenette’s body and grabbing into his forearm as he stared deep into his teal eyes. “I need to know of everything so that I can find a solution on how to deal with it. If things just continue to spring out of nowhere, it will be much harder to know how to appropriately correct and solve everything. But if given the necessary time and the most correct of thoughts, we can be prepared for any future eventuality regarding you, your ability and your past.”

 

“…Is that… why you want to go to the hospital…?” weakly asked Kuroko, switching his gaze down to the floor as his teal eyes got slightly watery. “Do you also… want to research my ability… to try to figure out how to more conveniently use it…?”

 

“Don’t be silly!”

 

“Ouch…!” yelped Kuroko, when the redhead gave a quick flick to his forehead out of the blue. With such unexpected action, he slowly lifted his head and peered over to Akashi with a certain uncertainty, even with the kind smile that the taller male displayed on his lips.

 

“I just don’t want you to shoulder even more regrets, Tetsuya,” confessed Akashi, taking a hold of the bluenette’s features with both hands and lovingly cupping his cheeks. “But I also don’t want to force you or influence you into doing anything. That’s why… go to the hospital and hear what Shintarou has to say. I’ll be right there with you, by your side, and you can bet that I would kill him first before he could do you any harm, whichever way it might be. I may know him longer than I do you, but my priority lies on you at all times. Hear everything straight from Shintarou’s mouth and then make the decision that _you_ think will bring you less pain and, hopefully, no regrets in the future. Do you think you can at least do that? Give Shintarou an opportunity that may save the one who he loves above anything else?”

 

“…I…” started Kuroko, but he quickly shut his mouth once again, strongly biting into his bottom lip as he looked down, despite the redhead’s gentle hold to his face. “…My ability… can’t help anyone… It’s just meant to destroy…”

 

“Have you tried to use it to help others?” asked Akashi, tilting his head slightly to follow after the bluenette’s gaze. “When we were in Sumida and had bomb threats that could potentially kill us and everyone else inside, _you_ , Tetsuya, were the one who helped us. Both through the means of your ability and your own knowledge on risky subjects, it was thanks to you and your help that we are all alive right now. Hundreds of adults and children still have a future thanks to you. I still have a future by your side thanks to you. So don’t under valuate yourself and your ability by saying that it can’t help anyone and it’s only meant to bring destruction to the world. If given the correct use, even poison can heal.”

 

“I’m sorry, Akashi-kun… But I really doubt that…” softly breathed Kuroko, sadly looking over to the redhead with a completely broken hearted expression on his features. “After everything _they_ did to me… after everything I did… I think it’s pretty clear where my ability stands… And it’s definitely not under the sunlight.”

 

“Like I said,” sighed Akashi, lightly squeezing the bluenette’s cheeks while rolling his eyes around just the slightest. “Did they have intentions of helping others in the first place with all of that? Were you tasked with helping others when you were assigned with all of those missions written in the letters? The answer is obviously no. So how can you give that very same answer to a question which is the opposite of that one? Now you are the one being a dummy, Tetsuya.”

 

“…”

 

“But well, you wouldn’t understand even if I continued to preach to you about it throughout the whole night, would you?” said Akashi, softening his hold to the smaller male’s features first before he let his arms fall back to the sides of his body. He passed by the bluenette and motioned towards the desk, his hands starting to organize the countless letters, bank books and passports back inside of the brown box.

 

“Akashi-kun? What are you…?” inquired Kuroko, an eyebrow slightly arched as he observed the redhead’s sudden actions.

 

“Step by step, at your own pace…” started Akashi, closing the lid of the box and turning around towards the bluenette once again, motioning the box towards him at the same time as he softly smiled at him. “Let’s break you free from everything holding you chained to your past. Let’s bring it all to a naught, Tetsuya.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ANSWER" by Kamiya Hiroshi and Ono Kenshou (our beloved turtle doves).
> 
> Just do it, Akashi! Break Kuroko free from those chains once and for all! Or I will flip a couple of table...!!!! *grabs edge of the nearest table*
> 
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	197. These scars we held onto while so far apart will now become strength

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's... here... with a... *sob*
> 
> Ugh... *sniff* *sob* Ngh... <\- currently trying to speak in the middle of a river of tears
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading *sniff* this chapter TT^TT]

Kuroko fearfully followed right behind Akashi as both of them motioned down the stairs of Fuyu to reach the entrance area of the building. In the bluenette’s hands was the brown box with all of its risky contents inside – the letters, the passports, the bank books… the pair of smeared in blood black wristbands. His heart threatened to jump out of his throat with its maddening nervous heartbeat. He had absolutely no idea of what exactly they would be doing now, much less how it would involve the box.

 

“Wait just a second here, okay?” requested Akashi, giving a quick ruffle to the bluenette’s hair before he stepped inside of the dining room, his gaze sticking to the smaller male until the door closed behind himself once again. He knew that Kuroko would not try to run away once again… but the fear of losing him had now been deeply engraved inside of his heart. He would now have to carry inside of his heart the constant small dread of one day losing the most important person in his life, whether by his own choice, whether by the influence of others. He sighed, “I guess that’s one of the side effects of loving.”

 

After gathering everything that he required from the kitchen, Akashi immediately returned to the entrance area of Fuyu, finding the bluenette fidgeting around just the slightest as he waited for him in the exact same place where he had left him. It was a conflicting sight, on so many levels.

 

“Let’s go?” announced Akashi as a half question, motioning one of his hands forward and taking a hold of one of the bluenette’s pale ones, his fingers teetering around just a little bit.

 

“G-Go where?” asked back Kuroko, more and more hesitantly over if he really should simply quietly follow after the redhead or if he should actually struggle against him. He knew that Akashi would never hurt him or do him harm in any way, be it directly or indirectly, but… he still had doubts rooting deep inside of his mind and heart. Though it may purely be friendly help, Kuroko couldn’t help but think that there was some sort of scheme behind it that would get him to be used as a tool once again.

 

“Not all that far. We’re just going to the front yard of Fuyu since I obviously can’t start a fire inside of a building,” leisurely explained Akashi as he opened the front door of their home and stepped outside of the building, his hold to the bluenette’s hand unconsciously tightening around the frail limb.

 

“…Eh…?” interjected Kuroko, his head tilting just a fraction as he got completely lost on the meaning of the redhead’s words, just as well as his intentions and what sort of actions he would take. “F-Fire? What do you mean by— …No… I won’t do it…!”

 

“Tetsuya, it’s for the best,” softly said Akashi, getting the feeling that the smaller male finally understood what they were about to do right now. “Everything that is inside of that box can get you killed. Simply the knowledge that such things exist puts you one step closer to your public execution. We can’t afford anyone finding out about it, much less read the letters, study the passports and know of the absurd amount of money that you have.”

 

“B-But… I still don’t want to!” quickly denied Kuroko once again, furiously shaking his head around as he protectively held the box against his chest. “Whether it can get me killed or lead me to my public execution even quicker, I can’t burn these! I can’t throw them away! They are my burdens to carry and I will continue carrying them for as long as I live! I will never burn them or throw them away or forget about them! I won’t… I won’t ever throw Ogiwara-kun’s efforts away…!”

 

“Do his efforts involve hastening your public execution!?” yelled Akashi out of the blue, turning around on his heels and grabbing the bluenette by his upper arms, a serious demeanour on his features as he looked straight to his surprised teal eyes. “Whatever sort of Ogiwara Shigehiro’s ‘efforts’ those things carry, I’m sure their intention isn’t to get you killed! All they are right now, in the present and surely in the future too, is a burden! A threat to your life! Do you want to turn his ‘efforts’ into the reason why you get executed!? Do you want him to become, indirectly speaking, your murderer!?”

 

“…!” At hearing those cruel words, Kuroko lowered his gaze to the floor and strongly bit into his lower lip, trying to keep himself from letting the gathering tears in the corner of his eyes burst free. “Yes… Maybe that’s all there is to it… I completely ruined his future and then robbed him even of his life… Wouldn’t it only be fair if he did the same thing to me?”

 

“You can yell or hit me for as long as you want afterwards but…” softly mumbled Akashi, dropping his arms to the side of his body. Suddenly, with movements as quick as it was possible for his body to display, he snatched the box from the bluenette’s hands and threw it away into a further location from where they were standing, its contents spilling on the ground of Fuyu’s front yard. He took a small lighter from his pants’ pocket and ignited the small flame, quickly throwing it to on top of the scattered letters, passports and bank books after having locked the gas supply through the means of his ability.

 

“NO…!!” yelled Kuroko as he observed the fire starting to spread through the contents of the box and slowly consuming them with its red and orange flames. He quickly started motioning forward in the burning paper’s direction, but his waist was circled by a strong arm, rendering him completely motionless from that spot. “A-Akashi-kun, no…! Please let me go! I-I can’t…!”

 

“All of those that pass away deserve a funeral, Tetsuya,” softly whispered Akashi as he tightly held onto the bluenette so he couldn’t stop the fire in whichever way it would be possible. “Let Ogiwara Shigehiro and your past finally rest in peace.”

 

“No…!!” screamed Kuroko, his arms outstretched in the fire’s direction as he tried to reach it with his hands. Tears streamed down from his eyes, each drop taking an orange-ish colouring due to the intense flames that continued to grow bigger and more intense as they used his past to fuel their growth. “N-No! Ogiwara-kun…! Don’t… I don’t want to let go of him! No! Ngh… Ogiwara-kun!”

 

“…” Akashi silently held onto the bluenette’s body, preventing him from reaching the fire and keeping him at a safe distance from it. However, his heart was being cruelly stabbed by doing so. Kuroko’s screams and sobs, the beautiful tears continuously rolling down his cheeks and the desperate movements of his body as he tried to chase after a dead man were all causing him agonizing pain.

 

_It was to keep everyone in safety. It was out of vengeance for my mother’s death. But nothing changes the fact that it was me who killed Ogiwara Shigehiro and that it’s me who’s causing Tetsuya so much suffering right now._

 

“No…! Ngh… Ogi…” sobbed Kuroko, his knees giving in underneath his weight and his body falling down on the floor, the redhead following right behind it so that he could continue to hold onto him. His hands closed down around the grass they were sat down on, his nails strongly clawing into the dirt as he cried and screamed for the only true family that he had ever had in his whole life. “Ogiwara-kun…! Uhh… Ogiwara-kun…! Nooo!”

 

For the first time since the ‘Bloody Night’, Kuroko grieved over the loss of his childhood friend, his best friend, his family – the one person who always stood by his side and welcomed with a happy smile on his face the doom that he inadvertently sent him to. The only person who had accepted all of him unconditionally, no matter how ugly or monstrous he was, no matter who he hurt or killed… no matter how much he got defiled by it.

 

And all of it was being done while being tightly held against Akashi’s arms and loving embrace, the man who brought forward said grief by having killed Ogiwara – the second person to have ever accepted him down to the core, independently of what he discovered about him and his past.

 

The one he loved above anyone or anything in the world – the one who he belonged to and would stay together with forever, whether more pain and sorrow would come in the future or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Ambivalence" by SCREEN mode.
> 
> Ugh... *sniff* Ngh... *sooob* <\- still trying to speak in the middle of an ocean of tears
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	198. I held my breath for a moment as my heart tore as it struggled without knowing the way

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I want to wish you all a good week, seeing as today it's Monday but... I think that this chapter may ruin your mood a little bit *sniff* or make you want to go back to bed to snuggle in warmth *sniff* I have the feeling that I will make you all hate me and my fic, the way things are going -.-'
> 
> Enjoy, if possible!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

The window remained open just a fraction, the night breeze fluttering the curtain just the slightest and bringing inside of the bluenette’s bedroom the light scent of burnt paper. Back leaned against the wall while sat down on the bed, Akashi absentmindedly stared to the ceiling of the bedroom, his fingers lightly caressing Kuroko’s blue locks as he remained sleeping on his bed, one of his arms wrapped around his lap as he grabbed into his clothes. Bright red circles surrounded his closed teal eyes due to the ocean of tears he had shed as he painfully observed Ogiwara’s ‘efforts’ being burnt until nothing more than ashes which flew far, far away with the breeze.

 

“…” Slowly lowering his head, Akashi closely observed the sleeping bluenette for a couple of minutes and then switched his gaze to his desk, a soft command resounding in the back of his mind putting his cell phone floating in the air as its grew closer to the redhead. Once in his hand, he quickly pressed a couple of buttons and leaned the electronic device on his ear.

 

 _“Have you settled everything you had to?”_ inquired Nijimura as soon as he picked up the phone call – one that he had been not so very patiently awaiting, despite the late hours in the night.

 

“Yes, it is,” acknowledged Akashi, the hand caressing the bluenette’s head halting for a fraction of a second but quickly resuming with its soothing motions. “You can inform all of them that it’s safe to return. But let Atsushi rest for a while first. He will need quite a bit of energy to put the barrier around Fuyu back up once again.”

 

 _“I will call them to inform them of that, then,_ ” said Nijimura, his voice sounding much more serene than when he had previously spoken. _“…How is Kuroko doing?”_

 

“He’s sleeping right now,” said Akashi, a soft smile on his lips as he lovingly gazed to the bluenette sleeping by his side. “He’ll most likely stay sleeping for a while. He’s too tired right now… both physically and mentally.”

 

 _“He returned to his self-imposed comatose sleep…!?”_ hurriedly asked Nijimura, his voice sounding once again alarmed and restless.

 

“No, he’s just sleeping, Shuuzou, an example that you should also follow every now and then,” chuckled Akashi, amused at the extremely unusual overreaction that the black haired male was displaying at that moment. He most likely felt guilty over having forgotten Kuroko’s existence in the world, even if just temporarily. “…Shuuzou… Can I ask you something?”

 

 _“What is it now…?”_ grudgingly asked Nijimura, his voice more a grumble than a question.

 

“Am I doing the correct thing right now?” asked Akashi, leaning the back of his head against the wall once again and staring into the ceiling, his features twisted in pain. “Is keeping Tetsuya in Teikou… keeping him by my side the correct thing to do? Or am I just bringing unnecessary pain to his life? …Am I… doing the same thing that my father was doing to my mother…?”

 

 _“…”_ Completely taken aback by the redhead’s words, Nijimura remained completely silent (and static, from the other side of the call) for long, long minutes, his brain temporarily stopped working due to the uncharacteristic lack of self confidence of the 15 year old brat that continuously claimed to be absolute since the day they met over five year ago. _“Am I… still speaking with Akashi Seijuurou…? Or did he switch the phone to another completely unknown person to me…?”_

 

“It’s obviously still me, Shuuzou,” snorted Akashi, rolling his eyes around at the inopportune joking words of the black haired male.

 

 _“Then what the fuck are you babbling about right now, you freaking idiot!?”_ roared Nijimura, his voice sounding genuinely furious at the redhead. _“I may not be fully updated on everything that goes around you two, mainly about what happened inside of Fuyu throughout these last 24 hours… but if Kuroko’s alive right now, it’s because of you!”_

 

“…”

 

 _“It’s as clear as water that he has had a shitty life. We all did, but it came to a stop when we became ‘Users’ and came to Teikou Academy,”_ started Nijimura, his voice sounding dead serious over what he was saying. _“But things didn’t go that way for Kuroko. He continued to have the same shitty life while still in Teikou. He continued to needlessly suffer because he was alone! Yes, he may have had Aomine and Satsuki by his side at some point but he had to give up on them for whatever reasons it might have been. Yes, he may also have been together with whatever group it was, but the relationship he had with them was clearly an unhealthy one, taking the torture sessions and the ‘Bloody Night’ into consideration. Kuroko has always been alone, he has always been suffering all by himself, until you showed up, Akashi!”_

 

“But aren’t I one of the reasons why he was suffering so much in the first place…?” pointed out Akashi, softly taking his free hand from on top of the bluenette’s head and motioning it up in the air, covering with the back of his hand his features, small teardrops slowly wetting his cheeks as they fell down from his heterochromatic eyes. “I killed Ogiwara Shigehiro, the only person that Tetsuya had in his life and stayed with him from beginning until the very end. Until I killed him! He meant the world to him, even if it wasn’t the most ideal one. And I know how it feels to have your world suddenly torn into shreds. Because I felt the exact same thing when my mother died…”

 

 _“You killed Ogiwara and Kuroko killed Shiori-san. So what?”_ angrily said Nijimura, raising his voice even further. _“Does any of that make you love him less? Does any of that make you not want to stay with him? Does any of that even matter now!? Dead people can’t be brought back to life, Akashi, you know that better than anyone else. Don’t use Shiori-san as an excuse to prevent you from being happy with him. Ogiwara’s the same. If you want to keep the past where it belongs permanently, you also need to do the same thing with your own, not just push Kuroko forward. Because if not, he would eventually run too ahead of you and would leave you behind. And that’s not what you want, is it?”_

 

“No, it’s not…” acknowledged Akashi, after having taken a deep breath and used his sleeve to clean his tear-stained features. “Whatever it was that happened in the past, it doesn’t change how much I love Tetsuya and it most certainly does not change the fact that I want to stay with him for the rest of my life.”

 

 _“Then why the fuck are you sounding like a freaking emo teenage going through an existential crisis!?”_ asked Nijimura, his voice sounding more exasperated (and slightly amused) than angry at this point. _“If you have it in your hands, then protect it with your life! If others want to steal it from you, then get rid of all of them! But don’t you fucking dare give up on Kuroko now simply because you destroyed each other’s worlds in the past! Just fucking build a new one from scratch meant for the two of you!”_

 

“…Pfft…! I thought you had claimed a couple of times now that you are a pacifist, Shuuzou, despite having beaten up Shougo to a pulp more times than I can count,” softly laughed Akashi, returning his hand to the bluenette’s head and resuming once again with his soft caresses. “And yet, here you are, preaching to me about how I should fight and destroy those who dare to cross my path.”

 

 _“Oh, I’m sorry if the sudden personality shift in you surprised me so much that I forgot my own personality as a side effect,”_ scoffed Nijimura with a sarcastic voice. _“And why the heck do you mention Haizaki every single time I’m talking with you about Kuroko!?”_

 

“I believe that it’s only fair for you to talk about the person you love when I talk about the one I love, wouldn’t you agree?” pointed out Akashi, once again chuckling softly at the black haired male’s growing bad mood.

 

 _“…Fair enough…,”_ coughed Nijimura, quickly loudly clearing his throat afterwards. _“So, are you finally back to your usual personality? Or do I need to scream at your for a while longer?”_

 

“I would appreciate it if you could refrain from doing such, Shuuzou. You may wake up Tetsuya and he’s so beautifully sleeping right now that it would be a pity to have him wake up,” said Akashi, his business-like personality returning and a small frown creasing his brows as the older male’s teasing was slowly starting to irk him.

 

 _“You have been talking on the phone with me while with Kuroko right there!?”_ yelped Nijimura, completely shocked over the redhead having had the guts to discuss such delicate matters with the bluenette right by his side, whether sleeping or awake.

 

“I’m not going to keep any more secrets from Kuroko so whether he hears our conversation now or not, he will get to know of it when morning comes,” said Akashi, leisurely shrugging his shoulders. Suddenly, Kuroko started to move his body around just the slightest, climbing even further to on top of his lap with such skill and smooth movements that he definitely wouldn’t have noticed if he himself was sleeping already. “Now, if you will excuse me, I will go enjoy one more night spent together with my beloved turtle dove. Do refrain yourself or anyone else from disturbing our sleep or you may awake a wrathful demon, as Ryouta kindly likes to put it behind my back.”

 

 _“I’ll warn them to be careful and extremely quiet when they return to Fuyu…”_ acknowledged Nijimura with a certain hesitation, gulping down hard at the masked threat that the redhead had just sent everyone’s way. _“Good night, then.”_

 

“Good night,” said Akashi in farewell, quickly disconnecting the call and sending the electronic device floating back to the bluenette’s desk.

 

Akashi gently adjusted Kuroko’s sleeping position while half on top of his legs and laid himself down fully on the bed, wrapping both his and the bluenette’s body in the blankets and bed sheets as he warmly nestled the two of them in the midst of the layers of fabric.

 

“Nn… Aka…kun…?” sleepily mumbled Kuroko, his voice nothing more than a low whisper as he slightly opened his swollen and tired teal eyes.

 

“I’m just getting ready to go to sleep too,” softly said Akashi, delivering a small kiss to the bluenette’s forehead as he circled his waist and brought their bodies closer to one another. “So you can continue resting for as long as you want.”

 

“Nn…” groaned Kuroko in acknowledgment, closing his eyes once again and pushing his body against the redhead’s chest, snuggling himself in his warmth. “…’night… Akashi…kun…”

 

“Yes, good night,” said Akashi, delivering one more kiss to the crown of the smaller male’s head, a satisfied smile on his features. “Sweet dreams, my Tetsuya.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "DOUBLE CORE" by Kamiya Hiroshi - our Akashi who has had an impressive growth as a human being. I'm proud, my child, I'm proud *sniff*
> 
> Ahhh... What have we done to the world to get a crying Akashi!? What have they done to the world to deserve such a heartbreaking plotline!?
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
>  [Tumblr](http://mafymod.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Hiejima Mutsumi Website](https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi)   
>  [Weekly Previous](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)   
>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	199. So many thoughts apply to this one-time-only day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I finally managed to get myself a job interview and it actually went pretty well. So now, everyone, let's all pray at it goes well for real and they contact me to take it on *bites nails*  
> Also, I finally managed to set a small team to help me out with my doujinshis so plenty of them have been released throughout the last few days XD Mainly AkaKuro smut *wiggles eyebrows*
> 
> Enjoy both this chapter and the doujinshis~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter :3]

Stretching his body against the mattress of the bed just the slightest, Akashi took a slow deep breath and turned around, one of his arms aiming to circle around the waist of the bluenette sleeping beside him.

 

He caught only air, however, and his skin met with the cold, smooth texture of bed sheets and blankets instead of a warm, soft small body.

 

“Tetsuya!” yelled Akashi, immediately propelling his body to a sitting position on the bed with the help of his arms, his heterochromatic eyes wide open in alarm at yet another disappearance of the bluenette.

 

“Yesh?” answered Kuroko, his head peeking from inside of the bathroom attached to his bedroom, a toothbrush inserted on his mouth and lips slightly foamy due to the cleansing activities he was going through at the time he had been called out of the blue, with extreme urgency and affliction at that.

 

“…” Blinking a couple of times while silently looking over to the bluenette, Akashi released a loud and tired groan as he let his body fall back to the bed, turning around so that he could be laid down with his back against the mattress. Sighing softly, he messily pushed his red locks backwards, his eyes closed in sheer relief. “I think I was the one who was conditioned this time around, with what happened in these last couple of days…”

 

“What exactly put you making so much noise as soon as you woke up, Akashi-kun?” inquired Kuroko as he exited the bathroom, patting a hand towel over his mouth to clean any vestiges of water and toothpaste. He let the towel hang on his desk’s chair and walked closer to the redhead, sitting down on the mattress of the bed. “Please stop lazing around on my bed and go quickly get changed. We have things to do, right? Come on. Up, up we go.”

 

“Tetsuya, can you please pinch me or do something along those lines?” requested Akashi, opening his eyes and looking over in the bluenette’s direction with a dead serious expression on his features. “I want to have concrete proof that I’m not dreaming right now and that you have officially become my wife.”

 

“Who are you calling your wife!?” admonished Kuroko, strongly gut-punching the laid down redhead, whose body doubled over just the slightest at the powerful impact. He grudgingly got up from the bed, not sparing even one more glance to the groaning taller male and returned to near his desk, so he could go return the towel to the bathroom – even though a light shade of pink was dusting his cheekbones.

 

“Reality… is truly… so very bitter sweet…” softly groaned Akashi, his hands clutching at his stomach as he tried to ease the pain, his gaze never leaving the sulking bluenette as he walked further away from him. After a couple of deep and calming breaths, he jumped out of the bed and leisurely approached the bluenette, hugging him from behind and gently kissing Kuroko when he turned his head around just slightest to try to figure out what he was ‘scheming’ this time around. “Good morning, my Tetsuya.”

 

“Good morning, Akashi-kun…” greeted back Kuroko, an embarrassed pout showing on his features as switched his gaze to the floor instead of continuing to look at the redhead’s features. “And please stop adding ‘my’ before you call my name…”

 

“Am I saying anything wrong?” asked Akashi, tilting his head down so that he could chase after the bluenette’s gaze. When he heard him groaning softly and saw him lowering his head even further to try to hide his bright red features, he couldn’t help but chuckle and deliver one more kiss to the top of his head. “Then I don’t see what the problem of saying ‘my Tetsuy’ is since it’s just the wonderful truth of how things are from now onwards.”

 

“Uhh… P-Please just go change to your normal clothes…!” yelped Kuroko, doing his very best to stop his heart from leaping out of his chest through his throat. “Y-You wanted to go to the hospital to have a conversation with Midorima-kun, didn’t you? Then please hurry up before I start changing my mind on it again…”

 

“I’ll get changed before you can even notice my absence from your room,” announced Akashi, delivering one more kiss to the bluenette’s cheek before he released his body and immediately ran out of his bedroom. When he stepped in the corridor, one of his eyebrow immediately arched as he saw Kise slowly, almost to the degree of being called in slow motion, going down the stair. “Ryouta, what are you doing?”

 

“A-A-Akashicchi!?” yelped Kise, quickly turning around to look in the redhead’s direction while grabbing into the railing of the stairs for dear life. “W-Was I too loud…? I mean, Nijimura-san warned us to not make any noise or cause any commotion while inside of Fuyu so… Um… Please don’t kill me…!!”

 

By the time the blonde finished his semi-panic attack in the middle of the stairs, Akashi was already closing his bedroom’s door, rolling his eyes around while releasing a long and tired sigh. Why exactly did Kise always blow things out of proportion, he had to wonder…

 

The redhead quickly changed his clothes for some fresh outdoor ones, instead of his school uniform, much like the bluenette had done himself. For some reason, his body movements felt light and fluid, as if a monumental burden had been unexpectedly robbed out of his being. Most likely it had, actually – albeit it might not have happened under the ideal circumstances nor with the wished methods, Akashi had made Kuroko his, had gained more certainties that he wouldn’t leave his side for the rest of their lives. And such felt so blessing and rewarding, even if there was a tinge of sourness to it due to his worries over the bluenette’s future and the possible deadly secrets he still kept from him.

 

_“Sei~juu~rou~ Let me talk with Tetsuya.”_

 

“…!” As Akashi was about to take a jacket out of his wardrobe, the echoing of his inner beast’s voice inside of his brain made him come to an unexpected halt. A deep frown on his brows, he asked, “…Why do you want to talk with Tetsuya?”

 

_“You stole Tetsuya’s prized virginity from me. I feel the need to be compensated over it. That’s why, let me talk with Tetsuya or I will force my way out.”_

 

“…We have some urgent matters to take care of now, so maybe later,” cautiously said Akashi, resuming with his intentions of taking the jacket out of his wardrobe and putting it on.

 

_“I could care less about Shintarou or Kazunari. I want to speak with Tetsuya and I want it to be now!”_

 

“You have the notion that you are being worse than a petulant child right now, right?” sighed Akashi, softly closing his wardrobe’s doors and turning around on his heels to exit his bedroom. “Consider Tetsuya’s feelings and wishes before you start once again forcing your selfishness on him.”

 

_“…You will regret having denied me, Seijuurou. And that regret will come in the very near future.”_

 

“What is that threat supposed to mean…?” inquired Akashi, halting once again his movements, his hand already about to turn the knob and open his door. He obtained silence as an answer only, which brought forward an exasperated sigh out of him. “I no longer know if he says what he says to help me out or if he’s simply taking enjoyment in making me feel even more restless…”

 

Even though they have been together for years, for as long as he could remember, Akashi never actually had managed to figure out his inner beast, such as his true intentions or reasons as to why he said or did certain things. But ever since Kuroko had been inserted in his life, the redhead completely lost the little comprehension that he held towards the other self that lay deep within him. It was as if, unconsciously, Kuroko had completely ‘nullified’ the tiny bit of rationality that the inner beast had.

 

 _I can really only take this with a grain of salt…,_ inwardly sighed Akashi, stepping outside of his bedroom and into the corridor, which he crossed for a couple of seconds as he motioned towards the bedroom placed right beside his.

 

“Tetsuya, I’m ready to go,” announced Akashi as soon as he opened the door and stepped inside of the bluenette’s bedroom. “Do you want to have breakfast here first or should we grab something to eat on our way to the hospital?”

 

“Any way is fine by me,” acknowledged Kuroko, smiling softly at the redhead. “You can choose the one that would please you the most, Akashi-kun.”

 

“Yes, I definitely will, for the both of us.”

 

-.-

 

Softly, Kiyoshi closed his bedroom’s door behind himself as he stepped into his living room, a sealed letter being carried in his free hand. He gave a quick check to his living room’s window and certifying himself that it was well closed. He then motioned towards the kitchenette and unplugged the empty fridge and shut down the gas and water supplies to his apartment in Seirin’s dorm by the means of the small panel placed in a cupboard in the kitchen area.

 

Very slowly, his bad knee continuously throbbing and sending painful bolts of electricity all the way up to his brain, Kiyoshi motioned to the entrance area of his apartment and turned off the lights. Unfortunately, it would be impossible to cut off the electricity supply but he had taken measures of his own and unplugged all the electronic features placed in it.

 

Once outside in the corridor, he closed the door behind himself and slipped his key through the opening of his mailbox. Slowly, very slowly, he walked right up until the apartment next door to his own, grievously inserting the letter he had been carrying in his hands inside of the mailbox of his neighbour – of the dorm leader and his best friend, Hyuuga Junpei.

 

“I’m sorry, Hyuuga, but I’m trying my best here,” softly whispered Kiyoshi, a strained soft smile on his lips as he observed the letter disappear in the insides of the black haired male’s apartment.

 

Slowly, very slowly, Kiyoshi turned around on his heels and started to cross the void of other people in the large corridor, his walking stance dishevelled as he tried to support most of his weight on his good leg rather than the one that had been cursed into submission for the rest of his life.

 

Slowly, very slowly, he abandoned Seirin Dorm and fearlessly walked towards his expulsion of Teikou Academy. All he still hoped for was that everyone in the dorm, all of his friends and companions, would find enough heart to forgive him for what he was about to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Returning Very Soon to that Place" by Hamada Kenji - our Kiyoshi-senpai who's *sob* who's...!
> 
> Well, I guess we will break into the 200s with an ominous cliffhanger, won't we? -.-' That's Mafy, for you, ahahahaha! ...Please don't kill me for anything that may happen from now onward *runs off and goes hid underneath the bed sheets*
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
>  [Tumblr](http://mafymod.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Hiejima Mutsumi Website](https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi)   
>  [Weekly Previous](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)   
>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	200. What can you possibly hope to achieve, if you can’t even do that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter!
> 
> Happy 200th chapter!!! I so consider this a major milestone for me! I mean, 200 freaking chapters! And we're also getting so close to the 500k words milestone that I just can't >///<  
> Anyways~
> 
> Warning: ....................................................................I HAVE NO FREAKING IDEA OF WHAT I SHOULD WARN YOU ABOUT BUT I GUESS I CAN GO WITH "PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!!!" *runs off at the speed of light*
> 
> Enjoy *sobs*
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this... chapter... *sniff*]

“Tetsuya, relax,” tried to sooth down Akashi, taking a hold of the bluenette’s hand once the taxi that had brought them to the main entrance of the hospital associated to Teikou Academy left. He gave a step sideways and glued the side of his body to the smaller male’s trembling one, tightening his hold to his cold and sweaty hand even further. “We’re here just to talk. Nothing else will happen unless you give your full consent to it. If you have any uncertainties about something and still end up saying yes, I will intervene and put an end to it. It won’t be like before. I promise you.”

 

“…” Painfully biting into his lower lip, Kuroko forced himself to give a small affirmative nod to the redhead.

 

Even though he had complete trust in Akashi and on his promises… Even though he knew that Midorima’s purpose was simply to save the man he loved… Even though he knew all of that, Kuroko couldn’t help but want to run away – to escape from the huge failure that was coming his way at full speed.

 

“Do you want to have some circumstantial talking once again to calm down your nerves?” inquired Akashi, giving an experimental step forward to see if the bluenette would follow along or stay frozen in place. It seemed that the former was the one being applied so he continued to walk forward, the automatic doors softly opening when the sensors caught their movements. “If it’s with you, Tetsuya, then I think that I will never run out of talking material, even if it’s about something as menial as the weather.”

 

“…” Kuroko hastily shook his head around, his teal eyes jumping around from person to person that walked or ran around inside of the main entrance of the hospital. It appeared that all of his words had been sealed by the large lump in his throat so all that he could provide at the moment was nods and shakes of his head. Clearly not enough to hold any type of conversation.

 

“Okay, if you don’t want to, it’s fine,” acknowledged Akashi, slowly leading the bluenette to the private, ‘Users’-only section of the hospital. He was known by every single worker of the hospital, whichever their function or position might be, so the security guard keeping patrol in front of the closed door readily stepped aside and allowed entrance to the two males, not inquiring any of the two in the least over their objective there or why none of them was currently using their school uniform, the nameless ‘dog tag’ that sentenced one to the ‘shameful’ category of ‘User’.

 

They silently walked through the corridors, very rarely spotting other people in them, whether patients or medical workers. Their trip inside of the elevator had been more fearful to the bluenette than those that he had to withstand while in Tokyo Skytree. The final corridor that they would have to cross to reach the life support area of the ‘Users’ section of the hospital seemed so long – but so very short too.

 

“A…Akashi-kun…” hesitantly called Kuroko, his voice trembling just as much as his body did as he came to a halt in the middle of the corridor.

 

“Yes?” answered Akashi, also halting his walking due to the hand that he was holding and turning around just the slightest so he could look at the bluenette. He found Kuroko with features as pale as if he had witnessed his own gruesome death inside of his brain, his teal eyes dilated in utter dread. He released a soft sigh and, with a gentle smile on his features, fully turned around and grew closer to the trembling smaller male.

 

It started with a soft peck to his pale as a ghost cheek, then another to the corner of his cheekbone and another to the tip of his nose, being finalized by a gentle and slow kiss to his quivering lips.

 

“Let’s go,” said Akashi, once again stepping from extremely near the bluenette and resuming with his walk towards the patient room where Takao was being kept and where obviously Midorima would be found too.

 

“Nn,” softly acknowledged Kuroko with a small nod of his head, following right behind the redhead while tightly holding into his hand.

 

A short couple of minutes later, they finally arrived to their destination.

 

“Excuse me my intrusion,” announced Akashi, knocking on the closed white door a couple of times. He slowly slid it open and peeked inside, finding the black haired male in a deep, but extremely pained, sleep, several sets of life support machinery attached to his body and keeping it working, even if barely. Sitting at his bedside was Midorima, furiously writing notes on a piece of paper while reading a couple of papers, most likely the result of analyses and other tests. “Shintarou. …Shintarou!”

 

“A-Akashi,” said Midorima, his body jumping just the slightest due to not having heard the redhead come inside of the hospital room. When he saw Kuroko standing by his side, his teal eyes downcast to the floor, he almost dropped everything that he was holding in his hands and got up from the chair he had been using to be the closest possible to Takao in case anything wrong happened. “Kuroko, you’re—“

 

“Calm down, Shintarou,” readily intervened Akashi, putting himself in front of the bluenette, whose body had shrunk at the outburst of his name, and stopping the green haired male’s pathway towards him. “Tetsuya has just come here so he can hear your version of things. Nothing else will happen unless he really wants it to be so. Are we clear?”

 

“…Let’s talk outside, then,” requested Midorima, quickly adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose and indicating to the two smaller males to step outside of the room. Once all three of them had exited the division, he softly closed the sliding door behind himself, throwing one last final glance to the raven haired male sleeping on the bed. “Where exactly do you want me to start, Akashi?”

 

“This is a conversation between you and Tetsuya, and I have nothing to do with it for as long as it doesn’t endanger Tetsuya in any way,” said Akashi, taking a couple of steps sideways so that he could provide the necessary space for the bluenette and the green haired male to have a direct conversation with one another, but never getting too far away from the smaller male. “So it’s entirely up to you where to start or how to go about it, Shintarou.”

 

“Honestly, this is the absolute worse…” sighed Midorima, once again adjusting his glasses while sideways looking to the bluenette, who fearfully tried to hide himself behind the redhead while trying to not show how truly frightened he felt. “You know, from the very beginning… From the moment Takao fell ill and was diagnosed with this unknown disease due to being a ‘User’, I never once thought about asking anyone for help.”

 

“…” Surprised by these unexpected words of the green haired male, Kuroko straightened slightly his body and continued standing unmoving in the same place, only this time he had decided to hear everything that Midorima had so say without showing a single hint of fear in his being. He deserved at the very least his full attention without his emotions interfering in it.

 

“If I had to lose my sleep so that I could start studying medicine as nothing more than a middle school student, so it would be done,” continued Midorima, a sad soft smile on his lips as he reminisced in the past. “If I had to use all of the resources provided to me by sticking to my position within ‘The Miracles’, the Student Council and Teikou Academy itself, so it would be done. If I had to throw my own life to see it done, I would have gladly done it by now. The point is, I intended on saving Takao by my own means, never resorting to anyone else, be in whichever way it would have to be. I didn’t want to involve anyone it. Call it pride or foolishness, but those were always my intentions, even as I continued to see Takao growing weaker and weaker each passing day right in front of my eyes.”

 

“…”

 

“It clearly was the wrong choice,” snorted Midorima, a sob getting stuck to his throat and making his mouth gain a foul and bitter taste. “If I had asked for help earlier, maybe Takao wouldn’t be in this situation right now. If I had let others help by their own will, out of sheer friendship and companionship towards me or Takao, maybe things wouldn’t have gotten to this point. If I had just let others in my life with Takao… things wouldn’t have fallen apart this quickly. Pride or foolishness, indeed… Whichever you call it, in the end, it doesn’t change the fact that it was a mistake. Not just from my side but Takao’s too, who also never asked for help, not even from me, at the times he needed it the most. A couple of prideful fools, that we are. But I no longer have the luxury of being either of the two.”

 

“…”

 

“I can’t waste more time, not when Takao’s life is on the line. So, no matter what I may have to do… no matter what I may have to swallow…” said Midorima, taking a couple of steps forward and stopping right in front of the bluenette, who gave a couple of small steps backwards himself. Then, out of nowhere, he lowered his body to the floor, the palms of his hands well pressed against the hard and cold floor and elbows being bent as he let his head fall down until his forehead touched the ground. “I’m begging you, Kuroko! Please save Takao!”

 

“…” Kuroko could only stare at the green haired male in utter shock, seeing him prostrating himself in such a submissive way to him out of all people that he had known so far. More so after the taller male had mentioned a couple of times about his pride – pride which he was completely throwing away by taking such drastic measures. They weren’t even just the two of them there – Akashi, the leader of ‘The Miracles’ and the one who stood in an above position in the Student Council, was being a witness to it, not even the direct cause of it. “M-Midorima-kun, I… Um… P-Please get—“

 

“I know I have done wrong in the past!” interrupted Midorima, raising his face from the floor and redirecting his gaze once again to the bluenette, two rivers of tears streaming down from his saddened eyes. “Even before I became a ‘User’, I did terrible things to keep myself and my little sister alive. It ended up being for nothing because I ended up letting Mao die. After I became a ‘User’, I know that there were times when I didn’t use my ability to do good or to help others, it was just for my own selfishness or benefit. And I know I wronged you before, Kuroko, with what happened during the ‘Bloody Night’. I know you hate me, just as much as the other ‘Miracles’. But Takao has absolutely nothing to do with all of that! Not with what I did in the past or with what happened in the ‘Bloody Night’! Takao’s innocent!”

 

“’Innocent’…?” softly repeated Kuroko, his face becoming twisted in pain and sorrow brought forward not only by his memories of the past but the knowledge of how certain things acquired the ending that they did. “But wasn’t it Takao-kun the one who provided you ‘Miracles’ with mine and Ogiwara-kun’s location during the ‘Bloody Night’?”

 

“…!” At that simple sentence, Midorima felt all of the air getting caught up in his throat, no word in both his and the raven haired male’s defence finding its way out of his vocal cords.

 

“Ultimately, Takao-kun was the one who lead Ogiwara-kun to his d-death or, in this case, lead death towards him…” said Kuroko, his voice shaking just the slightest as he tried to contain his tears inside of their teal coffins. He motioned one of his trembling hands upwards, desperately clutching at the layer of fabric covering his chest. “Innocent? There’s no such thing as an innocent ‘User’. There’s not even such a thing as an innocent human. I hate you? You’re wrong, Midorima-kun. I don’t hate you or Akashi-kun or any other ‘Miracle’ or ‘User’. What I hate is what made all of us become what we are!!”

 

“Tetsuya, wait…!” readily called Akashi when the bluenette turned around all of a sudden and started to run away from their location through the length of the corridor, slamming open the emergency staircase and disappearing in the midst of it. He sideways glanced at the green haired male, still sat down on the floor with a completely shocked expression on his features as he blankly looked in the direction where the bluenette had run off to. “I think you have now obtained your answer, Shintarou.”

 

“If we… hadn’t asked Takao for help that night…” sobbed Midorima, his hands closing into tight fists as he held into his pants. “If we hadn’t…”

 

“Even if we hadn’t, it would still be the same,” sighed Akashi, crouching down and putting his body in the same height as the sat down green haired male. “We would have still killed Ogiwara Shingehiro during the ‘Bloody Night’ once we had found them. If the ‘Bloody Night’ hadn’t happened, Tetsuya would still have had been tortured by those guys countless times and grown to fear the world. If ‘Users’ didn’t exist… Tetsuya would be dead right now and you would have never met Kazunari. It’s not anyone’s fault. This is simply how this unhinged world works. I’m sorry, Shintarou. I truly am…”

 

 _I’m sorry that I can’t help you save your own turtle dove,_ inwardly added Akashi, briefly closing his eyes as a pained expression overtook his features, one of his hands tightly closing around the green haired male’s shoulder, who cried for the unchanged fate of his most important person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Toaru Shinja no Hakana Mainichi" by Ono Daisuke and Suzuki Tatsuhisa (our couple of prideful fools TT^TT)
> 
> This is just... wrong... *sniff* Why am I doing this to myself and to everyone...? *sniff* Maybe I can use the excuse of having been listening to "Apologize" by Timbaland while writing this chapter but I don't think it would cut it >.>
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	201. You’re asking for trouble, idiot!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I guess there's a time for everything... And I guess that time has arrived to Shattered Miracles *sobs* But we must face it straightforwardly and survive this hurdle, even if it breaks our heart apart TTvTT
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter ^^]

“Shit… Shit… Shit…!” cursed Hyuuga as he hurriedly went down the staircase of Seirin Dorm so he could reach the ground floor of the building and ride the taxi already waiting for him downstairs. “I’m going to smack that guy so badly that not even he will recognize himself when he looks at the mirror…! Argh! I’m better off just killing him a couple of times, actual— Woah!”

 

“Ahh!” yelped Kagami, hastily coming to a stop to his walking when he almost came crashing against the older male. He momentarily lost his balance but Aomine quickly grabbed his shoulder and helped him sustain his standing position. “W-What’s the hurry, Hyuuga-senpai…?”

 

“Not now, Kagam—“ started saying Hyuuga, already starting to run off once again but he came to a second halt when he fully noticed who was accompanying him. “Aomine!! Where’s the location of ‘The Phantom’, Kuroko Tetsuya, right this moment!?”

 

“Huh…?” interjected Aomine, an eyebrow slowly arching so as to shape a deep frown on his features. He took his hand from the redhead’s shoulder and crossed his arms over his chest, suspiciously looking over to the glasses wearing male. “Even if you are a dorm leader, why do you want to know that?”

 

“Because of this!!” yelled Hyuuga after having loudly clicked his tongue and hurriedly taking a letter from his pants’ pocket. “That freaking idiot of an ‘Uncrowned King’ has fallen for the spider boy’s schemes once again in disguise of protecting everyone in Seirin and is now about to freaking kidnap Kuroko to take him to Hanamiya!”

 

“What!?” roared both Aomine and Kagami at the same time, quickly exchanging a glance between themselves and then both darting into a furious run towards the dorm’s exit. Aomine readily took his cell phone from his uniform’s jacket and selected one of the numbers under quick dial. Not even half a second later, he was clicking his tongue in exasperation. “It’s fucking off!! Why do hospitals have this fucking annoying rule of having all visitors turn off their fucking cell phones!?”

 

“Who were you calling?” asked Kagami, taking a quick glance backwards and noticing that the black haired male was running right behind them with the exact same worry as them.

 

“Akashi,” shortly answered Aomine, pressing another button on the quick dial app and leaning the electronic devise on his ear hoping that this time it would connect. “He took Kuroko to the hospital to go visit Midorima and Takao. It’s a long story but that’s where they are right this moment. Ah! Nijimura-san! We have a problem!!”

 

 _“What happened this time?”_ sighed Nijimura, though his voice still remained serious and calm, given the urgency in the tanned male’s.

 

“Sorry to say this, seeing as you two are friends and all that, but Kiyoshi is the mole that Akashi spoke of in the other day’s meeting!” quickly said Aomine, crossing the automatic doors of the dorm in a quite close call, his sides slightly bumping against the still opening glass doors. “And he’s going to take action right this moment. He’s going to kidnap Kuroko and take him to Hanamiya!”

 

 _“Got it!”_ readily acknowledged Nijimura, his voice sounding even more serious and business-like than before, having completely lost the teenage glint that it previously had while sighing. _“Akashi’s in the hospital with Kuroko so he must have his cell phone off. I’ll contact the security and the higher up staff of the hospital to alert them of a possible attack and kidnapping attempt to one of the visiting ‘Users’. I’m sure they will immediately contact Akashi of what is happening and he’ll keep an even closer eye on Kuroko.”_

 

“Will that even work against Kiyoshi!?” questioned Aomine, his panic growing further as he hastily opened the door of the taxi and got inside of the vehicle, both Kagami and Hyuuga, who readily gave the directions to the startled driver, doing the same almost at the same time as him. “Kiyoshi’s ability is to control time! He can bend and stop time at his beck and call and people don’t even notice that he’s doing it most of the time!”

 

“Argh… Shit!” cursed Hyuuga, clicking his tongue in exasperation for the millionth time. He lunged his hands forward and took a hold of both the redhead’s and tanned male’s school jackets. “I should have done this earlier than go about it with regular methods! What do I have my ability for if not for times like these? We’re out of here, guys!!”

 

Out of the blue, the three males disappeared from inside of the taxi, leaving the driver completely dumbfounded as he saw the ‘Users’ turn into thin air right in front of his eyes.

 

-.-

 

“Haa… Haa…!”

 

Panting wildly, Kuroko darted out of the main building of the hospital and stepped on the front yard of the medical institution, not stopping to even pick his breathing rhythm up, not fearing that he might suddenly crash against something due to his tearstained vision.

 

 _This… wasn’t how things were supposed to go…!!_ , inwardly cursed Kuroko, finally coming to a halt to his running when he lost his footing just the slightest, just enough to force him to stop so he would miserably fall on the dirt. Tears softly caressing his reddish features, coloured by the physical exertion that he was not used to taking, if in such sudden and heightened ways. _It just wasn’t supposed to be like this… none of it!_

 

“Are you feeling okay, Kuroko-kun?”

 

“…!” At hearing his name being called out of nowhere, Kuroko hastily turned his body around in the voice’s direction while cleaning his tears with the sleeves of his clothes. “Kiyoshi…senpai? W-What are you doing here?”

 

“I was going to go to the hospital for a routine check to an old wound of mine when I saw you running out of the main building as if your life depended on it,” explained Kiyoshi, a soft smile on his lips as he staggeringly approached the bluenette. “I got sort of worried over the fact that you were all alone so I tried to follow after you to the best of my abilities. Though only now did I manage to catch up with you.”

 

“Eh? But…” hesitantly started Kuroko, tilting his head slightly as he observed the slow pace of the staggering male and the large distance between their position and the main building of the medical institute. “How did you—“

 

“Kiyoshi, you freaking dumbass!!” yelled another male voice out of the nowhere. Further down from the same direction from where Kuroko had ran off from was now running the unknown yelling black haired male, accompanied by both Kagami and Aomine. “Stop right there and don’t get any closer to Kuroko! Don’t try to pull any funny stunt ei—“

 

A sudden wave rippled through the whole hospital and its area was dyed by a deadly silence, the three running males stopped as if they had unexpectedly been turned into stone. Both the birds flying in the sky and the leafs being carried away by the wind seemed all but a glorious photograph taken by a professional, the movements having been perfectly conserved in the midst of the flash and stoppage of time.

 

“K-Kiyoshi-senpai…?” stutteringly called Kuroko, slowly taking backwards steps to put distance between himself and the taller male.

 

“I should have known that my ability wouldn’t work on you…” softly sighed Kiyoshi, his gaze downcast as he turned his body fully around to face the bluenette once again. “I will apologize beforehand, Kuroko-kun. I’m truly sorry for whatever may happen from here onwards and I will not ask you to not blame me or resent me for any of it. Because I know I deserve that hate. But…”

 

As if moving in quick motion, Kiyoshi moved at what almost resembled the speed of light and stopped right in front of the bluenette, who hadn’t even enough time to react before one of his hands fell on top of his shoulder.

 

“But I need to protect everyone in Seirin from him,” said Kiyoshi, his features twisted with pain as he tightly gripped the bluenette’s shoulder and then sent a powerful punch right in the centre of his stomach, his limb’s speed powered with his ability so that its time flow could be hastened and the blown would have triple the strength.

 

“Gah…!” Feeling all of the air being knocked out of his lungs due to the punch on his stomach, Kuroko doubled his body over, not falling completely motionless on the floor due to the hand tightly grabbing into his shoulder. With a well situated second punch on his temples, his vision grew completely dark in a matter of half a second as he lost consciousness against the taller male’s legs.

 

“I’m sorry… I really am…” apologized Kiyoshi, gently picking the unconscious bluenette from the ground and protectively holding him against him chest – even if said protection would come to an absolute zero once he reached the location given to him beforehand.

 

Slowly, very slowly, Kiyoshi walked away together with his objective.

 

“—ther!” continued Kiyoshi, furiously glaring at… nothing. He quickly ran his eyes through his surroundings, searching for the two males’ location and hoping that they were still there. But all of it painfully fell down, much like his heart did to the pits of his stomach, when he noticed that the whole area was empty save for the three of them. “Shit…”

 

“You can say that again!” furiously cursed Aomine, strongly kicking the ground where he was standing. “Kuroko was kidnapped this easily and there’s no guarantees that we will be alive to attend his rescue after we bring this news to Akashi…”

 

“I-I’ll wait somewhere else until you’re do—“ started Kagami, a massive shudder crawling up his spine at the thought only. He was about to turn around to go find some place to take shelter from the heterochromatic redhead’s wrath but the collar of his school uniform was suddenly grabbed and tugged to keep him in place.

 

“Don’t even think about it, Kagami. We’ll need you to get Kuroko back safely… and to stop Akashi from destroying Japan while searching for him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Clutch Time" by Hosoya Yoshimasa - our pissed off Hyuuga-san~
> 
> Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...!!! *screams in all known Human languages* Kurokoooooooooooooooooo!! *sobs* I told you that what must happen will happen at some point TT^TT
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	202. How about if I asked you to try it out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> Shattered Miracles finally went over 500k words!! Yay~ Which leads me to warn you in advance that, very soon, you will see an actually number announcing the last chapter of the fic. But worry not, Shattered Miracles is not over. I'll just be dividing it in actually arcs from now on, so as to not scare people too much with the sheer size of the fic. I mean... over 200 chapters and still ongoing? That must be scary as hell!! From what I've written so far and is yet to be released, I'm 4-5 chapters away from finishing arc 2 so~ It will be a very bumpy road from here onward so hold on tight!!! (TTwTT)
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

After having certified himself that Midorima would not commit any crazy or hasty decisions on his own and having left the completely demoralized male in the same hospital room as his dying lover, Akashi softly closed the door of the room behind himself after he stepped out of it.

 

“Now, let’s go search for Tetsuya,” sighed Akashi, though there was a small smile on his lips as he walked over the corridor towards the same access staircases that the bluenette had used to escape the conversation with the green haired male. As he reached the door and was about to motion his hand forward to open it, a loud and hasty commotion started resounding from the opposite end of the corridor, where the elevators where located.

 

“Akashi, wait!!” yelled Aomine, quickly running towards the redhead while accompanied by Kagami, the dorm leader of Seirin and a couple of security guards and head doctors. “You’re not going to find Kuroko that way.”

 

“Daiki, what are you doing here?” asked Akashi, dropping his hand back to the side of his body as he curiously eyed the tanned male and those who accompanied him. “Actually, what are you three doing here?”

 

“We came to prevent Kuroko from being kidnapped but… we fucking arrived too damn late!” cursed Aomine, angrily clicking his tongue in utter exasperation. “Kiyoshi got to him before us and he has taken him to Hanamiya, wherever he may be hiding in.”

 

“…” Akashi said nothing but the way all of the lamps in the ceiling of the entirety of the corridor burst with a loud shattering sound and the trembling of the ground underneath their feet, even though they were on the 4th floor of the building, all came as undeniable proof that he was dead wrathful at that news.

 

_“Heh… Hehehehehe… See? I told you so, Seijuurou~ You will come to regret not having let me talk with Tetsuya in the very near future. Ahahahahahahaha!!”_

 

“Let’s go,” shortly said Akashi, passing by the worried and restless group without sparing a glance to any of them and simply walking towards the elevators from where they had all came from.

 

“Um… A-Are you okay… Akashi?” hesitantly asked Aomine, slowly turning his body around so as to follow the heterochromatic redhead’s movements with his slightly scared dark blue eyes.

 

“I am most certainly not okay,” confessed Akashi, a deep and furious frown on his features as his golden eye flickered on and off continuously. “But it won’t be by sending this whole area to the pits of Hell or killing all of you for your worthless actions and help that will make my Tetsuya return more quickly back to my side, is it?”

 

A collective massive shudder simultaneously went down the spines of everyone present in the corridor, some of them taking several steps backwards to put even more distance between themselves and the wrathful demon walking away from their location.

 

“…weren’t you the one who helped the least in all of this, though…?” softly mumbled Kagami as he instinctively hid himself slightly behind the tanned male. He knew very well how much the heterochromatic redhead liked to take it out on him or blame him for things that were completely out of his area of involvement, and even if they were currently in the hospital, he highly appreciated it if he wouldn’t become a patient of the morgue. When he saw Akashi came to a sudden halt to his movements, however, he inwardly cursed having said what he said, even if nothing more than a whisper.

 

“I don’t need you to remind me of what is making me angrier at myself right now, Kagami Taiga,” hissed Akashi, turning his head around just the slightest so he could sideways glare at the taller redhead, whose whole body flinched in a noteworthy way at it. “Shifting the blame around, back and forth, won’t help in any way. If you are just going to get in my way, then scram already! Whether with or without you or anyone else, I will get Tetsuya back!”

 

“You’ll be doing the same mistake as me, then, Akashi,” said Midorima, popping half of his body out of Takao’s hospital room after having heard the noisy commotion outside. His eyes were bloodshot from crying and he couldn’t put on his features more than a saddened expression. “We can’t learn from our mistakes only. Others can also serve as an example of what you should not do.”

 

“…”

 

“Though I’m sorry but you’ll have to do without me this time around, Akashi,” announced Midorima, straightening his body around so as to return back inside of the room. “I want to spend all the time he still has in him by his side, even if he won’t wake up. So you’ll need to find someone else to take my place. I wish you good luck, though. Heh… Even though you will definitely come victorious out of it…”

 

When the door of the room closed once again, Akashi resumed with his walking, the green haired male’s words having left everyone else in utter silence out of fear that the heterochromatic would fully flip at the half admonishments being thrown straight at his face this time around.

 

However…

 

“What are you all doing just standing there, completely dumbstruck?” asked Akashi, once again looking at the group, though this time he fully turned his body around while crossing his arms over his chest. “We need to return to Teikou the quickest possible so we can group up and sort out a strategy to get Tetsuya back. Knowing both Hanamiya Makoto and his unconventional methods, and Kiyoshi Teppei’s ability, we have time running against us rather than in our favour. And I’m not about to allow Tetsuya to go through the same things as he did in the past. Not now, not ever again. So are you going to come or not?”

 

“What kind of question even is that, Akashi?” snorted Aomine, cracking his neck sideways as he started walking in his direction at the same time as Kagami and Hyuuga. “Like hell we will let Kuroko be in that freak’s hands!”

 

“And I need to beat some sense into a certain someone’s head after this whole thing finally gets a finishing paragraph,” added Hyuuga, cracking his knuckles as he physically readied himself to punch the said ‘certain someone’ in advance.

 

“Why are you guys getting so heated up already?” asked Kagami, a knowing smirk on his features as he lightly rotated his shoulders in warm up. “Save that wrathful motivation for when the time arrives and don’t go on wasting it now.”

 

With a satisfied and acknowledging nod of his head, Akashi turned around once again and started motioning towards the elevators, followed right behind by the other three ‘Users’.

 

_Wait for me just a little bit, Tetsuya, I’ll get you out of there faster than he can do anything to you. If Hanamiya Makoto isn’t forcing Kiyoshi Teppei into using his time controlling ability in his favour, that is…_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Can Do" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Well >.> For now, it seems that Akashi is holding into his rationality... But I do wonder until when that will last? -.-'
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Weekly Previous](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)   
>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	203. Put reliability in these hands in this moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> Things are starting to get good~ Oh so very good, nfufufufu~  
> Enjoy!!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

“What’s the concrete situation and what kind of information have you managed to gather up on it until now?” readily asked Akashi as he opened the two doors of the main office of the Student Council building, allowing quick access to the room not only to himself but to Aomine, Kagami and Hyuuga who followed right behind him.

 

“The surveillance cameras of the hospital haven’t been erased,” started Nijimura, getting up from the redhead’s desk, which he had been temporarily occupying while making several phone calls and instructing others on how to proceed, and walking over to Akashi to give him the information he had gathered all compressed by Momoi in a single document. “They show Kuroko running out of the building and into the front yard of the hospital, albeit with some slight interference. They also show Kiyoshi in them, as well as the arrival of Aomine, Kagami and Hyuuga to that same location, but both Kuroko and Kiyoshi disappear from the footages out of the blue, as if they hadn’t been there in the first place.”

 

“Kiyoshi Teppei used his ability to accelerate his and Tetsuya’s time while stopping other people’s so that he could take Tetsuya with him and escape successfully,” groaned Akashi, loudly clicking his tongue in exasperation as his eyes quickly went through the document. “Any new information on Hanamiya Makoto’s current hideout?”

 

“Nothing yet,” sighed Nijimura, softly rubbing the back of his neck with one of his hands. “We know of his previous hideout, a make-shift underground lab, obviously illegal, that was being used to research abilities. But, as it was discussed in one of our meetings, Hanamiya blew up with the whole building, killing everyone in there first, including my ‘little birds’. Since then, we just know that he has landed in Tokyo and completely lost track of him and his associates.”

 

“We do know that he temporarily stayed in Sumida at the same time as me and Tetsuya, since he so kindly paid us a visit to put forward his first kidnapping attempt on Tetsuya,” added Akashi, a deep frown slowly appearing on his features as he heard his own words and started delving more deeply into them. “No, his first attempt was with Furihata Kouki. He came to Teikou Academy and made Furihata Kouki one of his puppets, instructing him to attack Tetsuya as a means to test him. He probably was making sure that he was going after the right person with that attempt and then kept tabs on him through the means of Kiyoshi Teppei, who, as an ‘Uncrowned King’ just like him, had access to all locations inside of Teikou Academy, as well as access to the information being kept in the Student Council building. That’s how Hanamiya Makoto got aware of my plans of taking Tetsuya to Sumida and decided to give another try to his plans throughout the pastry competition.”

 

“Then now we know who the ‘mole’ you spoke of is,” said Aomine, motioning over to near the redhead and receive the document from him so he could go through it too. “And, in a roundabout way, we also can discard your suspicions that Shirogane-san was involved in it. Maybe him appearing that on that day was really just a coincidence that you are trying to blow out of proportion due to the nasty events that happened at that time.”

 

“No, Shirogane Eiji knew that something was going to happen that day,” readily denied Akashi, turning around on his heels and motioning over to his desk, where he took a seat so that he could start making his own preparations. “If he didn’t know of it, then how come the police officers were already ready to move as soon as the doors were unlocked once again? That’s not a coincidence, it’s a premeditate action. He knew it was going to happen so he put his pawns in the most convenient locations so as to take the leadership position when the gameboard tilted in his favour.”

 

“Then all that’s left to know is whether he heard it straight from Hanamiya’s mouth or if from some other source,” said Nijimura, crossing his arms over his chest as he leaned the side of his waist against the redhead’s desk. “Well, either way it goes, Shirogane-san managed to put his hands on real information before us. That, at the very least, is worth something.”

 

“No offense, Shuuzou, but I hate it when we synchronize like this…” sighed Akashi, leaning his back on the backrest of his chair at the same time as he took out his cell phone from his jacket’s pocket, unlocking it and starting to quickly fiddle with it.

 

“No offense taken because I honestly feel the same way,” grumbled Nijimura, rolling his eyes around as he parted the side of his waist from the redhead’s desk and also picked up his own cell phone from its surface, walking further away from that location as he leaned the electronic device on his ear after having pressed a number on the screen at lightning speed.

 

“Wait… Hey, does this mean what I think it means…?” hesitantly asked Aomine, switching his gaze between the heterochromatic redhead and the black haired male, Kagami and Hyuuga remaining beside him with completely lost expressions on their faces over what was happening or, in this case, was about to happen.

 

“Hello, Ryouta,” said Akashi after having put his cell phone on his ear and waited for brief seconds for the call to connect. “How long until you get here? …I see. Then when the two of you come here, bring one of my school uniforms with you. I’m allowing you permission to step inside of my room for ten seconds, the necessary time for you to get to my closet and take the uniform from there. …Don’t give me that and hurry it up. We don’t have time playing in our favour and I want Tetsuya back to my side the quickest possible.”

 

“Satsuki, hack into the Japanese satellites and keep a constant lookout over Shirogane-san’s whereabouts,” said Nijimura when his own phone call connected. “Every time he changes his location, text Akashi to warn him about it. Disconnect all surveillance cameras of the path that they will take from here until Tokkou’s Headquarters, if that’s where he will be at the time of their departure, or to any other location where the ‘meeting’ will get to happen. I will let my ‘little birds’ infiltrated in Tokkou know of their arrival so that they can keep a look out on the events there already. And, obviously, don’t let anyone know of all the hacking you will be going to the Japanese government server with the code words ‘Sumida’, ‘Hanamiya’, ‘Bad Boy’ and ‘Phantom’.”

 

“You two are insane…” softly breathed Aomine, a big mischievous smirk on his lips as he dropped the paper in his hands to the floor and then let his body fall on the sofa, clearly in one of the best moods he had been in quite a long time. “When do we leave, Akashi?”

 

“As soon as Ryouta and Atsushi get here, I change into my school uniform and all the participants are aware of the mission they will partake in,” answered Akashi, disconnecting his call with the blonde, a knowing smirk on his lips as he lightly tapped the electronic device on them.

 

“One hour, then, I suppose,” acknowledged Aomine, crossing his arms behind his head and then leaning on the backrest of the sofa, his eyes closing as he impatiently tapped one of his feet on the carpeted flooring.

 

“W-What…? I don’t get anything that is going on right now,” groaned Kagami, his red eyes no longer knowing who exactly he should look at with how dead lost he was in all of this. “Mind explaining now or do I have to wait for an hour for it?”

 

“It should be more than clear by now, shouldn’t it, Kagami Taiga?” started Akashi, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders as he dropped his elbows to on top of the surface of his desk and crossed his fingers with each other. “We’re going on a ‘field trip’ outside of Teikou Academy to go inquire Shirogane Eiji about Hanamiya Makoto’s current location. And if he doesn’t ‘know’… we simply need to put him singing answers.”

 

“Since you never met him personally, there’s something about our Prime Minister that you are not aware of,” continued Nijimura, a knowing smirk on his lips as he continued to fiddle with his cell phone as he contacted his ‘little birds’ to inform them of what was occurring. “Actually, very little people know about it.”

 

“Shirogane-san is dead scared of ‘Users’,” loudly barked Aomine in the shape of a notorious laugh. “Let a ‘User’ take a step forward in his direction and he’ll piss his pants on the spot. So if we just give a small push in the right direction…”

 

“Shirogane Eiji will tell us everything we need to know,” finally declared Akashi, his golden eye flickering for a brief moment. “Even if he doesn’t do such directly, we will easily buy enough time for Satsuki to get all the necessary information out of their computers while they are distracted with our ‘surprise visit’. And that’s where you will shine as the main character… Kagami Taiga.”

 

“…Huh?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> You told you that things are getting good, didn't I!? XD Go get him back, boys!!!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
>  [Tumblr](http://mafymod.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Hiejima Mutsumi Website](https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi)   
>  [Weekly Previous](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)   
>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	204. I’ll thoroughly give you these miserable feelings – yes, feel frustrated at yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with the first chapter of this fic that sound be banned ^.^
> 
> I'm fervently against censorship because yes, people should be able to say, write, draw, etc, whatever they want, in whichever form pleases them the most. But, to be honest, I really felt like censoring my own writing a couple of times while writing the few next chapters TTwTT
> 
> WARNING: torture (not graphic in this one, at the very least...)  
> *Spoilers* If you are sensitive to graphic - very graphic - descriptions of gore/torture, I advise you skip chapter 205 (the reason why I feel that you will officially give up on this fic -.-'), 208 (sort of) and 211 (quite toned down since other methods are applied). I will also advise some caution on chapters 212 and 213 but it's not due to Hanamiya, if you catch my drift >.>*spoilers*
> 
> I can't even bring myself to say "enjoy" *sniff*
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter. I think I never get tired of including both Hanamiya and Gold in my fics because I simply love to hear you rumbling about them and their nasty ways XD]

Kuroko was finally regaining his consciousness once again, even if barely for not only did one of his temples throb as if it was a beating heart ready to go full throttle into a heart attack but his brain also felt fuzzy and slow, mellowed down for a completely unknown reason to him even though the sensation was so very familiar to him. He was just so out of it that he couldn’t even recall why it was a familiar sensation.

 

He could hear drops of water softly splashing against the floor and he had the ticklish sensation that something was running down his cheeks but the bluenette only realized that he had been forcibly woken up with cold water when his blurry teal eyes spotted an empty and slightly wet bucket in front of him, a pair of unknown hands holding into the metallic vessel.

 

“Awake, now?” asked an unknown male voice, its amusement sounding even sketchier due to the way it rang on his ears, making the throbbing in his head even more noteworthy. Kuroko would have felt thankful for having been doused with cold water on his head if the situation didn’t look so grim. “Great, great. Now we can finally start.”

 

“Nn…” With a soft groan, Kuroko forced himself to fully open his eyes and lift his hanging head the most he could, his movements lagging due to the simple fact that his whole body felt as if it weighed a ton, his head included. What he saw in front of him was an unfamiliar room, though what was being displayed in it was all too familiar to him.

 

“What should I try to use first…?” mumbled a black haired male to himself, his back turned towards Kuroko as he fiddled with the contents on top of a table, the sound of heavy metallic objects clunking and scrapping against one another echoing through the closed room. “His ability is nullification so there’s a possibility that even if I hurt him, my webs won’t have any effect on him at all… Hm... But that also means that he should be able to nullify any wound that I make to his body, which can come as quite the advantage to me… Ahh~ Decisions, so many decisions… Well! I wouldn’t want to be rude, so first things first, I guess~”

 

Kuroko silently observed as the black haired male turned around on his heels and started to walk towards him once again, a large mischievous smirk on his lips as he closely eyed his chained form against a wall.

 

“I guess you probably recognize me from that fun game we all played in Sumida, ‘Phantom’,” said Hanamiya, stopping right in front of the bluenette and strongly grabbing him by the face, pulling his head up so he could look directly to him while speaking. “But nevertheless, it’s my pleasure to finally get you in my hands, Kuroko Tetsuya. Let’s have lots and lots of fun from now onward, yes?”

 

“What… are you going… to do with me…?” managed to croak Kuroko, trying his very best to put both his brain and body working under normal conditions once again. Even if it was just a little bit less cloudier than before, he had finally recalled what was this familiar drowsiness and inability to put his body working properly.

 

It was the same drug that Jabberwock had especially designed to keep his ability under control throughout the ‘lessons’.

 

“I call myself a scientist,” started Hanamiya, releasing the bluenette’s features and crossing his arms over his chest as he continued eyeing him with amusement. “I may only be a ‘brat’ but I’m probably smarter than those old, useless men and women who claim to be the best scientists out there just because they have a degree in some worthless field. And although they may be quite unconventional, my researches do bring forth results. Did you know that it isn’t the ability that forces a ‘User’ into going into the self-imposed coma but our human brains that force the ability into a deep sleeping state when threatened with death or by a strong outburst of the fear inducing hormones? Did you know that you can make an ability run even stronger through the means of hypnotism? Did you know that pain is the best teacher of the world?”

 

“…!” Kuroko felt his whole body shuddering at the black haired male’s last question, his head slowly motioning upwards as he looked over in his direction.

 

“The word ‘pain’ comes from the latin word for penalty, ‘poena’,” explained Hanamiya, uncrossing his arms and dropping one of them to the side of his body, while his other hand was inserted inside of the white lab coat he was wearing and took from there a sharp short knife, its blade glistening for a fraction of a second with the light of the large lamps in the ceiling. “A penalty is what you implement on someone when they break the law, a rule or a contract. A penalty is used to warn others of what they cannot do and what will happen to them when they do not go according to them. The law, rules and contracts are the subjects that we learn throughout our lives. The penalties are the teaching method. And pain... is the instructor, the teacher of this wonderful and so very disgusting world! And there’s so many different types of pain~ Of course there are! No teacher uses the same method as another to instruct their students, do they now? Chronic pain, neuropathic pain, nociception, allodynia, phantom pain, breakthrough pain and psychalgia… Heh… Which one of them do you want as your teacher? All of them? One? Two or three?”

 

“…None…!” groaned Kuroko, glaring daggers at the black haired male as he carefully kept himself on his guard, both carefully eyeing the taller male and the knife on his hand.

 

“Oh, are we in our rebellious age, now?” mocked Hanamiya, faking a shocked expression by covering his mouth with the blade of his knife. “You’re a student, Kuroko. Students must learn from teachers. You cannot slack off and miss your classes. I thought _they_ had taught you that plenty before the ‘Bloody Night’ but I guess they went about it with the wrong methods and their lessons were forgotten with the passage of time.”

 

“…Who… are you?” asked Kuroko, pressing his back more strongly against the wall he was chained against when the black haired male started to move even closer to him.

 

“Like I said, I call myself a scientist,” snorted Hanamiya, lifting his arm and lightly pressing the tip of the blade of his knife against the middle of the bluenette’s throat. “All scientists do some research on their specimens before they begin experimenting on them. The body structure, the constitution of their cells, chemical reactions of their bodies, you have to know everything if you want to bring forth the best results without unnecessarily wasting time. I honestly never had much interest in you, Kuroko, even when there were rumours of a ‘User’ that had been titled as ‘The Phantom’ roaming around Teikou Academy and the Japanese government. Though the events of the ‘Bloody Night’ had greatly caught my interest, I still wasn’t quite there yet to call it a particular interest in _you_. However… I just couldn’t control myself when I received an extremely entertaining email from a wonderful angel~ Pages and pages of research on both ‘Users’ and ‘The Phantom’, the known countermeasures on how to tame his bottomless ability through the means of a little drug and then hours and hours and hours of footage of torture applied to a single human being. And the cream of the crop was that a week afterwards, Teikou finally managed to apprehend ‘The Phantom’ after months of running around high and low for him~ God does not exist, nor fate, nor coincidences. However… I could not take it as sign from the three of them!!! I had to get my hands on you and prove all of those things true! I had to see all of that with my own eyes, not through a screen!”

 

“…!” Kuroko tightly closed his eyes when the black haired male swung his arm down and ripped the front of his upper clothes with the sharp blade of the knife, his body flinching just the slightest despite him trying his best to remain completely still.

 

“Oh my, this is unexpected,” said Hanamiya, an eyebrow slightly arched as he observed the naked chest of the bluenette, his pale skin covered with countless red hickeys and bite marks. “Midorima has my previous possible play toy, Kise has that annoying dorm leader, Murasakibara is with that illusion boy… I can’t really see any of those three cheating on their lovers, even Kise, with his playboy past. So Aomine or Akashi, which one has made you his private bitch?”

 

“…” Kuroko said nothing as an answer, simply continuing to try to bore a hole through the black haired male’s head with the strength of his glare.

 

“People get surprisingly talkative when in pain so it’s okay if you don’t want to speak now,” said Hanamiya with a quick shrug of his shoulders. He lifted the hand holding onto the knife and used its blade to point it behind him, a straight out evil smirk on his lips. “Do you see that broken toy over there, in the corner of the room?”

 

Slowly, Kuroko switched his gaze towards the direction where the black haired male was pointing at. In the corner of the large room was Kiyoshi, sat down on the floor against with wall, his eyes expressionlessly staring away into the distance as he remained completely lifeless on that spot.

 

“This play toy of mine’s ability is to control time and, right now, this whole closed room is under the effect of his ability, you included, thanks to the little magical drug~” announced Hanamiya with a sickening taunting voice, so full of disdain and disgust. Softly tapping the blunt side of the knife’s blade on his shoulder, he started to walk sideways while still in front of the bluenette, an unreadable expression on his features. An unreadable expression that Kuroko knew oh so well. “Every second that goes by outside of this room equals to half an hour inside of this room.”

 

“…!” Kuroko felt all air inside of his lungs getting caught up on his throat when the knife in Hanamiya’s hand came swinging down a second time and was painfully stabbed in one of his palms, the blade tearing his flesh from one side to the other and getting stuck on the wall behind his body.

 

“Let’s get you to learn lots and lots now, Kuroko~ First teaching method is… nociception<3”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "STEAL YOUR BREATH" by Fukuyama Jun - Hanamiya fucking Makoto <.<
> 
> Well... So it begins... Mafy's inner super, super sadistic self (probably on the same level as an extremely angry Bokushi...) has been unleashed and you'll have to survive it... somehow... *sobs*
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
>  [Tumblr](http://mafymod.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Hiejima Mutsumi Website](https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi)   
>  [Weekly Previous](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)   
>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	205. The dissection is complete, I’ll torture you to death so it’s slowly seeping out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's back with the so feared chapter TTvTT
> 
> Like I said the previous chapter, you don't need to read this chapter if you are uncomfortable with graphic torture. All you need to know is that Hanamiya tortures Kuroko and it ends badly for our lovely bluenette *sniff* For those who think they can take it, I will still leave a warning here nevertheless...
> 
> WARNING: GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF TORTURE, GORE, MANIPULATION, TEMPORARY MAIN CHARACTER DEATH (TTwTT)
> 
> Now I'll be right there in the corner, holing myself in despair...
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for surviving this chapter... I think that a punch in the throat would be more effective than simply the face. It hurts more and caused more damages >.>]

**[72 hours after]**

**[Real time: 2 min 24 sec]**

 

“Aaaaaaaand~ 2,870th cut~” announced Hanamiya, giving a powerful and deep stab to the bluenette’s torso and severing in half his transverse abdominal muscle. He heard the smaller male groan with a pained voice right next to his ear, a mischievous smirk tugging the corner of his lips upwards as he slowly removed the knife from his body, furthering even more his suffering.

 

He took a couple of steps backwards and lovingly gazed at his masterpiece.

 

With both wall and floor covered in blood, Kuroko remained chained to it by both his wrists and ankles. He remained there, standing upwards on his own and glaring daggers at him without saying anything. His body was painted from top to bottom in his own blood, his clothes torn apart to pitiful stages. The bluenette panted heavily but his throat never released more than soft groans, no matter what part of his body he got to cut or stab or mutilate. Kuroko not even once cried out in pain or shed tears throughout the hundreds of cuts that he inflicted on him again and again, not even in the most sensitive areas of his body.

 

“The human body has 900 ligaments, 1,320 tendons and 650 muscles…” breathed Hanamiya, carefully throwing the knife to inside of a bin and then removing the bloodied silicon cloves cladding his hands, releasing them in the exact same place. “The 2,870 cuts I did on you were meant to sever all of those. How come you are still standing, given the amount of blood that you have already lost? No… How come you are still alive? Heh… How come half of the cuts I made on your body have already disappeared?”

 

“Haa… Haa…” Desperately holding onto the consciousness that continuously wanted to slip out of his fingers, Kuroko kept his eyes on the black haired male at all moments. Taking a shaky deep breath, he straightened his standing position and leaned the back of his head on the wall to where he was chained.

 

“Ahh… I now understand…” said Hanamiya, lightly nodding his head in deep acknowledgment at his own conclusion. “Now I understand why the blondie in the videos was so damn persistent on his lessons with you. The way you look at others… It’s the worst kind of gaze in the world. You glare but you harbour absolutely no hate in it. You look at other people with eyes filled with pity, staring at them as if poor, little creatures!! It’s a gaze that tells others that you will keep on clinging to your disgusting life no matter what they do to you!! You keep on looking down on everyone, thinking to yourself over what kind of things they will do to you and that won’t kill you, don’t you!?!?!?”

 

“I… don’t expect anything… from anyone…” said Kuroko in between some short pauses to regulate his heavy breathing. “Angels can be… demons in disguise… And evil… can be… the salvation… I don’t… look down on anyone… Never did… To me… everyone’s the same… until they prove… the opposite…”

 

“Hmm… How do I look to you right now, then?” asked Hanamiya, leaning his lower back on the table where he was keeping his ‘working tools’. “Definitely not an angel, I suppose. Do I hold the same position as those guys in the videos?”

 

“No way…” scoffed Kuroko, a small smirk on his lips as he took the back of his head from the wall and stared straight to the black haired male’s eyes. Defiantly. Undefeated. “Their tortures… hurt much more… than yours… I guess that’s just the difference… Haa… between ‘brats’ and specialists…”

 

“Eh… Is that so?” inquired Hanamiya, his facial muscles twitching just the slightest at the bluenette’s taunts. “I guess I still have a lot to learn then, don’t I? And since you are so experienced in the subject, you’ll become my practice partner, won’t you, Kuroko? I mean, I never got my eyes tore out of my cranium but you had, right? I never had my hands cut off by a hatch but you had. I was never drowned but you were. Tell me, how did all of those things feel?”

 

“…”

 

“on a scale of 1 to 10, what hurts the most… ripping an eyeball out of its socket or stabbing it with a pointy sharp object?” asked Hanamiya, motioning one of his hands sideways and picking from the table a mechanical pen. Walking slowly towards the bluenette, he clicked the tip of the pen in and out again and again, the _click click click click_ rhythmically echoing through the whole closed division. “Nociception doesn’t seem the best teaching method towards this delinquent student. Why don’t we go for a hardcore version of allodynia now?”

 

“NGH!!” painfully groaned Kuroko, strongly biting into his lower lip as the blunt tip of the mechanical pen was stabbed in his  left eye and then strongly pushed and pushed deeper in his cranium’s direction, only to be cruelly pulled out without any warning afterwards. “Ngh… Haa… Haa…”

 

“So? 1 to 10, how much is it?” asked Hanamiya, letting the bloodied pen fall to the ground and quickly motioning to a washing basin stuck to the wall where the bluenette was being chained to. He readily washed his hands, carefully removing every little vestige of the blood from his skin.

 

“Z…Zero…” croaked Kuroko, his head hanging down as blood dribbled out of his destroyed eye, strongly biting into his lower lip once again so as to keep his tears sealed inside and not further even more the pain he felt.

 

“OH!! I see! Ahahaha, I see, I see!” amusingly started to scream Hanamiya as he cleaned his hands dry in a couple of paper towels. “You, Kuroko Tetsuya, are the type of person who hates to lose, aren’t you? You just can’t get yourself to admit you lost because of worthless pride. But… What does a monster even need pride for?”

 

 _Oh?_ , inwardly said Hanamiya, witnessing the bluenette’s body flinching for not even a fraction of a second at the sentence he had just finished spewing full of malice.

 

“Monsters crawl around on their own filth, dirtying everything around them,” continued Hanamiya, closely observing any further reaction from the bluenette with extreme caution as he returned to the table and took a new pair of gloves, slowly putting them on his hands. “A monster with pride does not exist. A monster that wins also doesn’t exist since they always wind up being hunted down and exterminated. They are vile and disgusting beings, of course they need to be hated and exterminated. Ah… But your body was covered in hickeys and bite marks, wasn’t it? Hm… Oh, I see. That actually explains quite a lot of things~ Hehehehe… I wasn’t expecting Akashi to have a kink for the morbid and filthy. He always puts on the air that he’s the most perfect being in the world but who would have thought that he’s actually a degenerate pervert who likes to fuck monsters in his free ti—“

 

“Don’t speak of him like that!!” yelled Kuroko all of a sudden, lifting his head once again and revealing his teal eyes back to normal, as if one of them hadn’t just been stabbed by a pen and were simply meant to furiously glare at the black haired male. “Yes, I may very well be a monster. I know that better than anyone. But I won’t allow you to speak of Akashi-kun in such a way!”

 

“Aww~ Isn’t this such an endearing sight?” taunted Hanamiya, picking a new knife from the table and twirling it around his fingers with studied movements, a pure evil smirk on his lips as he once again approached the bluenette. “The poor, lil’ monster was bestowed with a helping hand once and now he holds delusions that he’s actually loved~ Aren’t you quite the cutie? If we forget the fact that your eye has regenerated faster than a lizard can when its tail is cut off~ Even more repugnant than reptiles, huh… You put monsters to shame, Kuroko. You even dirty their category with how filthy and disgusting you are. And yet you actually stand here, protecting the honour of the man that got covered in your nastiness out of obligation to his position or maybe even to manipulate you. I wouldn’t put Akashi above any of the two, knowing the type of person he is. You are such a pitiful creature…”

 

“You’re wrong…” softly whispered Kuroko, his gaze dropping from the black haired male down to the floor for the first time since he woke up in that room.

 

“Am I?” asked back Hanamiya, throwing the knife up in the air and then catching its blade in between his fingers. “I do apologize if I’m just talking nonsense right now, then. But do you want to know what your adored ‘Akashi-kun’ is doing right this moment, according to one of my associates? He’s comfortably sat down in his office in the Student Council building, leisurely going through his paperwork like it’s expected of him to do as the Student Council President. Dressed in his school uniform, every now and then sipping on a cup of freshly brewed tea – just another relaxing day in the life of Akashi Seijuurou~”

 

“No, he’s—“

 

“He’s going to come to rescue you?” interrupted Hanamiya in the shape of a loud bark of laughter. “He finally got rid of this heavy weight! After all the mess and friction you have caused between Teikou Academy and the Japanese government, do you really expect Akashi, of all people, to trouble himself with getting back the source of all of his problems? Your delusions keep on escalating more and more, I see! Ahahahahaha!”

 

“…”

 

_Akashi-kun is not like that… He’s not! He’ll come. He’ll take me out of here. I know that he will._

_“If we forget the fact that your eye has regenerated faster than a lizard can when its tail is cut off~”_

 

“…!” The chains loudly clanked against the wall when Kuroko out of the blue pulled his hands closer to his body, intending on covering his face – aiming to cover his own monstrosity. But he couldn’t. The chains tightly kept his arms spread wide open in the air, putting on display all of his darkness and filthiness.

 

“Oh, feeling self conscious of yourself, now?” snorted Hanamiya, shaking his head in disapproval. “It’s okay, Kuroko. I don’t mind if you are a monster. Monsters are better specimens than humans, either way. I know all I need to know about humans already. But I know nothing about this monster right in front of me, in particular. And I want to know. E~ve~ry~thi~ng~ So… Mind dying for the sake of my research right here, right now?”

 

After throwing the knife one more time high in the air, Hanamiya grabbed it once again when it started to come down, only this time around he held it by the handle and powerfully swung it down, the target being the bluenette’s naked chest.

 

“Ah…” gasped Kuroko, feeling the cold metal penetrate inside of his chest – pierce straight through his heart – and then being cruelly ripped out, only to go in again… and again… “Guh… Ah…”

 

Again, like so many times in the past, Kuroko felt his whole body being drowned by a deadly coldness.

 

Only this time, life was sipping out of him as quickly as the blood pooling down on his feet, dribbling out of the gaping hole on his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "STEAL YOUR BREATH" by Fukuyama Jun - our negatively psychotic Hanamiya...
> 
> Mafy is currently unavailable due to being reconstructing her broken heart. *sobs*
> 
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	206. Don’t let up ‘til the buzzer sounds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter *v*
> 
> I don't know if you are going to feel 100% satisfied with this chapter, but at least you can expect to have a fun time in the next, hehehehe~
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

“Y-You know, during kindergarten and elementary school, in all the school plays I was forced to play,” started babbling Kagami, his eyes continuously switching around between the people riding in the same car as him and the outside afternoon scenery of the road they were travelling at that moment. “The only type of roles that I ever took on was of trees or clouds or crap like that. You know, no lines, just standing there doing absolutely nothing!”

 

“A tree? Really?” snorted Kise, trying his very best to not start laughing like a lunatic and keep on focusing on driving the car. “All the roles I had in school plays were of the charming prince or any other main character. It goes without saying that the exact same thing happens when I’m asked to act in a movie or a TV drama~”

 

“That’s not the point here!!” furiously barked Kagami, a vein popping out at the slightly condescending words of the blonde sitting right in front of his seat while driving the car. “What I want to say is that I’m not the right person to do this! I’m not a good actor, I don’t fucking have any experience in it and now you freaking want me to use some acting skills against the fucking Prime Minister!? Akashi’s crazy!!”

 

“Don’t act then,” shortly pointed out Aomine, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders as he comfortably remained sat down on the front passenger seat. “Just go natural on him and use your own inner beast to scare the shit out of him.”

 

“That’s a bad joke, considering what has happened between me and Akashi in the past…” grumbled Kagami, grudgingly looking over at the tanned male. “So are you telling me to go psycho on Shirogane-san and just try to break his arm or a leg?”

 

“If that’s your thing, go for it,” acknowledged Aomine with another shrug of his shoulders. “Unlike the rest of us, you can do whatever you want without bringing any further consequences to Teikou Academy. I think that’s really the only reason why Akashi decided to bring you along. Otherwise, it would have just been me, him, Kise and Murasakibara. I don’t really get why he brought Hyuuga-san along too, though. In a roundabout way, he’s just like us. He can’t do or say whatever he pleases since he’s a dorm leader and directly involved with the management of Teikou.”

 

“Isn’t it because of Kiyoshi-san that Akashicchi let Hyuuga-san tag along?” pointed out Kise, giving a quick sideways glance at the tanned male beside him before quickly returning his gaze to the road. “They were talking in private before we left. I don’t know what they were saying but it probably had to do with Kiyoshi-san, right?”

 

“They’ve been friends since they got to Teikou, from what I know,” explained Kagami, feeling slightly calmer regarding his own role in the mission now that they were talking about those that actually depended on the successful accomplishment of his side of it. “They and Riko-san are a trio of some sort. They also take care of the rest of the guys staying in Seirin, me included, I guess. In a roundabout way… everyone in Seirin is kind of a makeshift family. Hyuuga-san must feel responsible for not having been able to help Kiyoshi-san, more so since they are so close to one another. Even I feel kinda responsible for not having noticed anything… ‘Felt the same when I discovered that Kuroko had been staying in Seirin Dorm longer than I have and knew nothing of his existence at all until the beginning of this school year. If we forget the rumours of ‘The Phantom’ and all that ‘Bloody Night’ crap, of course.”

 

“You guys have it rough there, then…” sympathised Kise as he released a soft sigh. “It’s hard when those in the same dorm start to get themselves in trouble. It makes it even harder when the trouble is within the same dorm…”

 

“…” Aomine gave a quick sideways glance to the blonde, finding a conflicted frown on his usually relaxed or goofy (supposedly handsome, from what he claimed) features. He softly cleared his throat and then sluggishly stretched his arms over his head for as high as the roof of the car allowed him to. “Anyways, Kagami. Just think of all the crap that Shirogane-san has said and intends on doing to Kuroko. You don’t know Hanamiya personally, but just think of him as the worst type of scumbag, even worse than the blondie over here.”

 

“Hey! That’s mean! And offensive, to say the least!” yelped Kise, a completely shocked expression on his face as he whipped his head towards the tanned male for brief moments.

 

“And keep on thinking that if we don’t get Hanamiya’s location out of Shirogane-san’s mouth, then Kuroko is in deep shit,” continued Aomine, a frown slowly starting to show on his brows as his eyes intently observed the large building that they were steadily growing closer and closer to. “Hanamiya is completely cuckoo in the head. You may see Akashi as a psychotic bastard, and I won’t deny that he isn’t at times, but Hanamiya takes the word ‘sadism’ to the extreme. He didn’t gain the title of ‘Bad Boy’ just because he liked to torment those around him. It’s because he takes enjoyment in torturing people in disguise of ‘researching’ them. And worse than that… he has his ways of messing with someone’s head. He’s a fucking genius, after all. On the exact same level as Akashi and Imayoshi-san.”

 

“Geez, way to make a person feel restless…” scoffed Kagami, rolling his eyes around at the dark words that the tanned male was professing. “I haven’t seen that guy yet and you’re already making me feel like running away at the sight.”

 

“Scaredy cat…” snorted Aomine, shaking his head around just the slightest. “But it’s a good thing if you are, now that I think about it. Cat lovers are said to be sadists.”

 

“I’m not a cat lover! And neither am I a sadist!” yelped Kagami, lifting one of his feet from the carpeted floor of the car and giving a quick kick to the tanned male’s seat.

 

“You’re definitely not a dog lover, the way you were squealing like a fucking girl at the sight of Nigou alone,” taunted Aomine, turning his body around and sticking his tongue out at the redhead, a mischievous smirk on his lips.

 

“Shut it, Ahomine!” roared Kagami, giving another quick kick to the tanned male’s seat. “Try waking up with something that you’re scared of almost right on top of you and then you’ll see if you don’t get the surprise of your life!”

 

“If I were to wake up with you sleeping right next to me, yeah, I guess I would get quite the surprise,” mischievously said Aomine, a knowing smirk showing on his features as he intently glanced at the redhead.

 

“S-Shut it!” roared Kagami once again, only this time the entirety of his face was painted in a deep crimson shade, all of his blood having gathered in his head to create a glorious blush. “The only place you would wake up would be the freaking floor, after I had kicked you out of the bed!”

 

“Heh… Do you really think you can put me down on the floor that easily?” snorted Aomine, giving a quick shrug to his shoulder. “No way in hell!”

 

“Yeah, right! Who was the one that got so easily underneath me the other nigh—“

 

“Can you two stop flirting already!?” interrupted Kise, a shudder crawling down his spine as a thin layer of sweat started forming on his forehead. “I’ve heard plenty of flirting and bickering these last couple of days and I know really well what the direction where this will go is! It will end with me getting one more trauma to add to the big list with the things being said or with Akashicchi closing me off in a desert island! WE’RE HERE ALREADY SO JUST SHUT UP ALREADY AND LET ME ENJOY MY LOVEY-DOVEY TIME WITH KASAMATSU-SENPAI…!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ULTIMATE ZONE" by Ono Yuuki and Suwabe Junichi (our tiger and panther).
> 
> I know, I know, you are all dying to know what happened to Kuroko (no pun intended), but we also need to know how they will take our beloved bluenette out of the spider boy's nasty hands, right? And if it includes a little bit of AoKaga flirting, even better :3
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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	207. It’s too late now – You can’t use it anymore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> You have no idea how tired I've been feeling lately -.-' Moving out is becoming more stressful than to actually do 12 hours shifts TTvTT I think I need a month or two of holidays after this, simply enjoying reading, watching anime, writing, translating and binge-buying merch/doujinshis... That would heal my body and soul *sniff*
> 
> Anyways, enjoy this chapter~ Hehehehe~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter ^.^ Instead of a brick, just use a certain rainbow senpai. That would be more effective XD]

Shirogane was leisurely going through the papers that resumed the meetings that were attended by several of his ministers that morning, every now and then sipping on a lukewarm cup of black coffee. Correction – he was leisurely attending to his own duties as the Prime Minister until an unexpected commotion started right outside of his office’s closed doors.

 

“I-I’m sorry but you can’t go inside without arranging a meeting first!” said his secretary with a panicky voice from the other side of the closed doors, readily making an eyebrow arch just the slightest on his brows as he intently looked over in its direction. “You know that he’s a very busy person! Don’t cause any more trouble than you already d— Ah! Wait!!”

 

Out of the blue, the doors of the main office of the Japanese Prime Minister in Tokkou’s Headquarters building were sent open ajar, the heavy wooden surfaces noisily crashing against the walls before they toppled down on the floor and lifted a strong breeze, some of the papers on Shirogane’s desk fluttering around in the air and onto the ground due to it.

 

“…!” At the sighting of the group coming completely uninvited inside of his office, Shirogane pushed his back strongly against the backrest of his chair, his hands and fingers tightly grabbing into the armrests. “W-What are you doing here… Akashi?”

 

“I apologize for the sudden visit, Shirogane Eiji-san, but we have some very pressing and important matters to discuss with you,” announced Akashi, taking the leadership position in the front lines as a group of 6 ‘Users’ in total stepped inside of the office. “I take it that you will gladly concede to this selfish request of ours, as a proof of goodwill over those that you mercilessly try to put against a corner. _Won’t you?_ ”

 

 _Hanamiya fucking lied to me about getting rid of Akashi!!,_ inwardly cursed Shirogane as he silently bit into the inside of his cheek, his nails grudgingly digging into the soft armrests of his chair. He quickly cleared his throat and slowly straightened his sitting position at the desk, staring straight at the redhead placed a couple of metres away from his location. “Make it quick, Akashi. I have a lot of things to take care of right now and you appearing out of the blue just because you feel like it doesn’t help me get my own work done.”

 

“It seems we are in agreement at the very least pn the amount of time that this should take,” acknowledged Akashi, starting to walk towards the older male’s desk with a completely unreadable expression on his features. As he walked, he took a piece of paper from inside of his uniform’s pocket and then swung it down to on top of Shirogane’s desk… which broke in two with a crushing sound when the paper touched its surface. “Where’s Tetsuya?”

 

“W-What do you mean, ‘where’s Tetsuya’?” stutteringly said Shirogane, swallowing down in dry as he pushed his chair and his own body further away from the destroyed desk, too scared to allow his eyes to part from the redhead and look at what exactly he had put on top of it. “Kuroko Tetsuya was still left under Teikou Academy’s guard the last time I saw him. If someone knows where he is, then it should be you, Akashi!”

 

“Oh, is that so?” said Akashi, straightening his body once again and crossing his arms over his chest. “Last time I checked, Tetsuya was kidnapped by one of the puppets under Hanamiya Makoto’s control, a ‘User’ who you have been getting extremely friendly with as of late, isn’t that right… Mister Prime Minister of the Japanese Government, Shirogane Eiji?”

 

“Again with that worthless story, Akashi?” asked Shirogane, a knowing smirk on his lips as he tried to rebuff the redhead’s words. “I told you last time we talked, back in Sumida, that I have absolutely nothing to do with you ‘Users’, much less with those that deserted against the only organization whose objective is to protect your messed up existences. Are you really so desperate right now that you continue to vehemently believe in your fake and groundless suspicions? You are getting more and more paranoid each day that passes by and I would like to advise you to try to seek medical help in that regard before it’s too late.”

 

“’Fake and groundless suspicions’, was it?” snorted Akashi, a knowing smirk also appearing on his lips as he lowered his gaze from the older male down to his broken desk – to the single piece of paper that he had put on top of it. “I think you are the one who should try to seek medical help in the ophthalmological department because I just put my evidences of what I just said right in front of your eyes.”

 

Gulping down hard, Shirogane slowly looked down to his desk. His heart almost jumped out of his chest through his throat when he saw what was on the paper – a photograph of himself together with Hanamiya Makoto, the two of them talking with each other in what he recalled to be a pretty recent encounter between them, taking the location into consideration.

 

“I’m only going to ask this one more time… Where is Tetsuya?” asked for a second time Akashi, expressionlessly looking over to the older male, his eyes so very cold and threatening even though he seemingly showed absolutely no emotion on his features. When he saw Shirogane open his mouth to speak, he readily cut him off. “If you say something along the lines of ‘This photo is a fake’ or ‘It’s a digital manipulation to threaten me’, I can readily request one of my companions to go print all the other evidences that I have of your continuous meetings with Hanamiya Makoto since the day he was expelled from Teikou Academy. That and the secret deals regarding ‘Users’ that you have been taking in the shadows of the night. Don’t go on thinking that I don’t know about it, Shirogane Eiji. I have just been kindly ignoring it for the sake of our country.”

 

“…I don’t know where Kuroko Tetsuya is… nor where is Hanamiya’s secret base,” said Shirogane, carefully eyeing the redhead as he even more cautiously measured his answers. The way things were going, the less he said, even in his own defence, more probabilities he had of later being able to turn things back to his favour.

 

“I see… So you don’t know,” sighed Akashi, his gaze still stuck to the older male. Chuckling for brief seconds, he gave a quick shrug with his shoulders. “I guess if you don’t know, then there’s nothing that I can do. As the Student Council President of Teikou Academy, I am powerless to do more than this. Daiki, Ryouta, Atsushi and Hyuuga Junpei are the same, given their own position with our territory and organization. We will be taking our leave now. Please forgive us for our disruption of your own work. Have a nice rest of day.”

 

“…” Shirogane observed completely flabbergasted as Akashi gave a quick bow with his head and then turned around on his heels, walking back to the door that he had taken down at his entrance.

 

Something wasn’t right. If he knew Akashi Seijuurou, he wasn’t the type of person to so easily give up on something, much less withdraw his advances this quickly and quietly. Something… something was amiss right now.

 

As Shirogane’s brain went round and round as he tried to make head or tails of what was going on, he continued to observe the redhead leave together with those that had accompanied him, most of them known ‘Users’ from years back. However… Unexpectedly… They stopped. They stopped walking just outside of his office and then turned around once again, knowing – straight out evil – smirks on their lips as they looked over in his direction.

 

One of them – the only ‘User’ who he had never seen before associated to Teikou Academy or to Akashi – had remained behind, still inside of his office.

 

“Hey, Shirogane-san~” started the unknown redhead, motioning one of his hands upwards and using it to help noisily crack his neck at the same time as he walked closer to the broken desk. After he stretched his neck and back plenty, he then started warming up his two hands, once again noisily cracking his knuckles. “Ever heard of Kagami Taiga?”

 

“W-Who…?” asked Shirogane, his body once again being plastered against his chair as he fearfully tried to put some distance between himself and the gigantic redhead, even though his body refused to properly move and he couldn’t do much in regards to building more space between the two.

 

“Hah! Thought so,” snorted Kagami, a mischievous smirk on his lips. Out of the blue, he swung one of his fists down and strongly hit the desk, completely blowing up with it and destroying the floor where it was standing on top of, a large hole appearing in its place and creating a ravine that separated the two of them. “Guess what? I don’t belong to the Student Council or to any other organization associated with Teikou Academy. I’m simply a ‘User’ who can beat the crap out of anyone he wants, whenever he wants, wherever he wants. If it’s for Kuroko, killing the Japanese Prime Minister would be the same thing as squashing a fly with my hands. I would just have to wipe the blood off of my palms and go back to my life as if nothing had ever happened. Are you ready to eat your own minced brains, Shirogane-san? I’m sure they will taste like bull shit but better than nothing for your last supper, wouldn’t you say?”

 

“T-T-Tsukiji…!” shrieked Shirogane, his body trembling like leaves against a storm as he fearfully grabbed into his chair, trying to protect himself to the best of his possibilities. “H-Hanamiya mentioned T-Tsukiji during one of our conversations, before the pastry competition in Sumida last weekend. H-He’s probably in one of the a-abandoned buildings t-there…! I-I don’t know if it was t-there that he t-took K-Kuroko Tetsuya or not, though…!!”

 

“See? Cooperation doesn’t hurt all that much, now does it?” tauntingly said Akashi in between some soft evil giggles, waving around the paper that he had previously slammed on top of the destroyed desk of the older male. The paper was completely blank, no photo, no nothing in either of its sides. “Much better and clean that forcing you to eat your own brain, right? However… Don’t go thinking that this ends here, Shirogane Eiji. You’re done for. Once Tetsuya is safely back to my side, all that you have done will come to light. Your association with Hanamiya Makoto, the terrorist attempt in Sumida, whatever it is that you are plotting against Teikou Academy and ‘Users’, every little bit of it will be brought to public. Shirogane Eiji is no more the Japanese Prime Minister.”

 

“Grr…!” Strongly clenching his teeth, Shirogane wrathfully looked at the heterochromatic redhead. “Whether I’m the Prime Minister or not, things won’t go well for you, Akashi! Teikou will eventually fall! Everyone knows it! It’s just a matter of time before the Japanese population starts waking up from the daze you put them through and will realise that all of you freaks are all better off as rotting corpses in a communal grave! Monsters like you should be exterminated! ‘The Phantom’ above al—“

 

“ _Touch even a single hair on Tetsuya’s head and I will show you the path to the deepest floor of Hell personally, Shirogane Eiji,_ ” warned Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes glowing threateningly as he stared straight into the older male’s. “Teikou will not fall. None of us will become rotting corpses in a communal grave. And the only monsters who deserve to be exterminated are humans like you! Swallow your broken pride like a man and just admit that you completely lost to a group of ‘brats’ with not even half your age! And that will keep on happening forever! I will repeat myself. Teikou Academy will never fall and none of us will die. Whether you declare war to us or try to exterminate us, we will not surrender our place in the world! And Tetsuya will stand right by my side as we prevail and come out victorious of every challenge or battle that you or anyone else sends our way!”

 

Having finished his declaration, Akashi turned around and started walking through the corridor, not sparing another glance at Shirogane. Those who had accompanied him follow suit, including Kagami, who simply glared one last time at the older male before he caught up with the group.

 

“Kise-chin? You’re not coming?” asked Murasakibara, leisurely sucking on a lollipop as he looked over his shoulder and tilted his head, his purple eyes curiously observing the blonde who had remained behind, staring absentmindedly to an empty spot of the Prime Minister’s office. “We have to go fetch Kuro-chin or Aka-chin’s mood will keep on getting worse and worse.”

 

“Ah! Y-Yes, I’m coming!” acknowledged Kise, shaking his head around just the slightest so that he could wake up of his own suspicions and thoughts and quickly run after his companions as soon as he had done so.

 

Once the group of ‘Users’ were out of sight, Shirogane released a loud and exasperated sigh, putting his elbows on top of his knees and lowering his head to his hands, his fingers painfully grabbing into his white smeared locks of hair.

 

“Hehehehehehe… It seems you’re in trouble now, old man,” suddenly laughed a male voice, nobody showing inside of the messy office from where it could have came from. The air in the corner of the large division rippled for a fraction of a second and a young male appeared out of thin air there, his hair of a greyish colouring even with his age. Haizaki Shougo snorted. “As expected of the loser of Kaijou, his fucking sense of smell is as sharp as ever.”

[Writer Note: In Japanese, ‘loser’ can be said as ‘makeinu’ (負け犬), where the last kanji is that of ‘dog’ (犬). So Haizaki is making a pun here – or trying, at least.]

 

“If you were watching all this time, you could have intervened, Haizaki!” hissed Shirogane in a vicious growl, his eyes bloodthirsty as he glared at the silver haired male. “You fucking ‘Users’ are all the same! Sly bastards that change owners as soon as you smell danger or a loss!”

 

“Yeah, yeah~ Whatever,” shrugged off Haizaki, waving his hand around at the older male as he ignored his words without a care in the world. “But what Akashi said is right. You’re finished. So what’s the point in sticking to you now? I mean, you were bound to lose right from the beginning. Ahahahahahaha!”

 

“Shut up, you stinking brat!” barked Shirogane once again, getting more and more pissed off and frustrated at the younger male’s taunts. “If I recall correctly, you also lost against Akashi once! He kicked you out of Teikou, didn’t he?”

 

“Not before I had my fill of causing damages~” said Haizaki with a sly smirk on his lips, motioning one of his hands upwards and slowly licking the pad of his thumb as he kept his eyes on the location where the blonde had previous stood on. “And now that you mention it, I gave plenty of payback to Ryouta… but I never got a chance to get my revenge on Akashi… or did I? Since he’s head over heels for this ‘Tetsuya’ of his, shall I steal him from Akashi? Play around a little bit with him and then break him, like I did with Yukio? Hm… Yes, that sounds like a nice plan.”

 

With sluggish movements, Haizaki walked over to the older male, not even seeming to notice the huge hole on the floor that he was walking into. When he reached the crumbling edge and stepped on the non-existent ground, his body continued to walk straight ahead, as if an invisible flooring had been placed right below him.  Floating around in the air, Haizaki stopped right in front of the older male and crouched down his body, so as he could look straight into the furious lowered expression in Shirogane’s face.

 

“You lost and I have no more uses for you,” announced Haizaki, a twisted smirk on his lips as he slowly spewed every single one of his words. “I will no longer cooperate in your schemes nor will I steal the ‘webs’ that chain you to Hanamiya anymore. You’re on your own from now on, old man. I’m sure they will quickly find a better replacement for you in your previous position as Prime Minister, whether you step down of it yourself, take your fall with a raised head after Akashi makes everything public… or you’re found murdered in your sleep~ This is bye bye, Shirogane.”

 

Giggling at himself, Haizaki got back up and walked away from near the older male, his body twitching around as if a hologram and then turning into another person in its entirety. A different face, eyes, hair colour and style, body structure and height – it was as if Haizaki Shougo no longer existed in that world.

 

He didn’t, actually, for he was one… but many at the same time. He was a little bit of everything that he had stolen up until then. A little bit of A, B and C, nameless ‘Users’ whose faces he couldn’t even remember anymore.

 

A little bit of Kasamatsu Yukio and the ability that he so dearly held to himself alone now, simply out of spite towards Kise Ryouta.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The lyrics of this chapter came from the lyrics of "TYRANT" by Morita Masakazu (our misbehaving Haizaki).
> 
> And Haizaki finally made his debut in Shattered Miracles XD Obviously it had to be to cause future trouble >.> Really, what do you expect out of him... and me? Either way... I bet you didn't saw this one coming, hehehehe :3
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Weekly Previous](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)   
>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	208. I’ll crush you until you don’t feel like ever standing up again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> Like I have previously warned you about, this is yet another chapter that is not very safe. Not as bad as the previous one but not all that much better in several senses *sniff* Hence...
> 
> WARNING: gore; psychological torture; manipulation; mentions of past child abuse and non-voluntary involvement in illegal clinical trials; temporary character death (again TTvTT)
> 
> E-Enjoy...
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

**[2 and a half months later]**

**Real time: approx. 1 hour**

 

“I’ve got to admit,” started Hanamiya, leisurely drying his ‘working instruments’ with a clean hand towel after having washed off all the blood and body tissues and fluids attached to them. He remained sat down on a sofa, his eyes unmoving from the dark red and bloodied wall and floor of one of the sides of the room where he had been closing himself in for quite a while – even though he knew that not even half a day had passed outside of it. “You look extremely frail, like you would break if even a small crack or dent appeared on your body, but… I still wonder why exactly have you not broken down yet?”

 

“Haa… haa…” Panting heavily, Kuroko forced himself to keep his head standing, never breaking eye contact with the black haired male, never allowing himself to give a single inch to the other male that would worsen even more the psychological games that he continuously put forward in between the torture.

 

“I mean… I have lost count of how many times I have killed you by now,” said Hanamiya, spreading his arms wide up in the air, eyes delightfully looking at the other walls of the closer room. The once white walls were filled from top to bottom with numerous black inked lines, hundreds and hundreds of them whose purpose served to numerate how many times he had successfully killed the bluenette. “Oh, I’m not complaining here. I kill you, your ability nullifies your death and you get back to what you were, no wounds, no lack of blood, no nothing – a fully healthy body. As far as it concerns me, I couldn’t have asked for better qualities in a toy. But you… I like to break my toys. The fact that I can’t kill you no matter what I do is very, very, very nice but I just can’t seem to break you. I can’t even put you crying or screaming. And it’s exactly those little things that are cutting my enjoyment of teaching you in half… I’m at a loss of what I should do…”

 

“Haa… Haa…” At the small pause in between the torture, something that usually happened for about half an hour in between large amounts of time where the ‘teaching’ happened, he had come to notice, Kuroko finally had some time to put his brain working in proper conditions once again.

 

If the black haired male didn’t need to make those breaks to get his instruments cleaned, eat and drink, or go take care of any other of his biological needs, the bluenette was certain that he would have long broken down by now.

 

The other day – no, it had actually been simply the previous day; the disturbingly slow passage of time in comparison with the quick pace of time inside of that closed room was also starting to mess around with his head – he had talked with Akashi over equality and uniqueness. Everyone in the world, every ‘User’, human and other being was unique, no another was the same, and that provided them with equality in the world. All of them had the same starting line and finish line, even if their paces and methods differed one way or another.

 

But Kuroko was different.

 

If the starting line would be viewed as birth, then yes, Kuroko had started in that very same starting line, just like everyone else. However, somewhere along the way, he lost himself towards the path to the finishing line, which, following this pattern would be death. A large, large wall appeared before him and the finishing line had become barren from him.

 

The one who had built that wall was no one other than Kuroko himself.

 

Death by blood loss, suffocation, drowning or electrocution. Having all of his limbs and body parts chopped off, ripped apart, made into nothing more than minced meat and crushed bones. Being blown up or falling out of a tall building. All kinds of possible and unimaginable deaths – Kuroko Tetsuya had experienced all of them since the moment he _awoke_ as a ‘User’.

 

And yet… death after death… He still breathed. His heart still beat. His brain still worked.

 

Kuroko Tetsuya… couldn’t die. He possessed an immortal body that couldn’t be destroyed, no matter what kind of methods were to be used.

 

He had been born as a human and now he was bound to live forever as a monster, unable to reach the finishing line and achieve death.

 

“Torture is no longer effective on you…” mumbled Hanamiya as he tried to figure out how he should move about next. “After so many days going on and off in torture, your body has warmed up to it so I guess you don’t even feel all that much pain anymore. Or better yet, you do but your brain blocks that pain partially due to this make-shift routine that we took on. Continuing to kill you is, of course, always an option and, psychologically speaking, it seems to damage you much more than torture. But it’s still not damage enough to break you down. And I’m running low on the third batch of the drug… I still have enough materials to make a fourth batch but after that, I’m out. Tsk… Having to put the drug running back in you after every time you die surely came as a big miscalculation. Since your body goes back to what it previously was, the drug is also fully nullified in the process.”

 

“You should… haa… stop, then…” managed to croak Kuroko in between heavy panting, his eyes never leaving the talkative black haired male. “This won’t… go anywhere… ever… You can’t kill me… You can’t break me… You are… just wasting your time… in pursuit of something… that you will never… achieve… Not from me… at least…”

 

“Huh? And may I know what exactly is this so-called ‘something’ that I’m ‘pursuing’?” inquired Hanamiya, his hands halting its cleaning motions with the towel to the metallic instrument.

 

“You don’t… want a toy… who you can break… at your will…” said Kuroko, a thin smile on his lips. “You just want… someone who will… accept you… as you are… even if you… haa… try to break them… Someone who will… stay by your side… just as you are… not as what… others intend you… to be…”

 

“…”

 

“But I’m sorry…” apologized Kuroko, his thin smile stretching just a little bit more. “I can’t be… that someone… Even if you can’t break me… I can’t become… that someone… for you… I have Akashi-kun… and I belong to him and him alone… He wouldn’t take very well… the thought of… sharing me… and neither I… want to… belong to anyone but him… And you… won’t find that someone… in Kiyoshi-senpai… either… Because Seirin Dorm… and those in there… are the place… where he belongs to… and wants to… go back to… more than anything… above anything, actually…”

 

“…” Silently, Hanamiya dropped his head down, the hands holding into the hand towel and metallic instrument relaxing and noisily dropping the two on the floor. “My parents… they were both famous scientists. My mother was a renowned researcher in psychology and how the different structures of the brain affected the mental state of a human being. My father was a neurologist in a large hospital, with a research in psychological behaviour running on the sidelines. A quite suiting couple in scientific terms, wouldn’t you say? You would think that they were to become the type of parents that neglect their son in exchange for more hours in the lab and doing their researches. But no. They paid plenty of attention to me. To me and to dozens of other children. It hurts, you know… It hurts to have people scrambling around with the insides of your brain in the name of science!”

 

“…!”

 

“Well… With a son as smart as I wind up being, no one can really blame them for choosing to put me in the same clinical trials as the other orphan kids that they gathered all together,” snorted Hanamiya, straightening his sitting position and leaning his back on the cushioned backrest. “That broken toy over there… He was one of those orphan kids. Kiyoshi somehow ended up being chosen by my parents, had his brains scrambled just like I did, got tortured, went through intense psychological damages, yada yada, the list goes on. He didn’t break down, unlike the other kids. Just like me. Then, out of the blue, we became ‘Users’. The two of us, without any reason or explanation, became the same as the rumoured terrorists that the Japanese government was trying to fight off. Kiyoshi controlled time and I could create human puppets through the means of my webs. We joined Akashi and the other guys and badabing badaboom, Teikou Academy eventually was created and fully founded. The rest… is not all that important.”

 

“If so… why are you… doing all of these things now…?” asked Kuroko, sadly looking over to the black haired male. “Why are you… following the exact same path… that your parents did… and that hurt you so much… in the past? You had… your place… in Teikou… Why did you… throw it away?”

 

“Why, you ask?” asked back Hanamiya, his voice trembling just the slightest as he motioned one of his hands upwards and covered his features with it. “I… couldn’t stand being in Teikou. All of that happiness, people connecting with each other and bonding in several different ways… All of that was painful to watch. It was something that was complete out of reach for me and… because of that… it hurt… to watch… Pfft… AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Are you really falling for all of this, Kuroko?”

 

“…!” Kuroko’s whole body shuddered when the black haired male loudly started to laugh, his body shaking around with it as he sat straight once again.

 

“You are way too naïve for your own good,” taunted Hanamiya, sticking his tongue out at the bluenette. “The story about my parents, what they did to me, to Kiyoshi and so many other kids… is all true. However, Teikou Academy? I could care less about all of that crap! They were useful to put my own scientific experiments running. When they became a bigger roadblock than monetary financing, I just threw them away and obtained funding through other means. Selling ‘Users’, whether their body parts or the whole thing, can be surprisingly lucrative, you know? If it weren’t for a certain frightening characteristic of your body, I would have already sold quite a lot of your body parts. I mean, they will just grow back again so I’m sure you could spare me a kidney, or a lung, or a heart, or an eye for those that need them the most, right? And now you come up to me with the story that I’m searching for someone who will stay by my side and will accept all of me unconditionally? You’re naïve, Kuroko, so very naïve. Or are you simply missing your beloved ‘Akashi-kun’ so much that you have started to romanticize other people’s lives? Do you want me to ask one of my puppets to drag him here and join the fun?”

 

“N-No…! Don’t!” yelled Kuroko, his body unconsciously motioning forward and making the chain loudly crash around the wall. “Leave Akashi-kun out of this!”

 

“Hehehe… I don’t know about that~” said Hanamiya with a taunting voice, a large sneer on his lips. “Weren’t you the one who said that Akashi would come for you? If you want that to happen, he’ll need to get here. He’ll need to get inside of this room and get the first hand experience of how much of a disgusting monster you are. Does he know about it? Does he know that you can’t die? That no matter what happens to your body, it will revert back to its original shape more quickly than lizards or starfishes?”

 

“…”

 

“Of course he doesn’t, ahahahaha!” barked Hanamiya in the shape of a laugh, his voice echoing throughout the whole closed division. “Nobody would want you if they knew! Or maybe he would, if it was the other persona that he has. I bet you two would get to have loads of fun, especially if he were to be in a bad mood. Akashi’s inner beast can be worst than me, if rubbed the wrong way, after all~ If you have personally met him, then I’m sure you know that yourself. Ahh… Talking this much has left me tired… Maybe I’ll go rest for a while after starting the production process of the magical lil’ drug~ I’m sure we will get to give it a very good use before we fully run out of it. So I will leave you to your own devices for a little bit. But first <3”

 

Three loud shots resounded in the silent room, the sound of a thick liquid splashing everywhere accompanying it. Tauntingly, Hanamiya blew the muzzle of the handgun and then put it right back on the back of his pants’ waistband.

 

“His skull was turned into pulp so I guess it should take him around 30 minutes to revive once again,” calculated Hanamiya out loud as he saw the half headless corpse of the bluenette limply being held by the chains around his wrists. “More than time enough for me to gather the materials for the fourth batch and return in time to give him the injection~”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "MAD BREAKER" by Fukuyama Jun - Hanamiya, you *beep* *beep* *beep*!!!!
> 
> Gosh, I really feel like most of you do... Can he just freaking stop!? But no, of course he can't!! Argh! This is so frustrating! Akashi, for the love of god, please come to save Kuroko even more quickly!!!!!!!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	209. Rushing out to the place where we will have our battle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> Like I announced on Tumblr, I have successfully finished writing the 2nd arc of Shattered Miracles *v* Which is the reason you are seeing the last chapter as 220. But, like I explained in the post, I'm just properly breaking the fic in arcs/intermissions. It's far from over XD
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

“Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!” loudly laughed Aomine as he and the rest of the ‘rescue group’ stepped outside of the main building of Tokkou’s Headquarters and motioned towards the place where they had parked their cars. “’Ever heard of Kagami Taiga?’ Ahahahaha! ‘Are you ready to eat your own minced brains’, was it? Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

 

“Stop laughing already, Aomine!” roared Kagami, his cheekbones flushed with a pinkish blush as he sulked at the tanned male’s teasing. “I’m not acquainted with threatening others so I’m sorry if I did a poor job on it! I’m not like you four ‘gangsters’, okay!?”

 

“It got us the result we wanted so why don’t you just drop it, Aominecchi?” suggested Kise, feeling a tinge of pity towards the taller redhead while trying to control his own laughter inside. In order to take his mind off of that subject in particular, he switched his gaze to the other redhead in the group. “Akashicchi, what exactly did you do with that paper? When Shirogane-san saw it, his face went ghostly pale but… isn’t it completely blank?”

 

“Shirogane Eiji was already dead scared at our sudden arrival and fear is the perfect ingredient for manipulation,” explained Akashi, a knowing smirk on his lips. “So, using my ability without him noticing, I manipulated his brain to project in this paper what he feared us knowing about the most at that precise moment. Apparently, it truly was his secret meetings with Hanamiya Makoto. It was nothing more than a gamble on my side but it seemed to have worked in our favour quite well.”

 

“Kagamicchi is right… You really are a gangster…” mumbled Kise, a small shudder running down his spine at the convenient and malicious ways that the heterochromatic redhead was able to use his ability. “So, what will we do next? Tsukiji, I take it?”

 

“Yes,” acknowledged Akashi with a sharp nod of his head. “Shirogane Eiji mentioned an abandoned building there but, as far as I know, there might be dozens of them there. We obviously don’t have the luxury of exploring every single one of them so we need to find some sort of way to narrow down the possibilities.”

 

“Hanamiya isn’t the type to leave trails behind him, though, Aka-chin,” pointed out Murasakibara, leisurely munching on some Pocky sticks. “He’ll have completely blended in with his surroundings in order to remain hidden. Or at least, stay hidden for as long as it’s possible.”

 

“But he’s not a careless man, that fucking asshole,” grumbled Hyuuga, a deep frown on his features as he crossed his arms over his chest. “He must have used some sort of method to certify himself that he keeps his location hidden but still safe from anyone that may get to know of his location. I bet even from the Prime Minister-san over there.”

 

“Some sort of safety camouflage, huh…” softly mumbled Akashi as he thought about it deeper himself. After a couple of seconds in complete silence, he took his cell phone out and put a number running on speed dial, leaving it in hand free mode instead of speaking to it himself.

 

 _“Yes, Akashi-kun?”_ answered Momoi, her voice resounding loud enough for everyone to hear her speak.

 

“Satsuki, can you hack into the satellites and focus on the Tsukiji area?” requested Akashi, his eyes focused on his cell phone’s screen even though he wasn’t able to see the pink haired girl there. “Then go get some sort of map of the same area. Not a digital one. An old-fashioned one made of paper and it doesn’t matter if its dating is very old or not. We just need to see the basic layout of Tsukiji.”

 

 _“Okay… Just give me a couple of minutes,”_ acknowledged Momoi with a certain hesitation. After a couple of minutes of silence from her side, only the quick tempo of fast typing sounding from the other side of the phone call, as well as the momentary rustling of paper, the pink haired girl’s voice resounded once again. _“What do you want me to search with these?”_

 

“What’s the difference between the satellite images and the map you have in your hands?” asked Akashi, getting slightly impatient at how long it was taking them to only figure out the location. Almost two hours in total have gone by since Kuroko had been taken away and he couldn’t help but fear for what may have happened throughout those measly hours.

 

 _“Difference? Just the amount of buildings, I guess? There’s a lot more in the map than the sat—“_ started Momoi but she came to a halt to her own words when she noticed the contradiction in them. _“Wait… This doesn’t make any sense. Why are there more buildings in the map than in the satellite images? The map is older than me!”_

 

“Where?” anxiously asked Akashi, all of the other members of the make-shift team also anxiously waiting for the pink haired girl’s answer.

 

 _“Three whole buildings near the Namiyoke Inari Shrine don’t show on the satellite images, even though they are visible in the map,_ ” announced Momoi, once again typing on her computer. _“One of them is especially big. It’s a parking lot with several upper and lower floors. From what I could find, it went out of business a couple of years ago and is now an abandoned building. The other two buildings are smaller and were previously being used as storehouses for the Tsukiji fish market until they were put on disuse due to the upgrade of the market’s facilities. They are now abandoned buildings too.”_

 

“Thank you, Satsuki,” acknowledged Akashi, nodding his head at the other ‘Users’ and getting a nod back from each one of them. “Send me the GPS coordinates right now.”

 

 _“I’m on it~ Hurry up and get Tetsu-kun back, okay?”_ said Momoi with a cheerful voice, readily disconnecting the phone call. A couple of seconds later, the heterochromatic redhead’s cell phone’s screen blinked and announced the reception of a text.

 

“We have our target location now,” announced Akashi, readily opening the text and transcribing the coordinates there to his cell phone’s GPS. He motioned the electronic device over to the black haired male as he intently looked over to him and the blonde. “Hyuuga Junpei, Ryouta, are you two ready to proceed as we had agreed on?”

 

“Well yeah,” acknowledged Hyuuga, softly rotating his shoulders as he walked over to the car where he had been driving on. “Leave it to your senpai here!”

 

“You know I’m always ready for some action, Akashicchi~” leisurely acknowledged Kise, walking over to the other car.

 

With a soft nod of acknowledgment, Akashi and the other three ‘Users’ walked over to their corresponding cars, getting inside of them and neatly buckling on their safety belts.

 

“Ah, Hyuuga-san!” called Kise all of a sudden, as the two of them put their hands on top of the roof of the vehicles. When the black haired male turned his gaze back to him, he offered a quick bow with his head. “My apologies in advance.”

 

“Huh? Okay…?” hesitantly acknowledged Hyuuga, not really understanding what exactly the blonde was apologizing about. He gave a couple of taps to the roof of the car and loudly announced so that both Akashi and Murasakibara could hear him, “We’re out of here! Hold on tight!”

 

Out of the blue, both Hyuuga and the car disappeared into thin air, not leaving any trace of ever even being there in the first place.

 

“Okay~ Our turn now~” announced Kise with a singsong voice, his body slowly starting to glow in a yellowish shade. He also gave a quick tap to the top of the car’s roof and announced, “Aominecchi, Kagamicchi, if you vomit, you’ll be the ones cleaning it up, okay<3?”

 

Same as before, out of the blue, both Kise and the car disappeared from the location inside of Tokkou’s Headquarters where they had randomly parked their cars at the unexpected invasion to the Japanese government’s official territory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "WALK" by OLDCODEX.
> 
> Just a little side note about events revolving around this chapter and the incoming ones: those three buildings mentioned canonically exist in our world. I don't know if the referenced parking lot and two storage houses are abandoned buildings but they really exist right next to the Tsukiji Fish Marked and the Inari Shrine - with the exact same functions being mentioned in here~ I just love it when fiction crosses with non-fiction XD  
> [I will post a satellite image of them in a couple of minutes in Tumblr *winks*]
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	210. I’m jumping over the walls and moving across passable points

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I think after this whole mess of shipping my things back to my home country (since I got a job there *thumbs up*), I will go into Scrooge McDuck mode and not send a single cent in anything that isn't anime related... I'M GETTING A FREAKING DAILY TRAUMA WITH EVERY VISIT TO THE POST OFFICE, GUYS! THIS IS NO JOKE TTwTT It will end soon... Just... 6 more days... Just 144 more torturous hours and it's over...
> 
> Anyway, going back to what it's important here! Action is on its way~ Help too, of course XD  
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

“Shit… What the… fuck is this…?” groaned Hyuuga, his features ghostly pale as he supported his weakened body on the vehicle he had just teletransported to Tsukiji. Panting hard, he observed as both Akashi and Murasakibara got outside of the car.

 

“Ryouta apologized to you earlier, didn’t he?” asked Akashi, softly closing the car’s door behind himself. “It’s because of this. We call his ability copying, but if we want to be more precise, it’s more borrowing than straight out copying. He momentarily borrowed your ability and used it as if it’s his own. Since he doesn’t know your body’s limits, sometimes he goes a little bit over the top and the original owner of the ability suffers the consequences.”

 

“Does this… ngh… also happen to you guys when he copies your abilities?” asked Hyuuga, taking a deep breath to try to regain both his bearings and the strength that seemed to have been sucked out of his body without any further warning.

 

“You can say so,” answered Akashi, giving a quick shrug with his shoulders as he noticed that the other car popped out of nowhere a little bit further away from the place where they had ended up. “We’ve gotten used to it already, though, so it’s not as hard on our body as it used to be in the past. Ryouta is also quite used to copying our abilities so he knows very well what our limits are. He passes off the impression that he’s an idiot, which I won’t deny, but he can be quite smart when he wants to be.”

 

“He could have given a warning… haa… instead of just apologizing, though…” grumbled Hyuuga, pushing his body out from his support on the car and straightening his glasses at the same time as he released a tired sigh.

 

“He’s smart but he’s also an idiot, so what did you expect?” pointed out Akashi, shaking his head around just the slightest at the blonde’s earlier actions. “And Ryouta has a complex about his ability so, actually, don’t mind him. Either way it goes, we have more pressing matters to attend than this so I would greatly appreciate it if we could leave this discussion for later and proceed with what we have come here to do.”

 

“Aka-chin, please control your bad mood just for a while longer…” said Murasakibara, the Pocky stick that he was about to eat slipping out of his fingers due to the massive shudder that crawled up his spine as the words and current semblance of the redhead. “You’re closer to Kuro-chin right now than you ever had been so don’t blow up now.”

 

“I know that,” hissed Akashi, glaring daggers at the purple haired male when he whipped his head around in his direction all of a sudden. He took a soft deep breath and started walking towards the location of the building that the pink haired girl had pointed out as missing from the satellite images. “But it’s exactly because I know that Tetsuya is right there that I can’t help but want to get to him the soonest possible. I miss him…”

 

“Not even three hours have passed since you last saw him, Akashi,” yawned Aomine, his own group catching up with the location of the first one to arrive at the location. “Why are you getting your panties in a knot with that? Even putting Hanamiya in the equat— Ouch!! Kise, you bastard, what the fuck are you doing!?”

 

“That’s my question, you damned idiot!” yelled Kise, after having strongly punched the sides of the tanned male’s torso. “You probably never had the person you are in love with ripped away from you, have you? Be it two seconds, two minutes, two hours, every little bit of time that passes by is hell at those moments!”

 

“You’re so insensitive, Ahomine…” added Kagami, shaking his head in disapproval to the words that the tanned male had just spewed.

 

“Shame on you, Mine-chin…” also added Murasakibara, eyeing the tanned male with pitying purple eyes.

 

“Stop ganging up on me!” roared Aomine, crossing his arms over his chest as he sulked at the way he was being admonished and looked at. “It’s not like I don’t understand how Akashi is feeling right now… But since we have managed to come this far this quickly, we shouldn’t rush things out even more and then fuck everything up because of it.”

 

“If it concerns Tetsuya, I would never ‘fuck anything up’,” said Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes quickly scanning the biggest building of the three that had been mentioned. It was a large building previously used as a parking lot but now all of its entrances had been sealed by large and thick metallic doors and all other entrances, like windows and the like, had been closed with a strong layer of concrete. “I will not make any mistake or take rash actions. I won’t put him even more in danger than he already is and you should know that, Daiki.”

 

“Yes, yes, my bad…” conceded Aomine, softly rubbing the back of his neck while he avoided looking straight at the heterochromatic redhead. “So, how are we going to do this?”

 

“Hanamiya and his associates are too much of a liability right now, not only for Tetsuya, but Teikou itself,” started Akashi, all of them stopping right in front of the large metallic door that didn’t have any knob, any electronic panel or any other mean to get it open – most likely the building had been totally isolated not only by Hanamiya himself but prior to its occupation by the wicked ‘User’ so as to avoid vandalism and homeless people from accessing it. “So we will be aiming for total wipe out. Daiki, Ryouta, Atsushi, you’ll be taking the upper floors. I’ll go with Kagami Taiga and Hyuuga Junpei to the lower ones.”

 

“I-I think that’s quite unbalanced so you can take Kise and I’ll go with Aomine and Murasakibara,” said Kagami, taking a couple of steps further away from the heterochromatic redhead.

 

“No matter how much of a weakling and dead weight you may turn out to be, Kagami Taiga, I can easily make up for it so that’s how we will be divided in two teams, understood?” announced Akashi, sideways glancing at the taller redhead, who simply slumped his shoulders without any further words or complaints. “We know that he had a few of his associates perpetually with him, as it was pointed out on the report about his arrival to Tokyo, but we have no idea if they are ‘Users’ or simply humans. It goes without saying that they must be Hanamiya Makoto’s puppets. I doubt that they volunteered themselves to that position, which makes this hard for me to say, but the enemy is the enemy. Get rid of every single person that is being controlled by Hanamiya Makoto. That’s the only known way of destroying his mind controlling ability. If you have doubts over their standing on the matter, simply restrain them for further interrogation afterwards. Hanamiya Makoto’s position is most likely in the lower floors, knowing him, but in the off chance that you meet him, don’t let him get close to you, don’t listen to his words and, most important than all of those other two, don’t let him hurt you. That’s all.”

 

“So the quick crash course on the mission is done~” cheerfully said Kise, leisurely eyeing the building they were standing in front of. “Oh, by the way… How are going to get in? No matter how you look at it, it’s a closed build—“

 

“ _Open!_ ” shortly commanded Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes flickering for a fraction of a second. With a noisy explosion, the thick metallic door was ripped out of its hinges and was strongly pushed backwards as if punched by an invisible fist, a dark cloud of dust filling the whole entrance area at the time the heavy metal surface hit the floor.

 

“Why do I even go out of my way to ask certain things…?” sighed Kise, his shoulders slumping down just the slightest at how big of an idiot he must seem to the other five at that moment.

 

“Let’s go!” announced Akashi, starting to motion inside of the large building, fearlessly facing its seemingly empty insides.

 

“Kagami,” called Aomine out of the blue, one of his hands falling on top of the taller redhead’s shoulder and tightly squeezing it. “Don’t let yourself get killed or controlled by that freaking asshole, you hear me?”

 

“…” Momentarily taken aback by the trembling hand grabbing into his shoulder, Kagami softly snorted as he strongly slapped the tanned male’s back. “Like hell I would, Ahomine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "RIMFIRE" by GRANRODEO.
> 
> Hehehehe~ Let the show start!!!! And let AkaKuro be happy together again! *sniff*
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	211. But I’ll do it by utterly destroying you all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> Less than 10 chapters for this arc to end, huh... This sure has been a long and extremely crazy ride :D But, I must inform you that, it's not over yet, just like the warnings TTvTT
> 
> WARNING: torture by the means of chemicals (I won't be more specific because it would be spoilers >.>)
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

“Hm~ Hmm~ Hm-mm~” Softly humming a song, Hanamiya turned off the stove that he was using to heat up all of the substances that formed what he address as the ‘magical drug’, the thick mixture bubbling at the high temperature that it had been subjected to so it could be refined and the properties of some of the chemicals could be ‘awaken’ by being mixed together. He took a quick sideways glance to the bluenette, his body slowly regenerating after he had severed his head with an axe to buy himself some more time so as to finish preparing the concoction. “Ah… Now that I think about it…”

 

Hanamiya remained silent for long, long minutes, simply completely observing the liquid refrigerating to room temperature and grow steadily more and more liquid, almost more aqueous than water.

 

“I wonder how did they figure out that this drug slows down his ability…” softly mumbled Hanamiya, his brain going round and round as he tried to even come up with an explanation on how the concoction even could cause such an effect on the bluenette’s ability. “Does it only affect him? Or is something that can be applied to all ‘Users’ in general? Would other types of chemistries affect his ability in different ways? What about things like poison or virus or neurotoxins…? Heh… Hehehehehe… I always wondered what would happen to the human body if it was injected with all sorts of nasty chemicals… I guess now I will get to finally have an answer to that question~”

 

The black haired male turned around on his heels and left the drug to fully cool down, walking over towards the table further away where he had been keeping the prepared previous batches of the concoction. He picked up the last syringe containing the drug and started to walk over to the bluenette, but he came to a sudden halt on his path towards him.

 

“Oh?” softly interjected Hanamiya, noticing a light blinking in the corner of the screen of the computer that he kept with him in the closed division. When he came closer to it instead of continuing to go over to the bluenette, he opened the message box blinking in the screen and closely observed it contents. “Tsk…! Fun time is over, huh… Akashi can be so frustrating, with all of his perfection and swiftness in getting things done.”

 

 _I guess I need to break him down once and for all, or I’ll be the one who ends up being gutted here,_ inwardly said Hanamiya, quickly motioning once again towards the bluenette at the same time as he took the cap off of the needle of the syringe, used to keep the magical drug very well secured within it and avoid any accidents on his side or in terms of loss of the correct amount of the dosage. _And, unfortunately, my body can’t regenerate like Kuroko’s._

 

“Rise and shine, Kuroko,” said Hanamiya, grabbing the bluenette’s head by the base of his chin and pulling it up. He swiftly stabbed the needle on his neck and slowly injected the drug in his body, readily releasing him and putting distance between them – for safety measures, of course. “It’s time for classes to start and you wouldn’t want to be late for your last days in school, would you? Sensei would be sad if his best student started playing hooky once again~”

 

“…Nn…” Kuroko had already lost count of how many times he had woken up in that exact same way – the sickening taunting voice of Hanamiya ringing in his ears, his head throbbing as if his brain was about to blow up and his vision so burry and confusing that it only fuelled even further the terrible bolts of pain striking his whole body. He could tolerate pain, he could tolerate having his body played around as if a dirty rag… but he couldn’t take the effects of the drug in his body. It made him feel weak, completely powerless to fight back in any form or shape, even if not through the means of his ability.

 

“Good,” acknowledged Hanamiya, a mischievous smirk slowly tugging at the corner of his lips as he observed the bluenette slowly regaining consciousness and opening his eyes with tired and sluggish motions. “Up until now, I’ve been teaching you by using methods ‘outside to inside’. I think you have perfectly mastered that wonderful studying method by now. You have my congratulations. So why don’t you try a new innovative learning method that is the opposite of that one? Let’s hurt you ‘inside out’ now, yes?”

 

“When… will you… give up on doing… this…?” tiredly asked Kuroko, trying to lift his heavy head and straightforwardly look in the black haired male’s direction. “After all this time… you should know… by now… that you won’t get… anything out of this…”

 

“Oh yes, I do know that,” acknowledged Hanamiya with a singsong voice, walking over to a cabinet and fiddling with its insides. He picked up several small flasks from its insides and carrying them over to the table where he was keeping the syringes to be filled with the fourth batch of the ‘magical drug’. “I guess I’m just as stubborn as you are. The way I see it, it’s a competition to see who’s the one who breaks down first. And you know that I just love to break other people, not getting broken~ So I can keep on doing this for the rest of my life, if you ask me. Though I would eventually die and you would stay stuck there to the wall for the rest of all eternity. Or until the drug fully came out of your system and you used your ability to nullify the chains, that is. Now that I think about it, can you even age?”

 

“…”

 

“You have the appearance of a middle school brat, not of a high school one younger than me by a year only,” pointed out Hanamiya, closely eyeing the smaller male as he inserted several different chemicals and toxins that he kept in stock inside of a few syringes. “Are you perhaps stuck with that appearance now? Ahahaha! That would take the term ‘baby face’ to a whole new level. Always pulling surprising stunts, aren’t we, ‘Phantom’? Are you actually a god or a deity of some sort instead of a human? A new type of Japanese folklore monster? The offspring of one of the former with a human? Ahh~ So many questions, so many theories, so much to learn about! _This_ is why I will never give up on continuing with my educative lessons on you, Kuroko.”

 

With the motions of a sadistic predator about to eat a cornered and defenceless prey, Hanamiya walked over to the bluenette, wiggling in his hands several sets of syringes.

 

“Do you know what this is?” mischievously inquired Hanamiya, putting his hands right in front of the bluenette’s face. “I’ll be nice and give you a little clue. From left to right~ TEA, Cltx, BTX, Anatoxin-a, MPP+, Mercury, TTX and TeNT~ Do you know the answer now?”

 

“What… are you… going to do… with those… neurotoxins…?” asked Kuroko, fearfully eyeing the set of syringes put right on front of his eyes.

 

“Aww~ Are you so tired that your brain is no longer working all that well?” taunted Hanamiya, a mischievous smirk on his features as he straightened his body and passed all the syringes to one of his hands while maintaining only one of the nefarious liquids in the other. “We are going to use them for a little quiz. I put them on you and you have to guess which one of those that I mentioned it is~ If you get it right, there’s a reward. If you get it wrong, there’s a punishment. Simple, right?”

 

“Why would… I go… along with… those sick games… of yours…?” asked back Kuroko, glaring at the black haired male as he tried to calm down the throbbing in his head and came out of the sluggish spell of the drug.

 

“Why? Why, huh… Hm…” said Hanamiya, tilting his head just a little bit as he gave a thought to the question that the bluenette had just brought forward. “Well, your beloved ‘Akashi-kun’ just knocked on my door so I thought that you would like to show him how much you have grown in the past few… hours? Ahahahahaha!”

 

“Wha— Ugh!!” interjected Kuroko but his voice was stolen when a syringe was strongly stabbed into the side of his neck all of a sudden and a cold liquid was injected on his bloodstream. His body immediately started convulsing and shuddering as the toxin spread through the entirety of his being, invading and infecting all of his cells. “Ah… Ugh… Haa…”

 

“Last lesson~” announced Hanamiya with a singsong voice, grabbing into the bluenette’s face and pulling it upwards, careful to not touch the blood starting to leak out of his mouth and nose as MPP+, a selective neurotoxin of MPTP, started showing its destructive effects on the smaller male’s body in a cellular level. “Total breakdown – start <3”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "MAD BREAKER" by Fukuyama Jun - our "friendly" Hanamiya >.>
> 
> I think that now that we know that Akashi is just a breath away from reaching Kuroko, it makes it even more painful to see our lovely bluenette suffer TTwTT Ahh... Why did I have to be born to this world as a self-sadomasochistic being, I wonder?
> 
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	212. It’s time for the revolution on the other side of ‘absoluteness’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's back!!!
> 
> I'm sorry if I needlessly worried you without my sudden hiatus. But sometimes we need to hit rockbottom to come out of a slump. And hell if I'm not feeling better now than in the last couple of weeks :D Thank you very much for all the supporting messages that I've received these couple of days. They had a really big impact in me and definitely helped me feeling better more quickly! As such~ You'll get 2 chapters today ^.^
> 
> Just gotta leave here a little warning before...  
> WARNING: gore
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter :3]

“We’ll group up once again in the entrance once we scavenge the whole building from top to bottom,” instructed Akashi, the still complete group of six having a last gathering near the access stairs that connected all of the floors of the shadowy abandoned building. “If you can’t find anything at all on the top floors, then move to the other two that don’t show on the satellite images. But if you find anything at all, then one of you goes check those storehouses. The other two will keep guard on whatever it is that you found.”

 

“Got it,” acknowledged Kise, Aomine and Murasakibara in unison, readily starting to climb the stairs in the next upper level’s direction. The tanned male threw one last glance to the group that was about to motion in the opposite direction but quickly disappeared in the middle of the dark ambience of the building.

 

“Well then, shall we go too?” inquired Akashi, readily taking a half turn and starting to climb down the stairs, his eyes unmoving from what was in front of him.

 

“Is it really that wise to just walk around through the building when we don’t even know what to expect of it?” pointed out Kagami, a deep frown on his features as he followed right behind the heterochromatic redhead. “I will tell you from personal experience that it’s not a good strategy. The last time I got inside of the wrong building, I had a buttload of handguns pointed at my skull.”

 

“Kagami, we’re in Japan, not in America,” scoffed Hyuuga, rolling his eyes around at the silly words of the taller redhead at the same time as he inwardly wondered about what kind of troubles he got himself in throughout his years in the American continent. “You’re not going to be greeted by handguns pointed at you. You’re not even going to be greeted by katana yielding samurais. And in case we _actually_ are greeted by any of the two, I’ll just teletransport the three of us to a further away location.”

 

Akashi silently listened the nervous babbling of the two taller males, wondering to himself in the back of his head why exactly did he actually bring the two of them along. It most likely was due to Midorima and the words that he had told him while in the hospital – not because he was doing what he had been told to do but as an unconscious show of respect towards the possible loss that the green haired male would get to experience in the future.

 

 _But if they are going to be more of a distraction than a helping hand, I might as well put Hyuuga Junpei teletransporting the two of them out of here sooner rather than later,_ inwardly sighed Akashi, motioning his hand forward to grab the metallic doorknob and open the access door to the -1 floor of the building.

 

“It seems that the two of you got it wrong,” said Akashi, his eyes closely observing the scenario that had immediately greeted them as soon as they opened the door. “We’ll be greeted by automatic rifles, not handguns or katanas.”

 

“Shit…!” cursed Hyuuga when he saw a full army of men, their hands occupied by different types of high-end self-loading rifles, right behind the door that they had crossed. He immediately lunged his hands forward to take a hold of the two redhead’s clothes and take them to far, far away from that deadly trap, but the sound of the first bullet being fired echoed through the building faster than he could even touch with the tip of his fingers the two other males. “…!”

 

“Where was that ‘leave it to your senpai’ and ‘I’ll teletransport us three out of there’ from earlier?” scoffed Akashi, his red and golden eyes shining in the dimly lit large area of the abandoned parking lot. In front of them were the dozens of bullets fired in their direction, leisurely floating around in the air as if stuck to the ceiling by invisible wires. “It’s not by wondering about what can happen that you can counterattack it. It’s by always being ready for anything that may happen that you get alive and spotless out of this type of mission. That and by doing whatever it takes to get it successfully done!”

 

Having said those words, the bullets motioned backwards out of the blue, gaining the exact same speed as earlier as they where redirectioned towards the men that had shot them earlier. The sound of pained groans and bodies heavily hitting the floor with muffled thuds resounded through the shadowy area.

 

“I-I heard about it but… I actually never thought of it as the truth but as an exaggeration of the truth,” hesitantly mumbled Hyuuga, gulping down hard as he observed with completely flabbergasted eyes as the heterochromatic redhead proceeded forward and walked over the dead group of soldiers, not sparing them a single glance as he simply aimed to move forward without a drop of mercy in his whole body.

 

“W-What do you… m-mean by that…?” asked Kagami, gulping down hard as he now definitely was feeling hesitant over following the heterochromatic redhead – who knew if in the midst of the confusion, he would ‘accidentally’ end up in the same state as the now dead soldiers?

 

“T-There’s rumours saying that Akashi took Murasakibara out of a military-run lab by wiping out the whole area... alone,” said Hyuuga, a shudder crawling up his spine at the thought alone and how close to the truth it actually was. Slowly, he started following after the heterochromatic redhead once again, accompanied by Kagami. “I know that Murasakibara was really being kept inside of a lab before Teikou was founded but… I never once thought that a 9 years old brat could kill an entire lab filled with highly trained soldiers singlehandedly… ‘User’ or not.”

 

“I… think that Akashi just proved you wrong there, then…” pointed out Kagami, a shudder also striking down on his body at the bloody image that he had now inside of his brain. He definitely had to wonder how exactly the bluenette fell in love with such a nutjob… “Kuroko has a lousy taste in men, it seems…”

 

Suddenly, one of the automatic rifles flew past Kagami and Hyuuga, quickly floating in the air in Akashi’s direction, who took a hold of it at the same time as he turned his body around and pointed the mechanized weapon in the taller male’s direction.

 

 _I have to learn how to keep my mouth shut…!,_ inwardly admonished himself Kagami, tightly closing his eyes at the moment he heard the heterochromatic redhead firing the rifle, fully conscious that if he didn’t die right there, he would be screaming in pain for the rest of the day.

 

A muffled thud of a heavy weight falling on the cement ground once again echoed in the building.

 

“…?” Hesitantly, Kagami opened one of his eyes, surprised over the fact that he was still alive and feeling the exact same way as when he stepped inside of the building. When he turned his head around towards the origin of the thud, he saw a soldier on the ground, blood seeping out of the hole in the middle of his forehead.

 

“I think it’s better if I teletrasport us the fuck out of here but zombies are definitely not on the list of things I want to deal with throughout my hopefully long life…!” yelped Hyuuga, taking a hold of the taller redhead’s clothes and teletransporting them to near the heterochromatic redhead, who silently observed how the supposedly dead soldiers slowly got up once again and prepared themselves to open fire against them once again.

 

“They are puppets, not zombies,” pointed out Akashi, leisurely dropping the rifle back to the floor. “Hanamiya Makoto has made them his puppets and is controlling them from the distance. It seems that his mind control keeps on working even after the puppet dies. The dead also don’t really mind the pain his webs cause in their bodies so they are probably more useful than living beings. Quite the useful characteristic to have…”

 

“Do you really think that this is the fucking right time to be complimenting your enemy’s ability!?” roared Kagami, his current panicky self getting even more aggravated due to the calm demeanour of the heterochromatic redhead at this unexpected surprise they were having right from the get go. “If they can’t die and stay put on the ground, we’re the ones who are going to end up dead!! How are we even supposed to fend off against undead puppets, in the first place!?”

 

“You already answered your own question,” said Akashi, taking a step forward as he closely eyed the moving puppets with his shining heterochromatic orbs. “If they can’t die nor stay put on the ground, we just need to make sure that they _can’t_ get up again. _Rip. Tear. Have all of your limbs wrenched out of your body!_ ”

 

In a bloodied show, the bodies of the undead soldiers started to be tore apart by invisible hands, the sickening cracks of bone shattering and flesh being wetly ripped open entwining with the loud splashing of blood against the floor and the pillars that supported the upper floors of the building.

 

“That should put them down permanently, even if still nothing more than puppets,” announced Akashi, turning around on his heels after scavenging the whole floor with his eyes and making sure that there was no more soldier left with its body intact. “Let’s continue.”

 

“…Y-Yes…” hesitantly acknowledged both Kagami and Hyuuga, their eyes not even daring to meet with the red stained area of the shadowy parking lot, fearing that the ghosts of the deceased would appear and come to deliver the deaths that their bodies now had been denied of.

 

_“Seijuurou~ Let me take over.”_

 

“…!” His body momentarily flinching at the voice that suddenly echoed inside of his head, Akashi deeply frowned, his eyes still slowly looking around that area as he sought for any indices or clues over Hanamiya’s location, as well as his beloved bluenette. He softly mumbled, “Now is not the time. Be quiet.”

 

_“You know very well that you don’t need to put on a front with me. Let me take over and put an end to all of this once and for all. I really dislike the thought that Tetsuya’s time is being robbed from me and being delivered on a silver tray to Hanamiya Makoto.”_

 

“Then let me do what I must do and stop needlessly disturbing me,” softly breathed Akashi in a voice that was nothing more than a whisper. “It’s not by having your voice pounding in my head that I will get Tetsuya more quickly back to my side.”

 

_“Hah! Cheeky as always, I see. Even though you’re dead scared right now~”_

 

“…”

 

_“Opposite to me, it’s not like you particularly enjoy getting your hands bloodied, for whatever reason it might be. You were taunting Shuuzou yesterday over how he usually claims himself to be a pacifist but you’re just as much of one as he is, even with your usually aggressive attacking strategies. And… Oh my, what is this place we are currently in? An underground area~ Having fun over there, taking a joyful trip down the memory lane? Or would you prefer to actually take a trip further down and pay a little visit to our beloved father?”_

 

“Be quiet…” grudgingly mumbled Akashi, his hands tightly closing into fists.

 

_“I think a family reunion would be an amusing event every now and then but if you dislike the thought, fine by me. Either way it goes, you’re not going to get anything out of acting stubborn. Let me take over and get Tetsuya out of Hanamiya Makoto’s clutches. We both know that that’s the quickest way of solving this whole mess that wouldn’t have even happened if you had listened to me earlier and had let me talk with Tetsuya. This is what you get for denying me. Now it’s your time to stop acting like a petulant child and let me do what my purpose in this world is. Do what you can’t d—“_

 

“I told you to shut up!” yelled Akashi all of a sudden, deeply startling the two taller males following right behind him. “Those are all trivialities compared with the importance of getting Tetsuya back. Or you cooperate and stop getting in my way or I will force you to do exactly that. It’s not by having you babbling right and left that things will change. Whether I have to kill more people or whether I have to stay in this type of place, I will be the one getting Tetsuya back. Don’t you dare throw right in my face that rescuing Tetsuya is something that I’m unable to do!”

 

“A-Akashi…?” hesitantly called Kagami, both him and the black haired male hastily coming to a halt a little bit farther back than the heterochromatic redhead, the two of them alert over any possible threats to their well beings actually coming from their own team. “A-Are you okay ther—“

 

Not even allowing the taller male to finish off his sentence, Akashi turned around on his heels and quickly motioned towards him, a dead serious demeanour on his face.

 

“Kagami Taiga, hit me,” casually said Akashi, looking straight at the taller redhead as he stood right in front of him.

 

“W-What…?” interjected Kagami, now really starting to think that the heterochromatic redhead had completely lost it once and for all. “The heck are you saying!?”

 

“If you hit me, it will damage _that guy_ ’s pride and he’ll quiet down for a while,” sighed Akashi, crossing his arms over his chest as a dissatisfied expression appeared on his features. “I can very well go without him pestering me and we all can very well go without him taking over right now. Tetsuya included.”

 

“Ah… But…” started Kagami, finally catching the gist of what was happening, taking into consideration what had previously happened between him and the heterochromatic redhead during Kuroko’s confinement and the explanation that was given to him after said event. “What about your pride?”

 

“I can deal with it, if it helps getting Tetsuya back from Hanamiya Makoto,” said Akashi, an expression of utter disgust twisting his features. “Now hurry up and hit me. I said this countless times now but time is not a helping factor in this mission.”

 

“Ugh…! I have the feeling that this will come back to bite me in the ass but fuck it!” groaned Kagami as he pulled one of his closed fists backwards and then quickly swung it towards the heterochromatic redhead, punching him strongly in the face.

 

“I forgot to say this earlier but…” softly breathed Akashi, wiping with the back of his hand the small thread of blood flowing down from his burst lip. “If this leaves any type of mark on me, I’m going to put you crying.”

 

“I fucking hate you so much!!” roared Kagami, his voice cracking just the slightest at the frightening glowing heterochromatic glare he was now being subjected to. “Kuroko really has a terribly lousy taste when it comes to men, damn it!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "RESIGNATION?" by Kamiya Hiroshi, Ono Daisuke and Suzuki Tatsuhisa - Akashi, Midorima and Takao.
> 
> Well... I told you that the gore in the latter chapters wasn't going to be the same as the beginning of these disastrous ending >.> But... Pffft! God, I love to see Akashi and Kagami arguing with each other XD
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	213. It’s too late – it’s already common nature to me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with the promised second chapter~
> 
> Much like the previous one, I have to leave here yet another warning, for better or worst >.>  
> WARNING: gore
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter ^.^]

“You know…” started Aomine, sluggishly rubbing the back of his neck, a deep frown on his features. “This is boring as fuck!! What the heck is this!? I heard nothing of this from Akashi!!!!”

 

“None of us did, Mine-chin,” leisurely said Murasakibara, munching on a chocolate bar as he kept one of his barriers secured around the three of them, which was being continuously bombarded by high paced bullet shots from a half minced group of soldiers: broken bones and large pieces of the bodies had been turned into a sloppy mess of blood and flesh but they still stood there, opening fire against them as if nothing had happened.

 

“What do you think they are?” asked Kise, closely observing the zombie soldiers from near the borders of the barrier. “A nasty creation of Hanamiya?”

 

“They’re probably the puppets that Akashi mentioned or some shit like that,” grumbled Aomine, dropping his hand from his neck and quickly crossing his arms over his chest. “I never expected them to be immortal puppets, though.”

 

“I think Aka-chin is the same, the way he told us to deal with them,” pointed out Murasakibara, his eyes quickly surveying his barrier to check if there were cracks or small openings in it. The last time that had happened while under open fire, he spent months beings tested inside of a lab and he surely could go without another stay in one. “He’s not one to make mistakes but he has his own limits in terms of knowledge. He manages to make that up by creating new strategies, though.”

 

“Well, he’s not here to tell us what to do and it’s not like we can simply call him to ask about what to do!” grumbled Aomine, his feet nervously tapping on the floor due to the restlessness that this situation was causing in him. “Hey, Kise! Can’t you use your ability and copy Hanamiya’s so that you can order those puppets around as if they are yours?”

 

“That’s not how my ability works and you know it!” yelped Kise, quickly turning his head around so he could look over to the tanned male, a deep frown on his features. “For starters, I’ve never met Hanamiya. He had already been expelled of Teikou by the time I got there. I never saw him using his ability so I don’t know how it works and, hence, I can’t copy it.”

 

“You’re useless,” groaned Aomine, after having released an exasperated sigh. “Maybe taking Kagami in this group would have been a better idea than having you, a dead weight, around.”

 

“That’s mean!!” sobbed Kise, a massive pout appearing on his features. He softly kicked the floor and turned around to face the barrier once again. “You want me to use my ability to get rid of them? Fine, fine, I will! Murasakibaracchi, drop your barrier in this area!!”

 

“Eh…? But…” started Murasakibara in the middle of munching, an eyebrow slightly arched as he closely observed the pissed off blonde. “What are you going to do, Kise-chin?”

 

“Heh… Having me around is the same as having Akashicchi around~” smugly announced Kise, peering over his shoulder with a smirk on his lips, his golden eyes shining just the slightest as one of their irises started to gain a blood red tonality. “I’ll send them all to the pits of Hell from daring to get in my way.”

 

“Mine-chin, you rubbed Kise-chin the wrong way just now…” softly mumbled Murasakibara, a shudder running down his spine at the sight of the heterochromatic redhead’s personification in the blonde. He motioned one of his hands forward and created an opening in his purple-coloured barrier right in front of Kise, who leisurely walked out of it without minding the bullets being fired at that moment.

 

“ _Burn until nothing more than ashes remain,_ ” commanded Kise, his body glowing a strong golden light at the same time as his now heterochromatic eyes, one red and the other retaining his usual eye colouring.

 

Out of the blue, the entire floor burst into a sea of flames, strongly consuming everything that was in it with the exception of the blonde and the two ‘Users’ being protectively kept inside of Murasakibara’s barrier. The smell of burnt flesh quickly spread and contaminated the whole area, but the sound of screams never resounded. It was truly truth that a dead man told no tales.

 

“And it’s done~” cheerfully announced Kise, leisurely waltzing back to the closed barrier and waving at the other two males from outside, a large grin on his features as they reverted back to their normal appearance.

 

“I really hate it when he gets like that…” mumbled Aomine, suppressing a shudder inside of his body as he observed the flames quickly die down, leaving nothing more than crispy black bones around them.

 

“Bad habits die hard, right?” pointed out Murasakibara with a quick shrug of his shoulders. “Kise-chin is very similar to Aka-chin, in that regard. He does whatever he wants, whenever he wants.”

 

“Kasamatsu-san sure was a blessing or I think Kise would have broken Teikou inside out,” sighed Aomine, a deep frown on his features as he switched his gaze to the blonde, who looked more like a dog wagging its tail around as it waited for some praise over its good deeds than a high school student who had incinerated a group of men down to their bones. “Though I also pity him for having to deal with this mental oversized puppy.”

 

“Just admit that you’re happy over the fact that he’s no longer attached to you, Mine-chin,” snorted Murasakibara, sideways glancing at the tanned male while unwrapping another chocolate bar.

 

“Shut up!!” yelped Aomine, inwardly cringing extremely hard at what the purple haired male had just said. “Those were the worst days of my life since I joined Akashi’s gang… It was pure Hell and I could have very well gone without them!! I’m just glad that he didn’t go around humping me like he wants to do with Kasamatsu-san…”

 

“Right… you have someone else to hump you now…” grudgingly mumbled Murasakibara, annoyed at the fact that the conversation somehow ended up turning into a love counselling session of some sort. “Why is everyone basking in romance and lovey-dovey moments but me…? I want my Muro-chin…”

 

“Ah… Sorry…” apologized Aomine, dropping his gaze for a couple of seconds to the floor until his brain fully processed the sulking words of the taller male. “Wait, what do you mean I have someone to hump me now!? I’m not being humped! Never will!”

 

“Yes, yes~ Whatever you say,” acknowledged Murasakibara while rolling his eyes around. He broke the barrier that he had erected around them and walked over to the blonde, who had once again a dissatisfied expression on his face.

 

“You were talking about Senpai, weren’t you?” suspiciously asked Kise, his eyes all but tight slits as he intently kept the tanned male under his gaze. “Keep your hands off of him, ‘Ero’minecchi, or I’ll make sure you can only get humped for the rest of your li—“

 

 _Boooooom!!_ The loud sound of an explosion shook the whole building around, almost causing the three males to lose balance at the intensity of the shock waves. Layers of dust previously stuck to the ceiling fell down on them and the ashes of the previous fire clouded their vision, causing the world around them to gain a greyish tonality.

 

“D-Do you think they also have bombs hidden in here?” hesitantly asked Kise, taking his arms from around his head, unconscious action out of sheer survival instinct.

 

“That or Akashi/Aka-chin found Kuroko/Kuro-chin,” pointed out Aomine and Murasakibara at the same time, all three of them exchanging quick glances between themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Perfect Copy?" by Kimura Ryouhei - Kise.
> 
> To be honest, even taking the canonical KnB story, I find that Kise and Akashi are quite similar to each other. I don't really know how to explain but... I just feel that they have a lot of similarities personality-wise. That's probably the reason why I can never grow to dislike Kise, even if I know so many people that simply can't stand him XD
> 
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	214. The spider’s web has been finished

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> First of all, HAPPY AKAKURO WEEK!!!!!!!!!! The most waited week of the year has finally arrived once again~ We have to celebrate accordingly, right? Hence~ THIS CHAPTER IS NOT ONE OF THOSE TTwTT
> 
> This chapter is clear proof that, sometimes, I should have someone around just snatching the computer out of my hands before this type of chapters get created... Oh, I'm evil... I'm so evil that I feel like punishing myself... *sniff*
> 
> WARNING: gore; manipulation
> 
> E-Enjoy...
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

_“Haa… Haa…”_

 

All the sounds around Kuroko, even his own breathing, sounded distorted to his ears. Even though he wanted to continue to look straight ahead in the black haired male’s direction, his eyes kept jumping around through the room as if they had a will of their own. It was simply maddening, how his whole body throbbed in pain as his weakened ability tried to fight the deadly virus and neurotoxins coursing through his bloodstream.

 

He let his lips part, desperately gulping down the fresh air around him, but all he could force his body to do was some shallow gasps. His body felt so hot and feverish, why was it still refusing to cool down through the means of a proper breathing rhythm?

 

He craved for water, he craved for food. How could he not, seeing as Hanamiya hadn’t allowed him to touch either of the two since they were closed down in that bloodstained large division?

 

Kuroko’s head slumped down once again, his consciousness on the verge of slipping out of his grasp for the millionth time. Crystal clear tears gathered in the corner of his glassy teal eyes.

 

_Akashi-kun… I want to see you… I want to see you so, so much… But… Like I thought, it’s better like this… It’s better if you don’t come… It’s better if you leave me here… It’s better if you forget about me… I want to see you… but I don’t want you to see how big of a monster I truly am…_

 

“Ready to give up now?” asked Hanamiya, motioning one of his hands forward and softly ruffling the hair of the downcast bluenette. “It’s okay to give up, you know? Because nothing will change from now onwards. You’ll still be an immortal monster and you’ll still continue here with me, going through these wonderful teachings of mine. Isn’t this the place that suits the both of us the best?”

 

“………o… don’t……….nt to…” managed to croak Kuroko, the taste of blood filling his entire mouth as he forced his throat and vocal cords to pronounce those words.

 

“Ah, is that so?” breathed Hanamiya, the rage that had been bubbling in his stomach for a while now starting to climb the walls and motion up his oesophagus. “If so, then—“

 

_…ng. …ang. Bang. BANG!_

 

“Oh?” As quickly as he could, Hanamiya ran backwards and tried to put as much distance from the bluenette as he could during the short seconds that it took to the large locked metal door to fall off of its hinges down to the ground. He snickered. “You’re so well educated, even knocking on my door first. But you should have waited like a good boy for me to open the door. That last bit only made your actions come off as rude, Akashi.”

 

“Tetsuya!” screamed Akashi as soon as he stepped inside of the room, not even paying a shred of attention to the black haired male and his taunting words. He immediately started running towards the bluenette, commanding in the back of his mind for the chains holding him to the wall to break and successfully catching his limp body against his chest when it started to fall down in the floor’s direction. “Tetsu…ya?”

 

“Oh shit, Kuroko!!” yelped Kagami, also readily running towards the two smaller males and the completely blood-stained area of the room where they were standing.

 

“Sorry but I’ll leave Kuroko to you. I’ll be checking on the other moron,” said Hyuuga, quickly darting to the corner of the large room where Kiyoshi was lifelessly sitting down.

 

“Tetsuya! Can you hear me? Tetsuya!” repeatedly called Akashi, gently turning the battered body of the bluenette against his own so he could somehow check his condition. He seemed to be conscious and alive, seeing as his teal eyes, albeit more lacklustre than before, were open and he could hear some shallow breaths coming from his gasping mouth, but yet… With one of his hands, he softly cupped Kuroko’s cheek, his fingers caressing his burning and bloodstained skin. “Tetsuya, can you hear me? If you can, say something. Anything at all!”

 

“…kashi…kun…” softly whispered Kuroko, his vision blacking out and in, again and again, as he tried to focus his vision on two reddish beings hovering over his body. “…you… okay…?”

 

“Eh…?” interjected Akashi, his mouth momentarily opening wide open at the bluenette’s unexpected question. “What are you asking, you dummy? You’re the one who should be asked that question right now, not me.”

 

“…but… we’re… underground…” whispered Kuroko, feeling his throat crumbling down purely out of the strain of having to speak. It truly was regrettable that he couldn’t move his body around right now, for he would have loved so much to hold the heterochromatic redhead’s hand like they had done while riding the train to Sumida.

 

“Don’t worry about that. I’ll take the both of us out of down here,” reassured Akashi, gently bringing the bluenette’s inert body closer to his own and softly nestling him in his embrace. Truly, Kuroko was the most kind-hearted being in the world, to the point of it being called irrational.

 

“Awww, isn’t this such a lovely scene?” taunted Hanamiya, sticking his tongue out in sheer disgust. “The freak couple is finally reunited. I feel like tears are about to burst out of my eyes and I will be wailing like a baby for hours~”

 

“Hanamiya Makoto, I’ll kill you!!” announced Akashi in a ferocious bark, his voice echoing through the large underground area. “You better get ready because I surely will not let this time pass!”

 

“What are you going to do this time? I was already expelled of Teikou Academy and have absolutely no ties with you anymore,” said Hanamiya, tilting his head to the left just the slightest as he looked down at the heterochromatic redhead. “I owe you and your sorry excuse of a school nothing at all. And that also means that you can’t do anything to me anymore either. Do you really think that I’ll bow down to you and just say, ‘I was in the wrong here, take Kuroko with you and punish me accordingly to my evil deeds’? You must be kidding, Akashi~”

 

“I never expected you to,” hissed Akashi, glaring daggers at the black haired male, who seemed to be having the time of his life at that moment. “You’re just the type of trash that has to be forcefully removed from someone’s life.”

 

“Oh, so scary~” continued taunting Hanamiya, sticking his tongue out at the heterochromatic redhead. “But again, do you really think it can be that easy? Do you really think I will return to you my new little toy? No way in hell!”

 

“’Your new little toy’? Don’t you even dare to say that as a joke, Hanamiya Makoto!” roared Akashi, his heterochromatic eyes intensely glowing as he glared at the black haired male, his arms tightening as a protective reflex around the bluenette’s quivering body. “Tetsuya would never belong to the likes of you! He’s forever mine and mine alone. My turtle dove only!”

 

“Pffft…! Ahahahaha! This is the best!” started laughing Hanamiya out of the blue, his body shaking around with the amusement running deep inside of him. “Do you even know what you’re holding in your arms right now? Do you know what kind of monster you are calling as ‘your turtle dove’? You don’t know, do you? Of course you don’t! Ahahahahahaha!”

 

 _I guess this is it…,_ weakly said Kuroko in the back of his head, softly closing down his eyes as a thin thread of tears slowly ran down his features. _I guess this is the end of my dream-like life together with Akashi-kun…_

 

“Do you see all of these lines written on the walls?” asked Hanamiya, spreading his arms up in the air as to urge them to look around their surroundings, the walls filled from top of bottom with hundreds of black small lines all over their entirety. “This is the number of times that I killed your turtle dove over there and then he just regenerated and returned back to life as if nothing had happened throughout the three and a half months we spent here together! Oh, for you, it was nothing more than a couple of hours, I guess~ Ahahahahahahahahaha!”

 

“Taiga, take care of Tetsuya for a couple of minutes, if you will,” said Akashi, carefully taking a better hold of the bluenette’s body and gently putting him in the taller redhead’ arms, one of his hands being used to wipe the tears streaming down Kuroko’s closed eyes with the back of his fingers.

 

“O-Okay,” acknowledged Kagami, taking a lot of care as he grabbed into the bluenette and softly put him to rest against both his chest and lap. “…Eh? What did you just…?”

 

Before Kagami could even finish his sentence, Akashi disappeared from in front of him and appeared once again right in front of Hanamiya, who he strongly punched straight in the face without any shred of hesitation over their weight and body frame difference.

 

“You dared to put your hands on Tetsuya and hurt him in such ways… Unforgivable!” hissed Akashi, lunging forward the same hand that was used to punch the black haired male and taking a hold of his neck, his grip to that length of his body tightening until he felt Hanamiya’s throat bend underneath the palm of his hand. “I won’t even be kind enough to use my ability on you. Die, Hanamiya Makoto!!”

 

“Gah! Ugh… Haa…!” Feeling his air supply grow scarcer and scarcer, Hanamiya slowly motioned his hands upwards so he could grab into the heterochromatic redhead’s limb that was robbing him of one of his most basic living sustenance. His own saliva dripping down from his gasping mouth, his lips suddenly turned upwards to form a sly smirk. “Got… y-you~”

 

With a flick of his wrist, Hanamiya pulled up from inside of his sleeve one of the small daggers that he always carried around on his being, wherever he may be in, and quickly pushed it upwards deep inside of Akashi’s arm, ripping his flesh apart until the tip of the dagger hit his radius.

 

“Ngh…!” Flinching momentarily at the stabbing pain on his lower arm, Akashi slackened his hold on the black haired male’s throat for nothing more than a fraction of a second. And that was all that the other male needed to take a better hold of his hands and strongly press his thumbs deep inside of the wound he had just made and force him to release his throat on the whole. “Ghh…”

 

“You have much better reactions to pain than Kuroko displayed throughout these months,” taunted Hanamiya, continuing to push his thumbs deeper inside of the wound and tearing the heterochromatic redhead’s flesh even more. “Never once did he scream in pain or cry for help. Actually, he never shed a single tear. I wonder if because of his monstrosity, he lost the ability to react to pain in the same way as humans. That’s something that I want to continue to test out, as well as several other things, of course. Care to join in the fun and become the normal ‘User’ comparison to the disgusting monster over there?”

 

“Stop screwing aro—“ hissed Akashi, forcefully yanking his arm out of the black haired male’s hold but his body came to a sudden halt as soon as acquired the said freedom.

 

“Hm? What was that? Can you repeat that once again, Akashi~?” asked Hanamiya, a sly smirk on his lips as he leaned his upper body forward and shortened the distance between his and the heterochromatic redhead’s face. “Go on~ Say it~”

 

“Gh… I’ll… ngh… join… you…” croaked Akashi, even though he was doing his utmost to keep his mouth completely shut at that moment.

 

“A-Akashi…?” called Kagami, readily putting his arms around the bluenette’s body so as to protect him of whatever unknown was happening right now.

 

“Kagami, take Kuroko out of here and go get the other guys!” yelled Hyuuga out of the blue from the other side of the room, his hands holding onto Kiyoshi’s inert body and keeping him in a straight sitting position on the floor. “Akashi may still be fully conscious right now but his body is nothing more than one of Hanamiya’s puppets now!”

 

“What!?” yelped Kagami, his gaze switching from the glasses wearing older male back to Akashi, who simply stood in front of Hanamiya without moving a single inch at all.

 

“Oh, welcome, welcome~” tauntingly said Hanamiya, giving a couple of pats to the heterochromatic redhead’s head, who was still glaring daggers at him with his mismatched eyes even though he was as useless as a doll right now. “I’ll let you in our fun and extremely educative classes if you pass a little initiation trial~ Bow down to me and beg for my forgiveness over what you did in the past<3”

 

“Akashi, don’t fucking listen to him!” yelled Kagami, tightening his hold to the weakened Kuroko, who looked just as shocked over this whole situation as he was. “If you do what that asshole tells you to, everything will be over! You won’t be able to have Kuroko by your side ever again!”

 

“Gh…!” Painfully biting into his lower lip until blood was drawn out of the small wound caused by Kagami earlier, Akashi dropped his body down on the floor, hands loudly slamming against the dusty ground.

 

Akashi Seijuurou prostrated himself on the filthy floor right in front of Hanamiya Makoto.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "STEAL YOUR BREATH" by Fukuyama Jun (Hanamiya, who I could gladly steal his breath for all eternity at this rate...)
> 
> I told you... I'm evil... I should punish myself... Any suggestions to an according punishment, guys?
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	215. I’ve gotten stronger with every thought I’ve had to give up in exchange for determination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I think that with this... we can all finally breath once again TTwTT <\- those are tears of happiness and relief!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading and surviving this whole thing!]

“Hehehe… Ahahahahahahahahahahahaha!”

 

“No way…” softly breathed Kagami, his red eyes open in utter shock at what he was witnessing – Akashi Seijuurou, the biggest ‘boss chara’ of the whole universe, getting down on his knees on the floor and bowing down in the most humble way possible to Hanamiya, who laughed around to his heart’s content at that exact same sight.

 

“Ahahahaha! This is the best feeling ever!” happily yelled Hanamiya, his lips fully outstretched into a psychotic smile, his evil laughter still echoing inside of the room. Once he managed to calm himself down a little bit, he looked down at the heterochromatic redhead prostrating himself by his feet. “But this is not how you really beg, is it, Akashi? Since it seems like you don’t know how to do, I will kindly teach you how it’s really done~”

 

“Ngh!!” groaned Akashi with a pained voice when the black haired male lifted one of his feet from the floor and strongly stomped on the back of his head, making him slam his forehead against the hard tiles beneath his body.

 

“See? Now we’re getting there~” taunted Hanamiya, twisting his foot on top of the heterochromatic redhead’s head and forcing it to get more plastered against the floor. The sight of a small pool of blood forming around the cracked tile sent a pleasurable shudder down his spine. “But it would be unfair of me to only let you experience this, wouldn’t it? More so when you have your beloved ‘turtle dove’ right there watching you with such a pitiful expression on his face. He must want to join you so let’s grant him his wis—“

 

“Don’t you dare touch Tetsuya more than you already did…!” hissed Akashi, grabbing into the black haired male’s pants when he started removing his foot from his head. “I’m already going to kill you really good for what you have done to him… Don’t anger me even further!!”

 

“Huh!? Who do you think you’re talking to, you fucking slave!” angrily roared Hanamiya, once again powerfully stomping on the smaller male’s head and slamming his face down against the broken tile, more blood splashing from the deep cut on his forehead. “You’re just a puppet, what are you moaning about!? Or you stay well put over there on the dirt or I will rip your tongue out!”

 

_“The stronger the ‘light’, the stronger the ‘shadow’ becomes. Get a lot of ‘lights’ to make an even brighter one and grow strong together with it. Strong enough so that you can actually help the ‘light’ this time around and don’t end up losing it again!”_

 

“Nn…” Slowly, Kuroko motioned one of his hands forward and awkwardly pushed Kagami’s hands off of his body, using his other hand to support his weight on the floor and help him come to an unsteady standing position.

 

“Eh? Kuroko, wait…!” hastily said Kagami, quickly motioning his hands forward to grab onto the bluenette as he slowly walked further away from near the wall where he had been held hostage on. “Where do you think yo—“

 

All of a sudden, Kagami’s whole body shook in deep fright, his temperature dropping a couple of degrees and his skin becoming coated in a cold sweat that seemed to further even more the coldness dyeing the core of his being. Eyes unmoving from the bluenette as he slowly gained more steadiness and rhythm to his frail body, Kagami couldn’t help but stay completely frozen in place, his body shaking around just the slightest.

 

_Kuroko is… angry?_

 

Using the last thread of strength that he still held inside of his body, Kuroko silently approached the location where Hanamiya was taunting and abusing Akashi, still unmoving against the floor. Taking a deep breath, his body suddenly disappeared from the place of the large underground, now unlocked, area which he had been held and, without any warning whatsoever, Hanamiya’s body was strongly yanked and pushed out of the place where he was stomping Akashi into submission.

 

“W-What…?” yelped Hanamiya, not understanding in the least what was happening and why had his body been suddenly pushed around. As he was trying to make head or tails of the current situation, his eyes scavenging around the room for an answer, he lost his balance when something kicked at the back of his knees and then another violent yank against his chest made him noisily tumble down hard against the floor. “Ngh! Y-You… How are you using your ability, let alone moving… Kuroko!?!?”

 

“You told me that pain is the best teacher of the world… didn’t you?” asked Kuroko, sitting down on top of the black haired male’s waist while keeping his torso immobilized by strongly pushing one of his hands against his sternum while the other pressed one of the taller male’s elbows down to the floor. “You also called me your best student so far. I believe that teachers sometimes also get to learn a thing or two from their students throughout their teaching years.”

 

“Tetsu…ya?” softly breathed Akashi, slowly moving his bleeding forehead from the floor and peering over to what was in front of him. He could see the back of the bluenette, who remained sat down on top of the black haired male… as well as the beginning stages of his shadows, which he got so well acquainted with during their training sessions. “Tetsuya, don’t do it.”

 

“As your best student, I have a couple of constructive critics to give you,” continued Kuroko, looking down on the silent black haired male, out of pure horror over this slip on his side. Slowly, a shadowy string appeared from the bluenette’s original shadow, unrhythmically dancing around his body. “You mercilessly cut and tore my body around without hesitation; this is my constructive critic to you over it.”

 

“Arghhhhh!” screamed Hanamiya when the shadow hovering over their bodies came striking down from its position in the air and was stabbed on his thigh. “Ahhh… Ngh!”

 

“You tried to manipulate me, coerce me into following according to your deviant and wicked ways,” continued Kuroko, expressionlessly staring down at the trembling in pain older male. “This is another constructive critic of mine.”

 

“AHHHHHHH!” screamed Hanamiya once again when a second shadowy string appeared out of nowhere and deeply perforated one of his hands, its sharp end getting buried in the floor and crucifying him down to the ground. “Ahhhh! Haa… Argh…!”

 

“Tetsuya, stop!” tried Akashi once again, motioning his body up from the floor to a sitting position with the help of his arms.

 

“But I can forgive you for all of that,” said Kuroko, withdrawing his shadows from the black haired male’s body and allowing them to remain hovering over his body as before. “Humans continuously hurt one another. It’s an unbreakable and never ending cycle that can only be called a curse for humankind. However, that doesn’t mean that I will forgive you for hurting those around me. You got your answer over how it’s like to have an eyeball stabbed by a pointy sharp object through the means of my body. Shall I show you what it’s like to have an eyeball ripped out of its socket through the means of yours?”

 

“N-No… S-Stop… K-Kuroko… please…” sobbed Hanamiya, his eyes fearfully pinpointing the bluenette’s hand as he released his chest and slowly motioned it towards his face. He quickly switched his scared gaze to the bluenette’s features, his teal eyes ominously glistening a baby blue light, and then returned it to the hand that continued to grow closer and closer to his sight. “N-No… Pl-Please…”

 

“Tetsuya, don’t do it!” yelled Akashi, quickly fully getting up on his feet, despite his fuzzy vision due to the blood dribbling down his features from the cut on his forehead, and running over to the place where the bluenette and black haired male were.

 

“Maybe if I do this, you will learn to not touch or hurt my most precious sun!!” yelled Kuroko all of a sudden, closing his fist right in front of the black haired male’s face, his eyes glowing even more strongly.

 

“…Eh?” interjected Hanamiya, slowly opening his eyes once again, as he felt absolutely nothing happen to him despite the smaller male’s words. However, when Kuroko pulled his hand back to near his body, doing the same motions as if he was tearing something apart by strongly yanking it, an indescribable pain started coursing all over his body. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! IT HURTS!!!!! AHHHHHHHHH! I-IT HURTS!!!”

 

“Haa… Haa…” His body shaking around due to the thrashing black haired male underneath him, Kuroko felt the little strength that he had been using completely being sucked out of his body, his shadows swiftly turning into microscopic black particulars out of his lack of fuel to keep them going.

 

“Eh?” interjected Kiyoshi all of a sudden, his head straightening as if he had just woken up from a nap. “Eh? What’s… Eh? Hyuuga, what are you…? Eh? Eh?”

 

“Kiyoshi!? You’re awake!” yelped Hyuuga, immediately lunging his hands forward and strongly grabbing the brunette’s face to keep him still and quickly observe his demeanour to see if there was anything wrong with him, at least on his outside physic.

 

“AHHHHHHHH! YOU…! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?” furiously yelled Hanamiya, his body quivering around as pain still strongly coursed all over him. With an awkward flicker of his wrist, he took another dagger from its hiding location, wrathfully glaring at the bluenette still sitting on top of him at the same time as he swung it over in his direction. “WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME, PHANTOM!?!?!?!”

 

“Shut the fuck up already!!” roared Kagami, strongly punching the black haired male straight in his face at the same time as Akashi jumped forward and protectively pulled Kuroko’s body against his chest, putting distance between him and the black haired male that was completely KOed with the taller redhead’s punch. “Oh, that felt nice.”

 

“Tetsuya!” called Akashi, carefully keeping the bluenette’s half inert body on his lap as he worriedly fretted over his well being. “Are you ok—“

 

“Are you okay, Akashi-kun?” interrupted Kuroko, motioning one of his hands up in the air and wiping the blood slowly dribbling down his face with the back of his fingers. “That cut looks very bad… You need to attend to it the soonest possible… or you’ll have a nasty scar on your forehead… You’ll be… going around… scaring… even more peo— Cough! Cough!!”

 

“Don’t worry about me, you dummy, and stop straining yourself already,” sighed Akashi, adjusting the bluenette’s body so that he could remain half laid down on top of his lap and chest more comfortably, using the sleeve of his already blood-stained school uniform to clean the blood dripping down from the bluenette’s panting mouth. “Gosh, you’re burning, Tetsuya! Your ability usually has the opposite side effect. What did he do to you?”

 

“It’s okay… It’s just some… neurotoxins… all mixed up… in my body…” said Kuroko, softly smiling at the heterochromatic redhead. “After I… haa… rest for a little bit… I’ll get better… It will go away… ngh… even quicker if I di—“

 

“Don’t say something like that even if you can’t die!” interrupted Akashi out of the blue by uncharacteristically raising his voice while spewing admonishments. “I don’t ever want to see you dying right in front of my eyes. No, I don’t even want to think about the possibility of you dying… Don’t view your death as a solution to everyone’s problems.”

 

“I never… thought… that I would… get to be… yelled at… by you… like this…” softly chuckled Kuroko, his body being momentarily overtaken by another coughing fit that violently shook his body around. “Haa… Haa… I’m sorry… for having… worried you… But… I’m really… happy… to see you… again… Sei…juu…”

 

“Taiga, keep guard on Hanamiya Makoto and knock him out once again if Daiki and the rest don’t get here before he regains consciousness,” instructed Akashi, quickly picking up the bluenette’s unconscious body at the same time as he stood up. “I’ll let them know through Satsuki that you’re here but I need to take to Tetsuya to the hospital as fast as possible. I’ll leave you in charge of this area until they arrive here.”

 

“O-Okay,” acknowledged Kagami with an awkward nod of his head.

 

“Hyuuga Junpei,” called Akashi, walking over to the place where the glasses wearing male was attending to the confused brunette. “Teletransport all four of us to the hospital.”

  
“What?” interjected Hyuuga, completely confused over the heterochromatic redhead’s request. By four of them, did he mean…

 

“What are you waiting for? Tetsuya’s not the only one who needs medical assistance right now, Kiyoshi Teppei is also in dire need to be attended to by a medical team,” urged Akashi, stopping right in front of the glasses wearing male so he could take all four of them out of there as quick as possible. “Don’t stand there day dreaming and get back to work.”

 

“R-Right!” awkwardly acknowledged Hyuuga, readily taking a hold of both Kiyoshi’s and Akashi’s clothes so he could teletransport all of them at the same time. “I sure hope that Kuroko’s ability won’t screw this up.”

 

As soon as Hyuuga finished his sentence, that area of the large underground area became completely void of people in a blink of an eye.

 

“Wai— You’re gonna leave me here alone with the crazy scientist asshole!?” yelped Kagami towards the silence of the room, very well aware that he would get absolutely no retort or answer to his groans.

 

“What are you freaking moaning about now, Kagami…?” groaned an extremely familiar male voice, coming from the open door that Akashi had taken down with his ability. When Kagami looked over his shoulder towards it, he found Aomine, Kise and Murasakibara running towards the half desert division.

 

“Akashi already contacted you guys?” inquired Kagami, sort of suspicious and extremely on his guard over seeing those three so timely pop out of nowhere at this precise moment, where he was completely alone save for the unconscious black haired male by his feet.

 

“No, that guy’s puppets suddenly dropped dead all on their own without a warning so we figured that you guys must have finished things down here,” explained Aomine, releasing a tired sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“Uwah! What the heck!?” yelped Kise, his eyes wide open as he looked over to a blood-stained wall and floor and the gory mess that it was. “That’s a whole lot of blood there! W-What happened!? Are Kurokocchi and Akashicchi both okay!? Where are they?”

 

“Akashi had Hyuuga-senpai teletransport him, Kuroko and Kiyoshi-senpai to the hospital,” answered Kagami, inwardly sighing in relief at witnessing the puppy-like semblance of the blonde as he worried over the well being of the two smaller males. “Everything’s over now.”

 

“That’s good to know and all that but…” started Aomine, walking over to the redhead at the same time as his blue eyes worriedly skirted over all the blood-stained areas of the large division, as well as the unusual markings all over the walls. “What happened here? H-How’s Kuroko?”

 

“Ah… About that…” hesitantly started Kagami, not exactly sure about how he should go about this and break the news to the tanned male, out of everyone. “Kuroko, he’s… well, alive, just to take your mind off of the edge. Kiyoshi-senpai is also alive and considerably okay, I guess. A bunch of shit that I have no idea how ended up happening happened and Akashi became one of Hanamiya’s puppets.”

 

“What!?” yelped the three other ‘Users’ all at the same time, their expressions that of utter shock.

 

“I won’t get too into that one because I think that Akashi would break a couple of bones more than I already owe him but that’s that,” continued Kagami, a shudder running down his spine at the bad feeling that he still had over having punched the heterochromatic redhead while they were still on higher floors. “Then Kuroko got pissed off at Hanamiya and beat the shit out of him. Though I was the one who put him out cold over there.”

 

“You’re not making any sense at all, Kaga-chin…” sighed Murasakibara, opening a new package of potato chips and readily starting devouring its contents.

 

“Shut up! Go ask Akashi for more details and a better explanation if you want to know more!” roared Kagami, crossing his arms over his chest in a sulking motion. “Ah…”

 

“What?” inquired Aomine, an eyebrow slightly arched when he saw a serious frown appearing in the redhead’s expression.

 

“For some reason… Akashi’s calling me ‘Taiga’…?” said Kagami, trying to figure out why exactly the heterochromatic redhead had a sudden change of heart over his addresses towards him, especially after he had mercilessly punched him before all of that came into being. It was simply… frightening.

 

Aomine, Kise and Murasakibara all exchanged quick glances between themselves and then returned them to the restless redhead.

 

“Kagami…” said Aomine, slapping his hand on the redhead’s shoulder and giving a quick squeeze to it with a strong grip. “Welcome to the Hell known as Student Council of Teikou Academy.”

 

“Please take care of me from now on, newbie~” cheerfully said Kise, a mischievous smirk on his features as he started creating different plots and strategies inside of his brain regarding the redhead and his own current amount of workload.

 

“I already have a bad feeling about this…” sighed Murasakibara, noisily munching on the potato chips while sideways glancing at the redhead.

 

“Eh…? COME AGAIN!?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ZERO" by Ono Kenshou.
> 
> Finally...! Finally I won't have people screaming at me or telling me to stop or calling me a sadist -.-' You know, writing this last 10 or so chapters was really damaging for me psychologically... I told you a few months earlier that I traumatised myself when I killed Aomine in the original draft for Code M, didn't I? Then you can imagine how it felt for me to continuously torture and kill Kuroko... Especially since I can see every little detail of it inside of my head *sniff* I don't blame any of you for it since I was doing the exact same thing to myself but... I told you, guys... I just put things down on paper but I hold absolutely no control over the story - the characters do!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Hiejima Mutsumi Website](https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi)   
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	216. I’m glad I made it here, I’m glad I didn’t give up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I am so damn glad that this chapter has been released during AkaKuro Week XD The reason being...
> 
> WARNING: NOSEBLEED ALERT!!!
> 
> Enjoy the porn :3
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

“Nn…” Softly turning his body sideways in the bed, Kuroko slowly motioned one of his hands up and gently rubbed his eyes. He still felt extremely sluggish and with his movements restricted but he somehow had the feeling that it was due to having just woken up rather than the effects of the malicious drug and neurotoxins.

 

When he fully opened his eyes, his surroundings were pitch dark due to the late hour in the night (from what the moon shining out of the window informed him of). When he slowly tilted his head so he could peer to what was in front of him, he found a bundle of red hair leaned on the mattress of the bed he was currently occupying.

 

“You need to lose the habit of sneaking into my bed, Akashi-kun…” softly breathed Kuroko, a tender smile on his lips as he gradually motioned his hand towards the silky red locks and leisurely grabbed into them with his fingertips.

 

“Nn…” Sensing a soft sensation lightly tugging at his hair, Akashi rubbed his cheek against the mattress of the bed at the same time as he opened his eyes, slowly lifting it afterwards from the sleeping position that he had taken as he impatiently waited for the results of the medical examination to the bluenette. When he saw Kuroko with his eyes open and softly smiling at him, he quickly shot up to a straight sitting position, his hands being slammed against the bed. “Tetsuya! You’re awake! How are you feeling? Do you feel any pain or discomfort in your body? Any other thing that you feel that is wrong with you? Wait just a second and I’ll call the doctor to come to observ—“

 

“Akashi-kun, calm down,” said Kuroko in the form of an amused sigh, grabbing into the redhead’s clothes when he got up from the chair he had been using to stop him from running over to the hospital room’s door. “I’m already okay. There’s no need for doctors and any further observations. My ability has taken care of it all.”

 

“Really?” asked Akashi once again, taking a gentle hold of the bluenette’s features and caressing his warm cheeks with his thumbs. “Are you really okay, Tetsuya?”

 

“Yes, I’m… fine…” acknowledged Kuroko, his lips starting to tremble just the slightest and a sob getting stuck in his throat. His watery eyes quickly transformed into tears, which ran down his features and gathered against the redhead’s hands. “I’m f-fine… Ngh…”

 

“Cry, Tetsuya. Cry and forget everything,” said Akashi, taking a seat on the bed and gently cradling the smaller male against his chest, one of his arms tightly hugging his trembling body while his other hand softly caressed his blue locks. “Again… I wasn’t able to keep my promise again and let others hurt you. Hanamiya Makoto hurt you so badly and I wasn’t able to do anything at all to help you…! But no more. Never again will I let you out of my sight; never again will I let anyone else touch you. This time, I won’t promise. I will pledge you with my life that I will properly protect you from now on.”

 

“Even… uhh… Even if… I’m a disgusting monster?” sobbed Kuroko, desperately grabbing onto the redhead’s clothes as he cried against his chest.

 

“I’ve told you this countless times already, Tetsuya, but you’re no monster,” sighed Akashi, planting a chaste kiss on the crown on his head. “You’re the most gentle, caring and loving human in the whole world. Someone who puts other’s well being above his own safety. Someone far stronger and braver than any warrior that is known in history. You’re my turtle dove, you’re _my_ Tetsuya. Whatever you are, it won’t ever change that.”

 

“But… I can’t d-die…!” sobbed Kuroko, parting his features from its hiding place against the redhead’s chest and looking up in the other male’s direction, round tears overflowing from his sorrowful teal eyes. “Whether I have my heart stabbed or head cut off… Whether I’m blown to pieces or get thrown out of a tall building… Whether I slit my own throat or jump to my own demise… I can’t die! My b-body doesn’t even age properly anymore… I’m stuck with this appearance for the rest of my life and I… I can’t die…”

 

“…To be honest…” started Akashi with a certain hesitation, the bluenette’s body flinching against his chest as he tightened his hold on him. “Since that time when you lost control of your ability in the first week of classes, I had a certain feeling that might be the case.”

 

“…Eh…?”

 

“I don’t know if you remember but Daiki stabbed your arm during that outburst of your ability,” explained Akashi, gently running his fingers through the bluenette’s locks as he looked straight into his surprised eyes. “It healed almost instantly, not leaving a single trace of it afterwards. I checked your arm while you were in a coma and I can vouch for it personally. That was the first indicator that I had. Then when you were explaining to me about your ability and said that it could nullify anything, that it could bring anything to a naught, another few pieces clicked. Having this type of confirmation hurt me, I can’t deny it. But not because you kept it a secret from me or because I find you disgusting or something resembling a monster, but because it means that you had to suffer with it. Because I failed to protect you and, if it wasn’t for your miraculous ability, I would have lost you forever. So rather than surprised or shocked, I was mad at myself for having failed you in such a monumental way. I was so mad at myself for being nothing more than a useless 15 year old brat that allowed his most important person to be so easily robbed from him.”

 

“A-Akashi-kun… Ngh… I’m sorry…” apologized Kuroko in between soft sobs and sniffs. “I’m sorry for not telling you… Ngh… I’m sorry for having worried you… I’m sorry… for having made you feel like that…”

 

“You’re not to blame for it, Tetsuya,” reassured Akashi, softly kissing his forehead as he wiped the tears overflowing from one of his eyes. “Like Shintarou mentioned today, people learn from their mistakes too. This was a life-time lesson for me. But rather than that, I’m worried about something else.”

 

“…?”

 

“You can’t die… but the other people around you can,” said Akashi, motioning his head forward and leaning his forehead against the bluenette’s. “I will eventually die and leave you behind all alone once again. I can’t have that happening. I can’t stand the thought of leaving you by yourself. So I need to improve myself until I can fully call myself ‘perfect’.”

 

“You’re saying that as if immortality is something you can achieve just because you want it,” mumbled Kuroko, his cheeks slowly becoming tinged in a pinkish blush.

 

“If it’s for you, Tetsuya, then I can do anything,” softly whispered Akashi against the smaller male’s lips, gently delivering a small peck to their soft, reddish flesh. “Becoming immortal and having to exist forever in this unhinged world is a small price to pay if I get to be with you forever.”

 

“Your overconfidence really knows no boundaries,” sighed Kuroko, giving a small jerk to his head and returning the previous peck of the taller male with one of his own.

 

“I shall take that as a compliment,” softly purred Akashi before he fully lunged his face forward and hungrily kissed the bluenette, his slight forcefulness throwing the two of them down to the bed.

 

“Mmhm…! Haa… Akashi-kun, wait… Ngh!” softly breathed Kuroko, his body shivering just the slightest as the redhead switched from kissing him to gently caress his neck with small nibbles and licks. “Ah…! W-We’re in the hospital right now…”

 

“I don’t care,” shortly said Akashi, proceeding with his teasing foreplay motions and lightly sucking at the bluenette’s neck, leaving a reddish hickey on his pale flesh as he leisurely parted his upper hospital clothes from his torso.

 

“Ngh… Well, I care,” said Kuroko, motioning his hands forward and taking a gentle hold of the taller male’s head, pushing it upward and ripping his mouth apart from his neck. A bright red blush lovingly showed on his features as he shyly mumbled, “We’ll continue this later…”

 

“I’ll think about it,” acknowledged Akashi, hungrily kissing the bluenette one more time before he resumed with his caresses towards his neck, his fingers now skilfully undoing the buttons from the smaller male’s clothes.

 

“If you’re thinking… ahh… about it, then please stop,” admonished Kuroko, though even he had to admit that it was being done quite half-heartedly. “What exactly will we do… haa… if a nurse or a doctor comes in all of a sudden…?”

 

“Stopping now would be a waste of such a perfect chance,” pointed out Akashi, one of his hands climbing up the bluenette’s torso, down from his navel area up until his rosy buds, so erotically begging to be pleasured by his touch. “Especially since I, just to play safe, have ordered everyone to be kept far away from this area of the hospital until I said the opposite. Well, the other ‘Miracles’ are an exception for that but they are currently too busy sorting things out about Hanamiya Makoto and his imprisoning to come by for a surprise hospital visit.”

 

“A waste, you say…” shyly mumbled Kuroko, his blush darkening even further as he understood that he had absolutely no way out of this anymore. Well, not that he was actually against it in the first place, forgetting his reticence over having someone, whoever they may be, walk in on them while they’re getting physically intimate with each other.

 

“Do you want me to stop… or continue?” asked Akashi, slowly rubbing the tip of his nose against the length of the bluenette’s neck as his hand continued to work its way through his panting chest, his fingers teasingly sliding over his nipples.

 

“Uh… Sometimes I really wonder if you’re not a demon whose life mission is to tempt others…” grumbled Kuroko, his hands climbing up the redhead’s arms and tightly circling his neck. “Even if you tell me that no one will come by, p-please let’s be quick. It’s embarrassing to do something like this in a hospital room…”

 

“Next time, I’ll take the location into consideration even further,” chuckled Akashi before his head dived forward and he passionately kissed Kuroko, their tongues leisurely rubbing against one another.

 

“Mmhn… Haa… Ahh!” moaned Kuroko, his body squirming around just the slightest as the redhead’s hand trailed backwards and returned once again the near his navel, swiftly getting in his pants and taking a hold of his half-hardened member. “Ahh… Akashi-kun… Ngh!”

 

“Are you really well enough already to be doing this?” asked Akashi, his lips surrounding one of the bluenette’s rosy buds and softly suckling on it, his hand rhythmically pumping his hard cock with the help of the precum going down its length.

 

“Ahh! If I wasn’t… haa… would you stop?” asked back Kuroko, his eyes teary and half-lidded as he peered over at the redhead hungrily feasting on his chest. The sight alone of his heterochromatic eyes filled with desire and want would have been more than enough to get him to climax if he hadn’t been hell bent into not humiliating himself even further.

 

“Unless you were about to die… haa… I hardly would,” answered Akashi, strongly biting down on the smaller male’s nipple as the motions of his hand hastened even further.

 

“Ahhh!” loudly moaned Kuroko, unconsciously thrusting his hips forward as he spilled his release all over his chest and the redhead’s hand.

 

“Still sensitive due to yesterday’s little love affair in Fuyu?” teasingly asked Akashi, releasing the bluenette’s still half erect length and fully lowering his pants.

 

“Yesterday… haa… for you…” said Kuroko in between heavy panting, his features dyed in a lovely dark red shade. “For me… it was months ago…”

 

“Did I just hear Kuroko Tetsuya admit that he’s sexually frustrated right now?” teased Akashi once again, chuckling softly when he heard the other male softly groan while hiding his flustered features behind the back of his hand. A mischievous smirk on his lips, he slowly slid his body on the mattress of the bed and, with a quick motion of his hands, Akashi grabbed the back of Kuroko’s thighs and pushed them forward, lifting his legs well above his shoulders and fully exposing the bluenette’s tight entrance. “After I just pledged to take good care of you forever, we can’t have that, now can we?”

 

“Ahhh—!”

 

-.-

 

“Man, office work is always such a drag…!” groaned Aomine, leisurely stretching his back by the means of raising his arms well above his head.

 

“You have it nice, Midorimacchi, to be on leave from your duties with the Student Council,” grumbled Kise, grudgingly looking sideways to the green haired male as they crossed the desert corridor in the restricted area of the ‘Users’ medical facilities of the hospital.

 

“Do I look like I’m having fun right now?” hissed Midorima, sideways glaring at the blonde as he adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose in an attempt to hide the dark circles underneath his eyes.

 

“Kise-chin, you are the most insensitive idiot that I have ever met in my whole life,” admonished Murasakibara, shaking his head in disapproval as he munched on a Maiubou. “How can you say something like that to someone in Mido-chin’s situation?”

 

“L-Let’s just hurry up and check on Kuroko and Akashi,” grumbled Midorima, somehow feeling just as irked that the purple haired male as he did with the pathetic blonde. He sighed. “I don’t want to leave Takao unattended for too lo—“

 

_“Ahhhhh! Where… haa… are you l-licking!?”_

_“If I don’t get you properly wet and stretched, or I won’t be able to get inside of you, Tetsuya, or you’ll be under unnecessary pain.”_

_“Ngh! Ahhh—! T-Tongue… Haa… D-Don’t… ngh… put it in…! Ahhh! Seijuurou…! Ahh!”_

 

“I didn’t know that Kuro-chin called Aka-chin’s first name while in private,” said Murasakibara, leisurely unwrapping another Maiubou as the group came to a stop in the middle of the corridor, still a considerably distance between them and the hospital room from where the loud moans were coming from.

 

“…! …! ………!” silently screamed Midorima, his face bright red as his mouth wordlessly opened and closed in quick succession.

 

“I wish Kagami was here…” sighed Aomine, a strained knowing smirk on his lips as he closely eyed the closed door of the hospital room. “His face is priceless while hearing Kuroko moaning his brains out.”

 

“I knew those two were banging each other!!” cheered Kise, closing his fist and pulling his elbow backwards in a sigh of victory. As soon as he finished his quick celebration, he immediately turned around on his heels. “Now if you’ll excuse me, gentlemen, I’m getting the heck out of here!!!! I don’t feel like dying anytime soon…!”

 

“Oh shit!!” cursed Aomine, following through the exact same motions as the blonde and starting to run through the length of the corridor. He screamed, albeit with a very soft tone of his voice. “Kise, you ass, you’re always the first one to step up your game and run with your tail in between your legs, you fucking masochist!!”

 

“Not masochistic enough to want Aka-chin to kill him, at least,” pointed out Murasakibara, as both him and the green haired male also started walking out of there with an extremely hurried stride.

 

“That doesn’t put anyone’s heart at ease in the least, though!” yelped Midorima, continuously adjusting his glasses out of sheer embarrassment at what he had heard coming from that hospital room. “Nor eliminates the threat hovering over our necks!”

 

-.-

 

“Ahhhh!” S-Sei…juurou…!” moaned Kuroko, his hands tightly grabbing at the taller male’s red locks as his body squirmed around against the messy bed sheets out of sheer pleasure and embarrassment over having the redhead licking that specific intimate area of his body. “Ngh… Ahhh!”

 

Hearing the erotic mewls of the bluenette, Akashi pushed his tongue deeper inside of Kuroko’s crevice, its walls clenching down around it and milking more of his saliva deeper inside of the opening. Sliding one of his hands down from his thighs, he pushed one of his fingers inside of the slick entrance, readily aiming for the spot he had so deliciously memorized in his brain that his tongue could not reach.

 

“Ahhh! S-Seijuurou… Can’t…! I… haa… can’t…!” loudly moaned Kuroko, his whole body tingling and vibrating inside out. As the redhead had released one of his legs, it swiftly fell down over his shoulder, his heel digging into Akashi’s back, as the other one remained held up in the air. However, when Akashi pushed his finger deeper inside of him, all the way down to his knuckle, and strongly scraped his insides with the tip of his finger, Kuroko’s body shuddered from head to toes and his creamy release bursting free, dirtying his torso a second time. “Ahhh!”

 

“Sorry, Tetsuya,” apologized Akashi with a husky voice as he withdrew his finger from inside of the bluenette’s crevice. Returning his waist back to the mattress, he readily went for his belt, finally freeing his throbbing erection and coating it lightly with the precum leaking out from the tip. “This may be hard on you but I need to get inside of you right this moment, or I’ll go insane.”

 

“Ahhhh!” screamed Kuroko, the redhead’s cock being thrust all the way in a single push. Tears streaming down from his half-lidded eyes, he strongly clawed his fingers in Akashi’s arms, grabbing into him as if hoping that it would somehow make him stop, even if just for a couple of seconds. “Haa… Ngh… Haa…”

 

“Haa… Are you okay, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, trying to still himself as he felt that that was the message that the panting male was trying to pass on to him by grabbing into his arms.

 

“You dare… haa… to ask that after… ngh… you just… shoved it in…?” hissed Kuroko in between heavy panting and some soft groans.

 

“That’s why I apologized beforehand,” said Akashi, pulling his arms from the bed over to him and dragging Kuroko’s weight together with it, neatly sitting him on his lap and, inadvertently, making his member penetrate him even deeper.

 

“Ahhh! Ngh… Ahh…” moaned Kuroko, releasing the redhead’s arms and grabbing into his back, his fingers tightly clutching at his dishevelled clothes. “Haa… Seijuu… Please don’t… move a… haa… single inch…”

 

“I can try… haa… but it’s hard on me, the way you are so tightly sucking me in,” breathed Akashi, one of his arms circling the bluenette’s waist to prevent himself from moving around too much and make his discomfort more bearable, while the fingers of his other hand slightly traced the place where they were connected to make sure that he hadn’t accidentally tore the tight entrance.

 

“Well, I wish… ngh… that I could… spit you out right this moment…” grumbled Kuroko, his body trembling as he felt the redhead’s fingers touch his entrance and tickle his skin just the slightest.

 

“Ahaha. I love it when you go feisty on me, Tetsuya,” laughed Akashi, tightly hugging the bluenette with the arm around his waist and delivering a soft peck to the side of his lips.

 

“…Eh?” interjected Kuroko, caught completely off guard by the taller male’s unexpected words. He immediately dropped his head down and slammed his face on the redhead’s shoulder.

 

“Shit…!” cursed Akashi, one of his hands grabbing into the bluenette’s half taken off shirt while he tightly buried his fingers on the messy bed sheets, closing his heterochromatic eyes momentarily so as to keep himself in check and not move at all like his body and mind was telling him to.  “Tetsuya, relax a little bit… Ngh… I won’t be able to hold back if you tighten this much on me.”

 

“…”

 

“Tetsuya, can you hear me?” tried Akashi once again, turning his neck around so he could peer over at his hidden features.

 

“…I… really hate your pushiness…” softly mumbled Kuroko, his voice slightly muffled due to the position he had taken. “But… I… can’t help but… l-love how cheeky… you get… at certain times…”

 

“…I will say this right here and now in my defence…” started Akashi, the arm circling the bluenette’s torso slackening off its hold on him to be readily substituted for his waist. “You just pushed the right and wrong button at the same time.”

 

“Ahhhh!” moaned Kuroko, his waist being pulled up all of a sudden and then strongly pushed down once again. His hands readily grabbed into the fabric clothing the redhead’s back, his face remaining hidden on the taller male’s shoulder as his body was rocked around non-stop, his waist moved up and down to accompany the rhythmic thrusts performed by Akashi. “Ahhh! Ngh…! S-Seijuu…rou… Haa… Sei… Ahh—“

 

“Tetsuya…” purred Akashi, his lips working against the exposed side of the bluenette’s neck, licking, nibbling and leave his marks through its length. When he gave a strong bite and sank his teeth on his sweaty skin, gnawing on his flesh just the slightest, Kuroko’s body strongly shook around against it, his crevice once again pleasurably tightening around his hard cock. “Haa… Tetsuya, you drive me insane… Why did you have to go and say something… ngh… like that at a time like this, where I’m with my hands tied over what I can do to you?”

 

“Your… ahhh… fault…” whimpered Kuroko in between heavy panting and the passionate mewls that escaped his lips. “My… haa… body… My feelings… Ahhh! My everything… haa… is your fault…!”

 

“Tetsuya… Haa… Look over here,” requested Akashi, seductively whispering in the bluenette’s ear before he gave a quick nibble to its jelly earlobe. He felt his whole body rippling at the teasing bite but he stubbornly continued to keep his face well hidden against his shoulder. “Tetsuya… I want to kiss you… Haa… I want to feel you even more and how alive you are.”

 

“You… ahh… never play fair… do y—“ mumbled Kuroko with a slightly pained voice, slowly turning his head around and finally showing to the redhead his bright red features. However, what he had not expected seeing was Akashi’s face tinged with a similar colour, a certain shyness on his gaze as he lovingly stared directly at his eyes. “I-I think… haa… I’ll keep my face h— Mmh!”

 

Before Kuroko could return to his hiding place, Akashi quickly lunged his face forward and caged the bluenette’s lips with his own, leading him through the means of passionate kissing into a position that enabled their intimate acts less difficulty and awkwardness.

 

“Tetsuya… haa… Tetsuya…!” called Akashi again and again after he broke the kiss with the bluenette, his arms kept tightly around his waist so as to not allow him to go into hiding a second time while he continued thrusting his hips, rubbing Kuroko’s insides deep with his throbbing cock. “Say it again. Haa… Say that you love me again and I’ll do the same.”

 

“Ahhhh! Seijuurou… Sei…juurou…! Ahh—“ moaned Kuroko, leaning his face forward and hungrily kissing the redhead. There was no way he could say something as embarrassing as that in the already extremely embarrassing setting they were already in – but he could at the very least try to express it through other means. “Haa… Seijuurou…”

 

“Ngh… You’re too much… even for me,” groaned Akashi, pushing the bluenette’s waist down at the same time as he took a hold of his hardened length, starting to pump it after having ignored it since the smaller male’s first climax. He, however, had managed to catch on the intended message even with Kuroko still acting as stubborn as ever. Even if Kuroko was yet to be ready for the weight of those words, he knew that there was a very strong place for them in this make-shift relationship of theirs.

 

“Ahh! Seijuurou… Cummin—“ warned Kuroko in between loud moans and whimpers, leaning his chest over the redhead’s and bumping their foreheads against one another, his hands reflexively closing against his clothes. “Cumm— Ahhhhh!”

 

“Tetsuya…!” groaned Akashi with a husky voice, his own release bursting free inside of the bluenette shortly after Kuroko’s was dribbled all over his hand and upper clothes. Feeling slightly tired, in such a pleasurable fashion, he leaned backwards and slumped his back on the mattress, Kuroko following right after him and getting neatly laid down over his chest.

 

“Haa… Haa…” panted Kuroko, shifting his head and nestling his face against the nook of the redhead’s neck. “Seijuurou… Haa… I can’t die… but you should know that I… haa… can get dead tired…”

 

“Sorry…” apologized Akashi, taking a deep breath to try to regulate his breathing rhythm and the heat still coursing through his body. He lifted one of his hands from around the bluenette’s waist and gently ruffled his hair, his fingers entwining around the silky and slightly moist light blue locks.

 

“Instead of apologizing… haa… could you please do me… a favour?” asked Kuroko, peering over to the redhead’s features without moving a single inch. When he got a soft hum of acknowledgment from Akashi, he grabbed into his clothes and gave a nasty pinch to his skin, even with the fabric providing some protection to it. “T-Take it out already… you b-big dummy…!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Boku no Omoi" by Ono Kenshou - Kuroko.
> 
> Akashi, you hungry, horny beast XD Poor Kuroko just woke up and you're already swallowing him whole, out of the blue. Really, I feel he's more at "danger" while with Akashi around than when kidnapped, ahahahahaha!
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
>  [Tumblr](http://mafymod.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Hiejima Mutsumi Website](https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi)   
>  [Weekly Previous](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)   
>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	217. No matter how slim our chances or how dire the straights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> I'm sorry that I'm so late in releasing this chapter >_< I've been extremely busy these last few days with helping my younger brother sorting out his school situation so I've been barely able to touch my computer -.-' But thing will go back to normal tomorrow~
> 
> I hope you enjoy!
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter~]

“Ugh…” softly groaned Kuroko, his hand softly running down his own torso as a slight expression of disgust appeared on his features. “I feel all sticky and yucky… I’m in dire need to take a long and nice bath…”

 

“Since this is an isolation room, used to keep instable ‘Users’ inside without having them cause external damages, it doesn’t have a shower in it,” sighed Akashi, motioning his head forward and leaning his chin on top of the bluenette’s shoulder, who was sat down in between his legs. “You’ll have to make do with only wiping it down with a wet towel for now, Tetsuya.”

 

“Here’s another reason as to why we shouldn’t have done it here…” grumbled Kuroko, puffing out his cheeks as he dropped his head backwards, leaning it over the redhead as he grudgingly sideways glanced at him. “Yet it seems that this horny lion just can’t control himself anywhere…”

 

“You’re to blame for allowing yourself to be kidnapped so easily,” pointed out Akashi, lowering his head a little bit after he removed his chin from the smaller male’s shoulder and teasingly gnawing at his shoulder. “Next time you go missing, I will have my way with you on the spot, no matter who’s there.”

 

“Ahahahaha! That tickles, Akashi-kun…!” laughed Kuroko, wiggling his back around to try to shake off the misbehaving carnivore. Once the redhead took his mouth from his back, he once again leaned his body over his chest, comfortably nestling in their shared warmth. “How long did I stay asleep this time?”

 

“Not for very long, against my expectations,” confessed Akashi, releasing a soft sigh as he circled the bluenette’s waist with his arms at the same time as he adjusted the messy blankets covering their lower halves. “Since you clearly overused your ability and your body was in… such a shape, I honestly thought that you would be in that very same comatose state as before for a good few weeks, if not more than a month. That’s why I got so surprised when I saw you awake. Only a handful of hours have gone by since Hyuuga Junpei teletransported us out of Tsukiji.”

 

“Tsukiji?” repeated Kuroko, taking a quick peek backwards towards the redhead and then lifting one of his hands in his direction, carefully gluing back the bandage that he had on his forehead and had one of its corners starting to come off.

 

“That was the location of Hanamiya Makoto’s hideout and where he kept you for that gruesome show,” almost hissed Akashi, a deep frown appearing on his features even with the loving touches of the bluenette. “But everything’s dealt with now. Hanamiya Makoto will never do something like that ever again. To you or to anyone else. He will never hurt or turn people into his puppets ever, ever again.”

 

“Wai— Y-You didn’t kill him, right!?” yelped Kuroko, quickly departing his back from the redhead’s chest and turning his torso slightly around so he could look straight into the redhead’s face.

 

“No, regrettably, I haven’t seen Hanamiya Makoto since Taiga punched him unconscious in Tsukiji,” sighed Akashi, his frown only intensifying even further, despite having taken a more concerned shape than an angry one. “He has been apprehended inside of the restricted area of Teikou Academy, though as far as possible from Fuyu as we could afford to have him. Though we will have to eventually let him out of there, one way or another. We may be ‘Users’ and seen as degenerates, but it goes without saying that we can’t apply lifetime imprisoning to someone. It goes without saying that we can’t execute him either. We aren’t like the regular humans that want us all dead and we will never become like them since we know how much it hurts to be hunted down.”

 

“Then…” softly breathed Kuroko, a small frown also appearing on his features as he keep looking over to the redhead. “What are you going to do about Hanamiya? No, wait, didn’t you become one of his human puppets back then!? Are you okay, Akashi-kun?”

 

“Yes, I’m more than okay, Tetsuya,” reassured Akashi, softly smiling at the bluenette before he delivered a soft peck on his pursed lips. “Like I said, he will never hurt anyone else ever again. For some reason, Hanamiya Makoto became unable to use the part of his ability that created puppets.”

 

“Eh…?”

 

“As Daiki and the others were transporting Hanamiya Makoto back to Teikou, he managed to attack and wound one of Shuuzou’s ‘little birds’,” started Akashi, pulling the bluenette once again closer to him by giving a quick tug to his waist. “However, nothing happened. He couldn’t mind control them, not even cause a single pinch in terms of pain to his body. Shuuzou had a few doctors do a quick check up on him after he was fully detained and they concluded that, even though he’s still a ‘User’ like us, apparently he was downgraded in terms of standing. Part of his ability doesn’t exist anymore. It was as if it never existed in the first place.”

 

“…”

 

“When you were facing off by yourself against Hanamiya Makoto, what did you do to him, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, his expression darkening a little bit more as he grew more serious and the topic of conversation more severe. “I couldn’t quite see what was happening due to both of your positions, but whatever you did put him screaming as if you were killing him very painfully. But with the exception of the wounds on his thigh and hand, there were absolutely no other damages to him physically. And it’s not like you can put a person screaming like that with the things you were telling him.”

 

“I… I don’t know…” confessed Kuroko, lowering his gaze a little bit as he tried to recall the events of a couple of hours ago. “Hanamiya talked and talked throughout all of the time he imprisoned me. He was a complete chatterbox and babbled left and right about any and everything. He said a lot about his own ability and that he used something similar to webs to enslave people. I don’t really remember all that clearly what happened back then but I saw the webs. They were clearly in front of me, wrapped all around Hanamiya and spreading from him to all around his surroundings as if it was a spider’s web. My first thought when I saw that was… if I rip these webs apart, I may be able to free you from Hanamiya’s control… So I grabbed them and yanked at them until they broke.”

 

“I can’t quite put my finger on it, since there’s still a lot about you and your ability that I’m not aware of, but is it possible that you nullified his webs at that moment and, together with it, nullified the part of his ability that could create more of those?” asked Akashi, parting his back from the headboard of the hospital bed and lifting the bluenette’s face with his fingers so he could look straight at him once again.

 

“I… I don’t know…” answered Kuroko, shaking his head just the slightest as a completely lost expression morphed his features. “I’ve never done anything like that before… Actually, I never experienced anything like that before. It was as if my eyes had gotten completely different from what they usually are. Have I… gotten even more monstrous than before after dying so many times…?”

 

“Don’t say that even as a joke,” admonished Akashi, softly giving a chop to the bluenette’s head. “If you indeed nullified things as we are theorizing, then I, Kiyoshi Teppei and only god knows how many other ‘Users’ and humans were freed forever from Hanamiya Makoto’s control. I can only see it as a positive power-up of your ability, even if I can only fear what sort of consequences it may cause to you and your body.”

 

“I think that at this point, there’s no consequence or ‘equivalent exchange’ that will get me kille—“ snorted Kuroko but his words came into a sudden halt, his hands quickly motioning forward and grabbing into the redhead. “A-Akashi-kun, how’s Takao-kun!? I-Is he still alive!?”

 

“Eh? Yes, he is,” acknowledged Akashi, an eyebrow getting just a little bit arched at this sudden change in conversation. “He’s on the same floor as we are but he’s in the life support area since he had to be put in a coma due to his steadily weakening body. Shintarou has been with him all this ti—“

 

Hastily, Kuroko jumped out of the bed but he only found himself back down on the floor, his legs have been caught up in a tangle of bed sheets. Groaning softly, he pushed his naked body to a sat down position, now even more soreness added to the one he could still feel on his lower back.

 

“Tetsuya, what’s the sudden hurry?” inquired Akashi, immediately getting out of the bed and crouching down next to the bluenette, helping him into a standing position due to his trembling and weak legs. When he saw the expression on his face, it was almost as if he had been able to read his mind. “Are you going to use this power-up of your ability on Kazunari?”

 

“If Midorima-kun consents to it, despite being aware that I have absolutely no control of it or if it may not even work in the first place…” said Kuroko, turning his head towards the redhead and giving a decisive nod at him. “I will try to nullify the part of Takao-kun’s ability that is making him sick.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Bring it on now!!" by Ono Kenshou and Suzuki Tatsuhisa - the saviour and the one soon to be saved XD
> 
> FINALLY! Yet another source of admonishments will disappear *sniff* Yes, guys! I'm NOT going to kill Takao! I told you from the very beginning that this fic is the character's quest to achieve happiness, didn't I? Why won't you believe me? TTwTT
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	218. And using your own unique style to its greatest potential is very like you, I have to say

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> So... Just 2 more chapters to go for this arc to be completed, huh? XD Excited to see how things will go? And~ excited for the KiKasa intermission? You will finally get to find out a LOT of things regarding Kise, Kasamatsu and... obviously Nijimura and Haizaki X3 I'm dying here from all of the excitement!!!
> 
> Meanwhile, enjoy the so awaited conclusion unfold~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

The time Midorima spent inside of Takao’s hospital room always went in either two directions: he would be furiously reading the clinical exams of his comatose lover and trying to figure out how of improving his health, even if barely, even if just the enough to keep him alive… or he would be hollowing himself in despair, letting his heart sink down with the thoughts that perhaps it was just selfish on his behalf to keep Takao alive, to keep him in pain due to him wanting to share a future together with him.

 

He knew that Takao shared that very same wish as him but… which is the crueller option? To allow Takao to finally rest in peace for all eternity and have their dreams and future destroyed… or to keep him in a comatose state and in constant pain, surely something that couldn’t be called being alive in the least?

 

“I’m sorry, Takao… but without you here yapping left and right… I don’t know what to do anymore…” croaked Midorima, his elbows leaned on the mattress of the raven haired male’s bed and the back of his hands being used to support his head as he leaned his forehead in them. “I no longer know what is the correct or wrong anymore… If you don’t tell me anything… I won’t know what is it that you want to do…”

 

A sudden knock on the door liberated him from his one sided conversation and agony. Releasing a soft sigh, Midorima got up from the chair he had been using to remain near the sleeping raven haired male and slowly walked over to the door, expecting to see or a nurse with the next clinic exam’s results or a doctor to perform the hourly check up.

 

He surely wasn’t expecting to see both Akashi and Kuroko standing on the other side of the door that he slid open.

 

“We apologize to come disturb you this late in the night, Shintarou,” said Akashi, a soft smile on his lips as he gave a small push to the bluenette’s back and urged him to step up. “But I think Tetsuya has something to tell you.”

 

“Ah… Um…” hesitantly started Kuroko, his fingers nervously fiddling with the long sleeves of the oversized hospital clothes that they managed to find inside of his assigned room and teal eyes jumping around from place to place. “I… want to help Takao-kun…”

 

“…” Silently, Midorima simply stared back at the nervous bluenette, his brain momentarily frozen due to the words that were the exact opposite of what he had been told earlier that day. He softly cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses, his eyes averting looking to the smaller male. “What made you suddenly change your mind?”

 

“Ah…” Slightly taken aback by that question, Kuroko curiously eyed the green haired male before a thin smile crept into his lips. “Those dorayakis back then were really delicious.”

 

“Huh?” interjected both Midorima and Akashi at the same time, now completely lost on what the bluenette was speaking about.

 

“If you no longer need it, I’ll be returning to my bedroom,” deadpanned Kuroko, taking a step backwards as he readied himself to return to where he came from and finally give his sore hips and lower back some rest.

 

“I-I never said that…!” yelped Midorima, ready to follow right after the bluenette if he were to really go away. When he saw that Kuroko hadn’t made any further attempts to leave and remained on the same spot in front of the raven haired male’s room, he released another soft sigh. “It’s just… after the way things went in the morning… and all the other unexpected events that followed right after… I wasn’t expecting to have this type of visit.”

 

“Surprising other people seems to be one of Tetsuya’s expertises,” pointed out Akashi, chuckling softly as he slowly grabbed onto the bluenette’s pinky finger with his own. “I was quite surprised to see him wake up this soon.”

 

“I think surprised is not the correct word to describe it…” softly mumbled Midorima but he quickly cleared his throat and stepped aside from in front of the door. “Either way, come in. Is there anything you need so we can do this? I can have it ready in a matter of minutes.”

 

“Um… No, it’s not needed but…” acknowledged Kuroko, lightly shaking his head around as he came inside of the room together with Akashi. “Midorima-kun, there’s something that I would like you to understand before we start. If we really get to start.”

 

“…What is it?” hesitantly asked Midorima, a small frown appearing on his features at the ominous sound in the bluenette’s voice.

 

“From what Akashi-kun told me a couple of minutes ago, my ability underwent some sort of power-up and, apparently, I nullified part of Hanamiya’s ability,” started Kuroko, one of his hands closing and opening around his clothes due to his nervousness. “His webs no longer work and he can’t seem to create any more.”

 

“That’s good news because I wouldn’t like to suddenly be killed by Akashi as he’s controlled by that madman,” grumbled Midorima, crossing his arms over his chest as an expression of plain disgust creased his features.

 

“Yes, it is, but I have no idea what I did at that time,” confessed Kuroko, dropping his gaze a little bit. “Not only was I tired, in more than one sense, my body was also filled to the brim with nasty neurotoxins. I don’t actually remember much of what happened at that moment. So I… have no idea how I can do the same thing as at that time… or if I won’t make some sort of accidental mistake and nullify what is not meant to be nullified. I… have no idea if I can control this new power-up at all…”

 

“I see,” acknowledged Midorima, slowly adjusting his glasses as he took a sideways glance at his sleeping lover. “Well… Do whatever you have to do.”

 

“Eh?”

 

“At this rate, if nothing is done regarding his illness, Takao is going to die, even if we put him under life support,” sighed Midorima, a conflicted demeanour on his features as he sadly looked over to Takao’s sleeping form and all the machinery attached to him. “There may be a cure somewhere, but we don’t have the necessary time to find it. And the cure may only be a temporary fix to it. Who knows if the illness would be able to return, this second time even more strongly? And… it’s not like I love Takao for his ability. Even if you end up nullifying his ability on the whole and he becomes a normal human once again, it won’t change that. Even if he returns to being blind once again, that still won’t change anything at all. I just want Takao to be alive by my side, no matter what he might be or how it might be done.”

 

“The same…” softly mumbled Kuroko as he heard the green haired male speak, his eyes shifting in a masked way towards the heterochromatic redhead. What Midorima felt towards Takao was the exact same unconditional acceptance that Akashi displayed for him. It didn’t matter what they were or under what kind of settings or circumstances it was done – all they needed was their presence in their lives. “Pfft… Ahaha…”

 

“…”

 

“Ah, I’m sorry, Midorima-kun. It wasn’t my intention to laugh,” readily apologized Kuroko when he noticed the way the green haired male was looking at him. He softly cleared his throat and straightened his body, a serious demeanour popping up on his features once again. “There’s a chance that he might die if I nullify the wrong thing.”

 

“Takao will die if nothing is done,” pointed out Midorima, facing the bluenette with the exact same seriousness that he was attributing to this life or death situation. “And I think he would be able to rest in Heaven or Hell much more easily knowing that he died while fighting than simply by succumbing to his illness. Just as much as me…”

 

“What will you do if Takao completely loses his ability?” asked Kuroko, taking a quick glance to the raven haired male and then returning his gaze to the taller male. “If he stops being a ‘User’… there’s a possibility that he won’t be allowed to stay in Teikou anymore, due to Shirogane-san and his current antagonism with our school.”

 

“I think that Shirogane Eiji is the least of our concerns in that regard,” intervened Akashi, a knowing smirk on his lips. “He’s about to be demoted from his position as Japanese Prime Minister. Actually, I don’t think he will even be able to stay in Japanese territory after his dirty little secrets are fully exposed.”

 

 _It seems that I haven’t been fully updated on a lot of things, then…,_ inwardly sighed Kuroko, his brain already worrying over what kind of thrifts Akashi got himself involved in against the Japanese government. He just hoped that he hadn’t been the cause to it – even though he knew better than that…

 

“Do I have your consent in using my ability on Takao-kun, even though you are fully aware of the countless risks that it may pose to his life, Midorima-kun?” finally asked Kuroko, gulping down hard at his own words.

 

“That’s what I’ve been saying since a while ago, Kuroko,” acknowledged Midorima with a sharp nod of his head. “I’ve seen how your ability works more than once. I knew from the very beginning that there are more possibilities of it failing than succeeding. However… at the strike of midnight, a new day will begin. And Oha Asa predicts that Scorpio will be in first place, followed right next to Aquarius. As long as you two have your lucky items next to you, I’m sure that fate will follow its course in the most beneficial of ways to everyone.”

 

“What are the lucky items?” inquired Akashi, not questioning the green haired male in the least over his unconventional views of luck and horoscopes and starting to walk to the hospital room’s door so he could go prepare the items himself.

 

Midorima put his hand inside of his pants’ pocket and took his cell phone from there, readily opening the limited edition of the Oha Asa app, one that announced the lucky items of the following day with a couple of hours of difference with the official announcement. A sour look immediately appeared on his features at what he saw.

 

“I’m going to kill Takao after this…” grumbled Midorima, twisting his nose around as he settled himself on one of the chairs inside of the hospital room, his arms grudgingly being crossed over his chest. “It’s a tsundere for Scorpio and a yandere for Aquarius…”

 

“Where can we find a yandere, then?” asked Akashi, sliding the door open once again as he looked to the two ‘Users’ staying behind.

 

“…” Both Kuroko and Midorima expressionlessly looked over to the heterochromatic redhead, a completely disbelieving semblance on the green haired male while the bluenette simply looked at him with eyes filled with pity.

 

“Akashi-kun, I think that if you just sit down together with Midorima-kun, everything will be okay in that regard,” deadpanned Kuroko, gesturing with one of his hands towards the chair placed next to the one that the green haired male was already occupying. “You can also opt to call out the other Akashi-kun, if you want to have double the effect.”

 

“…”

 

“You’re the yandere, Akashi-kun,” sighed Kuroko, as he saw a completely lost expression in the redhead’s features. “I’ll show you what I mean afterwards if we have the chance to go on another bookstore d-date…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Kooto no Ue de Korekara mo" by Ono Kenshou and Ono Daisuke - our 2nd place Aquarius and the 1st place's tsundere lucky item XD
> 
> Me: Cliffhanger much, brain?  
> Brain: This is just the beginning~ *evil smirk*  
> Me: You sadistic little shit...  
> Brain: You still love me~  
> Me: *deadpans* I wouldn't be able to live without you. In the most literate of senses >.>  
> Brain: *pouts* Shut up and just write.
> 
> Yeah, that's pretty much me admonishing myself after I figure out that the next chapters are cliffhanger after cliffhanger... Teehee~ Oopsie~
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
>  [Tumblr](http://mafymod.tumblr.com/)   
>  [Hiejima Mutsumi Website](https://mafymod13.wixsite.com/hiejimamutsumi)   
>  [Weekly Previous](https://mafysreleaseschedule.blogspot.co.uk/)   
>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


	219. I’m fine just barely hanging in there

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> So, the only way I found to increase my chances of slaying the university's entrance exams and successfully go back to studying on a course that I actually enjoy is... having to go back to high school and redo some subjects to lift up my nasty grades from the time where I was more in the hospital than outside in the world >.> The thought is honestly scary... Good thing that I have the rest of the Spring and the whole Summer to get used to that idea *sigh*
> 
> Speaking of high school~ These are the two last chapters which happen mainly in high school, aren't they? At least for a while, I mean :3 Let's go straight to what everyone wants to see finally happening, shall we?
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter!]

Kuroko silently stood in front of Takao’s hospital bed, his teal eyes unmoving from the comatose male. Behind him only stood Akashi and Midorima but he was aware that right outside of the hospital room were a horde of doctors and nurses ready to take over if anything went wrong.

 

The awareness of all the people around him wasn’t making the impossible task in front of him any easier.

 

“Um… I… I don’t—“ started babbling Kuroko, slowly taking a step backwards as his hands tightly gripped at the sides of his clothes.

 

“You’re not going to chicken out on us now, right, Tetsuya?” asked Akashi, crossing his arms over his chest as he tilted his head while keeping his eyes permanently on the bluenette.

 

“I-It’s not that,” grumbled Kuroko, feeling a tinge of annoyance striking his brain at the heterochromatic redhead’s words. “It’s not but…”

 

“I believe that you are able to do anything that you say you can,” said Akashi, a smile on his lips as he softly nodded his head in acknowledgement. “No matter what it may be that you say that you’re going to do.”

 

“Please don’t force your overconfidence on me…” deadpanned Kuroko – although the deadpan only showed on his voice. A small smile was beautifully stretching the corner of his lips as he remained with his back facing both of them. _Thank you, Seijuurou._

 

Taking a soundless deep breath, Kuroko fully closed the distance between him and the bed, his upper body hovering above the sleeping raven haired male. He still wasn’t sure of how exactly he should go about this, how he would be able to unleash his ability is such a way for a second time.

 

But… If he remembered correctly, at that time he…

 

 _What I wanted to do wasn’t hurt Hanamiya or avenge myself over what he had done to me,_ inwardly said Kuroko, trying to relax his body and mind as he closed his eyes and tried to recall the exact same emotions that he had felt back then. _I simply wanted to protect Akashi-kun. I didn’t want to lose my sun like it had previously happened with my two lights. And… what Takao-kun told me back then is the truth. If I don’t want to lose my lights again, then I need to grow stronger together with them. If I get more lights in my life, my shadow will also increase. Akashi-kun is my sun… but everyone else… I also don’t want to lose them! Kagami-kun, Aomine-kun, Momoi-san… Kise-kun too, as well as Murasakibara-kun… And of course Midorima-kun and Takao-kun. I hate them… No, I told myself that I hate them purely because of what they did to Ogiwara-kun. But still, I don’t want to lose any of my lights!_

 

“I don’t know what I should do… but I won’t let you die, Takao-kun…” softly whispered Kuroko, opening his eyes once again, a brighter shade in them as he focused them solemnly on the raven haired male. He surveyed his entire body, searching for anything in it that could be comparatively similar to what he had seen in Hanamiya’s.

 

He knew what Takao’s ability was – he could see the true shape of everything. His ability was just like his own – it was permanently activated and couldn’t be turned off at any time. And it was exactly that characteristic of the raven haired male’s ability that was ruining his health, slowly but surely consuming his life as if it was the needed fuel for it to keep on working.

 

Maybe if he would be able to nullify that characteristic of his ability and make it so that Takao could only use his ability when he wished and not at all times… No, it would be far too risky to do it. He had absolutely no concrete knowledge of how the sleeping male’s ability worked and it would be far too dangerous to mess around with the characteristics of an ability which he didn’t know to the detail.

 

Kuroko had been lucky in that regard with Hanamiya since he talked non-stop during the torture sessions and the characteristic that he nullified had been external to his body. But in Takao’s case, it was something inside of him. He would have to mess around with his insides and the less he touched, the lesser would be the risk of damaging the raven haired male on a permanent basis. Who knew if he wouldn’t get to nullify the wrong thing or characteristic of his ability and only make his life harder and more pained?

 

“…” Starting to feel nervous once again, Kuroko slowly turned his head just the slightest and threw a quick peek over his shoulder towards the heterochromatic redhead, quickly returning his body to the previous position as soon as he was reassured that he was still right there. If he could have Akashi, then why shouldn’t he try to have Takao continue to belong by Midorima’s side?

 

 _This is an illness, of some sort,_ inwardly started to process Kuroko, his eyes once again scanning the laid down male’s body. _The core of his ability is most likely located in his eyes, since it’s through them that his ability manifests itself. If that core, due to being overused, has somehow started leaking out and spreading through his body in searches to acquire more ‘fuel’ to keep on working properly or maybe even evolve to stronger grounds, then maybe… if I were able to revert that process backwards… Put the leaked ability back inside of the core again and seal it all there permanently… Maybe… Maybe that would improve Takao-kun’s health and save him!_

 

With slow movements, Kuroko motioned his shaky hand forward and softly touched with the pads of his fingertips the raven haired male’s chest, still fearful of what kind of repercussions his actions could bring forth. He lightly traced a line on top of it, testing the waters first to see if he was hurting Takao in any way before he could fully start with the make-shift ‘surgical operation’ to his ability.

 

“…!” When Midorima noticed the bluenette’s shadow rippling in a wave on the floor, he readily took a step forward, fearful over what was about to happen to the raven haired male, but a hand was almost immediately slapped against his chest, stopping his movements before they could fully emerge out of them. When he looked sideways, he saw Akashi silently shaking his head in denial. Biting at the insides of his cheek, Midorima once again straightened his standing position and remained well put beside the redhead.

 

Akashi was probably trying to say that interfering this late in the stage could be more hurtful than beneficial – and wounding Takao was the last thing he wanted to do.

 

Taking another deep breath, Kuroko pressed his fingertips a little bit more strongly against the raven haired male’s chest, the teal brightness being displayed in his eyes intensifying even further as a clearer version of the mist-like substance coursing through all over Takao’s body started to be displayed right before him.

 

However, as soon as he felt his ability touch the mist-like substance, the body underneath his fingertips violently shook against the mattress of the bed.

 

“AHHHHH!!” screamed Takao out of the blue, his steal blue eyes going wide open without any warning despite his status as a comatose patient in the life support area of the hospital. His body thrashing around against the bed, he tightly grabbed into his face with his hands, desperately clutching at his eyes. “AHHHHHHHHHHH!”

 

“Takao!” called Midorima, immediately darting in the bed’s direction at the same time as Akashi and taking a hold of his wrists, securing them tightly against the mattress of the bed to prevent him from clawing his own eyes out like he had heard he had previously tried to do in the past.

 

“Tetsuya, don’t worry about it and just continue,” instructed Akashi, also helping secure the raven haired male by grabbing into his legs while looking over at the bluenette, all colour drained from his features as he fearfully looked over to the screaming male. “The same thing happened to Hanamiya Makoto so it just means that what you are doing is working! Don’t worry about it and continue with what you’re doing. Stopping now and leaving your job incomplete would be more hurtful for Kazunari than to see it done until the very end!”

 

“Uh…” With a sob being sealed inside of his throat, Kuroko placed his whole palm on top of the raven haired male’s chest, now wanting even more desperately to see this all done and over than before. Takao’s pained screams and loud groans were scary enough as it was, but knowing he was the cause of them only fuelled his uncertainties over what was correct or wrong at that moment.

 

“AHHHH! NO— AAAARGH!!” loudly screamed Takao, his body fighting off against the immeasurable strong bolts of pain coursing all over his body only to gather all up inside of his skull. “AHHH! STO—“

 

“I’m sorry… I-I’m sorry, Takao-kun…” apologized Kuroko, strongly biting into his bottom lip afterwards to keep his tears from leaking out of his glowing teal eyes. His heart almost jumping out of his ribcage, the bluenette pushed his hand a little bit more strongly against the raven haired male’s chest, trying to lessen the prolonged pain by hastening the process of eliminating the mist-like substance from his body.

 

“AHHHH!! ARGH! AHHHHHHHHH!!!!”

 

“Takao…” softly called Midorima, holding more strongly at his wrists as his eyes jumped around between the raven haired male and the life support machines near the bed that were simply going crazy, their loud ringing alarms going on and off non-stop as they continuously lost and regained the readings of Takao’s current health situation.

 

“Tetsuya, calm down,” tried to reassure Akashi once again, 100% certain that the cause of the running amok machines was the initial stages of a panicking ‘Phantom’ – he was actually already expecting a couple of them to blow up right on their faces, hopefully not causing them all that much damages. “Kazunari’s okay. If you were killing him or nullifying  the wrong thing, then he won’t be screaming like this and would simply start to die or disappear right in front of our eyes. Don’t panic and keep going. It’ll be over in the blink of an eye.”

 

“Ngh…” Trying to keep his full concentration on his task while trying to manage the conflicting spiralling emotions running around inside of him, Kuroko leaned his shaky legs on the side of the bed, trying to keep himself standing and conclude what he had steeled himself to do.

 

It was his choice; it was his responsibility to see it done until the end now. It hurt, yes, it hurt him deeply to see Takao suffering and screaming in pain like that because of him  but he was sure that the raven haired male would suffer for much longer if he let things remain as they were.

 

 _Just… Please return to the place where you belong to and stay there forever!!!,_ inwardly begged Kuroko, giving a final strong push against the raven haired male’s chest and then quickly withdrawing his hand from him, his body falling backwards with the strong tug that he gave to his own limb.

 

“—!!”

 

“Takao!” yelped Midorima, readily releasing the smaller male’s wrists when his body grew completely inert once again and the screaming ceased entirely. His fingers readily went over for his jugular, cautiously measuring his pulsation. His knees heavily hit the floor, tears streaming down his green eyes. “Oh thank god…!”

 

Releasing a soft sigh of utter relief, Akashi took his hands from the raven haired male’s legs and darted over to the bluenette, silently crying by himself while sat down on the floor. His arms immediately circled Kuroko’s torso, pulling him into his close embrace against his chest, one of his hands gently caressing his blue locks.

 

“It’s okay, Tetsuya. Kazunari is alive,” softly said Akashi against the bluenette’s ear, tightly cradling his trembling body against his chest and lifting him up from the floor as if picking up a small frightened kitten. “Let’s leave the rest to Shintarou and the doctors, okay?”

 

“Ugh… S-Sei…juurou… Uh…” sobbed Kuroko, tightly grabbing into the redhead’s clothes as he desperately clanged on him, his crying features well pressed against the nook of the taller male’s neck. “T-Takao-kun… Ngh… He’s…”

 

“Yes, he’ll be fine,” reassured Akashi, quickly adjusting his hold to the bluenette’s body so he could slide the door open and slip out of that hospital room. “Just like you will.”

 

With a soft peck to the cold, black and red-lined features of the bluenette, Akashi quickly returned them both to the isolation of the secluded area of the hospital where their temporary living quarters would most likely wind up being.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "ZERO" by Ono Kenshou.
> 
> Good job, Kuroko!!!!!!! Mommy is proud of yo- *slaps herself* *cough* I-I mean... Mafy is proud of you!!! And... sorry for the cliffhanger >.> But we're in need of a finishing epilogue to the big ass 2nd arc, right? And you know me~ I like to go down in style *evil smirk*
> 
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	220. As I carried swaying light and darkness within my heart, I thought of you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, minna-san! Mafy's here with another chapter~
> 
> Ready for the grand finale of Shattered Miracles' 2nd arc? :3 I sure am XD  
> WARNING: graphic descriptions of gore, murder, cliffhanger alert!
> 
> Enjoy~
> 
> [Thank you, Midnight, for proofreading this chapter and for the awesome support throughout the massive 2nd arc!!!]

“Hm… Now that I think about it, this will be the first time that I set foot inside of an area controlled by Teikou Academy, isn’t it?” he softly mumbled, tilting his head just the slightest as he looked at the open main gates of the mentioned ‘User’ institution. He spotted by the corner of his eye, despite the extremely late hour in the night, a couple of students still walking around through its territory, their movements hasty and extremely rushed in order to most likely get an important task done as soon as possible. He looked down at his own body. “Ah… I don’t think going inside with these clothes would be a good idea…”

 

With a quick slide of his hand through his clothes, their shape and form changed, readily becoming a perfect imitation of the official uniform worn by every ‘User’ affiliated to Teikou Academy.

 

“I wish Kuroko could see me wearing the same uniform as him…” he sadly mumbled, starting to walk inside of the school grounds and leisurely threading through the path that he had memorized before his solo mission had began. A satisfied smile popped up on his lips. “I’m sure he and I would get to have so much fun together like before if we attended the same school. Ahh… I want to see you, Kuroko. I want to see you, Kuroko. I want to see you, Kuroko. I want to see you so much!”

 

Continuously mumbling to himself as he walked closer to the entrance gate of the restricted area of Teikou Academy, he only noticed that his path had been barred when he almost crashed against a security guard.

 

“You’re not allowed entrance here,” warned the security guard, a deep frown on his features as he looked over to the younger male. “Return to your do— Argh…!”

 

“Ahh… I want to see you, Kuroko. I want to see you!” he continued to mumble to himself, the short sword that had appeared on his hand and with which he had stabbed the guard disappearing into thin air once again. He leisurely proceeded his walking through the main path inside of the restricted area. “Why did things have to go this way? I was getting so excited on my own, making plans about all the things that I want to talk with you and now this had to happen… Is it because I was wishing so desperately to be with you again, I wonder?”

 

When he spotted the building that he had been assigned to infiltrate, he came to a halt to both his walking and his mumbling. He kept the entrance of the building under his gaze for long minutes, observing the two security guards keeping a perpetual surveillance right in front of the closed door.

 

“…” His gaze never leaving the guards, he lifted one of his hands up in the air and pointed his index finger in their direction, slowly raising his thumb into a vertical standing. When he pushed his index back to his hand, the semi-automatic handgun that popped up there was fired, the bullet silently hitting one of the guards in the head… and then a second bullet doing the same trajectory towards the remaining one. He sighed. “Let’s just do this quickly so I can return home. It’s just a pity that it will be done alone rather than with my beloved owner~ I want to see you, Kuroko. I want to see you so much!”

 

Not taking any care over the corpses he stepped on as he entered inside of the building, he outstretched his hand forward once again, a metallic-looking box mixed with electric circuits appearing out of thin air on his palm. When he turned a couple of its circular buttons around, the lights of the entire building went down, drowning his surroundings in pitch black.

 

“Hmm? Was it left or right that I had to go?” he asked to no one in particular, lowering his empty hand back to the side of his body as he looked to either side of the corridor that was connected to the main entrance of the building. “Ugh… If Kuroko was here, he would know which is the correct direction… Ahhh… I want to see you, Kuroko…”

 

Slowly, he turned his body to the right and started walking through the shadowy empty corridor, softly mumbled to himself as he delved deeper and deeper into the seemingly empty building. The next time he halted his movements was in front of a locked metallic thick door, a turned off digital panel on the wall next to it.

 

“Knock, knock~ Who’s there? K. K who?” he said with a sing song voice, motioning his hand towards the doorknob and turning it. He readily opened the door and stepped inside of the dark, seemingly empty room, a large, goofy grin on his features. “K for ‘key’!!

 

“It was about time you appeared…” grumbled Hanamiya, a deep frown creasing his features as he remained sat down on the floor, his two hands imprisoned to the wall by cuffs and two long metal chains that connected both. “But I’m not in the mood to deal with you right now since THIS IS ALL YOUR FUCKING FAULT!!”

 

“I didn’t do anything,” he pointed out, tilting his head to the left as he walked closer to the wrathful black haired male. “If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for it. It’s just divine retribution, what you are experiencing right now.”

 

“It wasn’t the fucking gods that messed up my ability, it was Kuroko Tetsuya!!” roared Hanamiya, heavily punching the floor with the side of the closed bandaged fist.

 

“Nn. Like I said, divine retribution,” he acknowledged with a soft nod of his head, crouching down his body right in front of the black haired male and happily grinning at the restricted male. “Kuroko punished you, like you deserved. The God of all ‘Users’ has sent his divine retribution because you had too much fun playing nasty pranks on his body. Now you’re going to rot in Hell as a broken toy of his. Hehehe… Wasn’t that what you wished for?”

 

“Shut up and release me already!” barked Hanamiya, viciously glaring daggers at the grinning male.

 

“Yes, yes~” he acknowledged, lifting his body once again at the same time as he raised one of his hands high up in the air. When he swung it back down, a sharp katana sliced through the air, neatly cutting flesh and bone alike as it freed one of the black haired male’s arms by severing his hand.

 

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” screamed Hanamiya, his body falling on the blood-stained floor as he tightly clutched at his wrist and the place that used to be connected with his hand. “ARGHHHHH!”

 

“Oh? I could have sworn I just aimed at your elbow just now…?” he mumbled, curiously eyeing the severed hand as he lifted it up in the air by one of its fingers. With a quick flick on his wrist, he threw the bloodied hand to behind his back, quickly shrugging his shoulders. “Oh well~”

 

“Gh…! Kuroko is a full-fledged monster, even if you view him as a god…” croaked Hanamiya, slowly turning his head around against the cold hard floor as he switched his glare once again to the other male. “But your existence is just wrong… Ogiwara!!”

 

“I don’t want to be told that by you,” said Ogiwara Shigehiro, his leisure grin morphing into a blank expression as quickly as the strike of lightning, the katana disappearing from his hand to be substituted by a long and sharp machete. “Even though your job was simply to free Kuroko from the useless dead weight that keeps him chained to Teikou Academy, you just had to ruin everything with your own perversions, didn’t you?”

 

“AHHHH!” screamed Hanamiya once again when the brunette swung down the machete and neatly severed one of his legs just below his knee with a single strike.

 

“Gold-san is right… If you want something done, you have to do it yourself, with your own two hands,” sighed Ogiwara, shaking his head around in utter disappointment. He swung the machete again and again… again and again… “Ahh… Kuroko, I want to see you! I want to see you again so, so much!! My beloved owner… I want to see you again, to talk with you again, to kill you again, to keep on loving you forever and ever and ever…!!”

 

With one last swing of the machete, Ogiwara cut off Hanamiya’s head from his torso by the neck, his corpse nothing more than minced meat and shattered bones even before the head rolled around through the bloodied floor.

 

“You’re lucky… At least you were already dead when you got decapitated…” mumbled Ogiwara, leaning his upper body forward and taking a hold of the severed head of the taller male by his black locks of hair. “I was still very well alive when Akashi Seijuurou did the same thing to me…”

 

Holding into the corpse’s head, Ogiwara turned around on his heels and started walking to the opposite wall of where the black haired male had been imprisoned on.

 

“Kuroko… Kuroko… Kuroko… Kuroko… Kuroko… Kuroko… Kuroko…” mumbled Ogiwara again and again as a large black hole suddenly opened up on the wall, the other side of it of a darker colouring than black itself. He disappeared in its inside, taking together with him the head of Hanamiya Makoto – one more to add to his continuously growing collection. “Kuroko… Kuroko… Kuroko… Kuroko… Kuroko… Kuroko… Kuroko… Kuroko… Kuroko… Kuro…”

 

**TO BE CONTINUED…**

**END OF ARC**

**THE UNBREAKABLE AND THE BRITTLE**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of this chapter came from the lyrics of "Ambivalence" by SCREEN mode.
> 
> Oh, guess who's alive after all? >.> I bet everyone is going to wish that Ogiwara is truly dead, though, once we get back to the main timeline of the store -.-' Btw, can you already guess which is Ogiwara's ability? *evil smirk*
> 
> Think about it throughout the duration of the 2nd intermission, featuring Kise and Kasamatsu's backstory (within Teikou grounds, at least). You'll finally get to know which is Kasamatsu's ability, guys!! It starts this Friday, same release schedule as always~
> 
> Thank you very much for all of your support throughout this massive "1st part" of Shattered Miracles. 220 chapters are no small feat, much less in less than 2 years XD
> 
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Mafy_mod)   
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>  [Read my KnB dj translations here~](https://mafyjaponica.blogspot.co.uk/)


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